In message <5f9997cb.351f128e@aol.com>, MobyMeg <MobyMeg@AOL.COM> writes
>Just wondered what people's thoughts are on why the level of student activism
>is so low-key nowadays. Obviously, we don't have a huge issue like Vietnam to
>wrap our attention around, but there are still opportunities for legitimate
>protest these days. What do you think stops people from doing it?
Allow me to begin with an anecdote:
A newspaper editor here told me that as in the states, groups of school
kids (~8-12 yo) are often given tours of the newspaper offices and
plants. He was in charge of the tours throughout the '70s and '80s.
During the '70s the kids would see, for example, the huge rolls of
newsprint and ask how long they were, how heavy, how many trees to make
one roll, how far it would reach if unrolled, etc.
During the '80s those questions took the form of how much they cost to
buy, how much they cost to make, how much money they could save by
buying a different brand or larger supplies, etc.
This change in attitude from childish (human?) curiosity to monetary
mindset was a result here of thatcherism, that generation was and is
called thatcher's children.
It resulted from the very length of time (as well, obviously, as the
policies espoused) the tories spent in power here.
The same is true in the states with raygun's children. But even more so
because it was only ~17 years here between one labour govt. and the next
(if you can call tory blair's a labour govt - thatcher is one of his
greatest admirers). But in the states it was almost 25 years from
nixon's enthronement to billie's with only one brief bit of respite
during Carter's four years. Not to mention that it's really unbroken
even now since billie is hardly more than a republican lite.
So you have generation after generation of kids broght up on the
propaganda and attitudes of the right, not to chanllenge authority, not
to question, and not to think of anything other than their future
careers and how to optimise them. They are taught, perhaps not outright
but they are taught, in maggie's words, there is no society, and the
cliche's of the '80-'90s "look out for number one" and "greed is good".
>
>
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(2) From: GKlotz33 <GKlotz33@aol.com>
In a message dated 98-04-05 21:55:39 EDT, you write:
<< Just wondered what people's thoughts are on why the level of student activism is so low-key nowadays. Obviously, we don't have a huge issue like Vietnam to wrap our attention around, but there are still opportunities for legitimate protest these days. What do you think stops people from doing it? >> the internet maybe?