The Barometer of Youth

We live in a radically different time than the 1960's college protests. There was no instant communication: no internet, texts, or social media. Telephone and telegrams were the fastest electronic communication, and that wasn't available when you were walking or driving. But there was television which broadcast the Vietnam War, so terrible that everyone lived in the shadow of war. And there was the draft for those young men who weren't college students. Many of the boys who were drafted and lived to return were never the same. To escape the draft, some moved to Canada, others spent most of their time trying to find a way to get to Canada. Protests were the only recourse to what seemed an endless war with no forseeable resolution. Journalist Bill Moyers had long conversations with Lyndon Johnson, President at the time. Johnson said "That war" (which he had inherited - not started) ruined my Lady" (His often successful attempts to create a Great Society.) His wife asked him if he really wanted to run again with the constant swing of the Public hating him, then loving him." Now how can we blame only outside agitators when our own media has repeatedly shown us the devastation, the wounded, the lives lost, even the lives and efforts of those trying to help Gaza? The ACLU has called on University Presidents to let protests proceed peacefully, and some have. But college donors, parents, and administrators are pushing them to stop the protests. May 4th, Kent State long ago shows what happens when the National Guard is called in. Now in the 21st century, even police arrive on military vehicles with weapons much more formidable than could be imagined in 1970. As Bernie Sanders states, Although he is Jewish, he believes these protests are not "anti-semitic" but cries to stop the decimation of Gaza and its people.