Re: academia/draft/antiwar (multiple posts)

Ron Jacobs (rjacobs@THYME.UVM.EDU)
Fri, 22 Aug 1997 10:38:16 EDT

> From: "James Cummins" <jimc1@earthlink.net>
>
> Paula:
>
> For ^the true believer^ their cause is always 100%. The sad
> thing is that after so many years there are still people who insist
> on viewing the Viet Nam war in a vacuum. Who can say when was the
> right moment to disengage on that front and look to another. I
> would leave that to the military experts.

And then there are those of us who see it for what it truly was--an
adventure in imperialism. There was no vacuum--it was part and
parcel of the crusade for U.S. corporate hegemony after WW II--a crusade which
continues today through less brutal means--NAFTA, GATT, etc.

> I don^t understand the concept of class warfare in America. I
> started out in life as the son of a poor farmer; was provided a high
> school education by my father, with the help of the taxpayers who
> provided free schools and instruction. I was able to obtain a
> college degree and later a masters degree through my own work, but
> again with the help of the facilities provided by the taxpayers. I
> am now retired, but have never considered myself part of any
> ^class^.

This is part of the great myth we live by in this country--that there
are no classes. I bet if you ask a Dupont or Rockefeller what class
they belonged to, they'd have an answer and it wouldn't be the middle
class. Anecdotal evidence does not deny the reality of those of us who
struggle to get by even while we work full time and see the
lifestyles of the rich on TV that there are classes in our society.

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