I must agree with Bill Mandel that Brent's letter to the Times is
over-optimistic that "never again" will (or has) the nation sent millions to
an undeclared war, women been second-class citizens, etc. However, I salute
Brent for sending this letter, for challenging the article's agist and
reactionary revision of us--that is, Bill's "generation", mine, Brent's, each
of yours ("generations" are kind of short in U.S. language, aren't they?).
As for employers, I have to say that my own lib-speaking autocratic nonprofit
employer seems quite happy to attack me and any other ancient rad it dares
without too obviously overstepping our so-called labor laws; and I guess
those of us who live in the Bay Area noted the case this winter of the
lib-chic-yuppie Express paper dropping longtime Left political columnist Paul
Rauber (or did it just behave so as to make him want to leave?), and...well,
and lots of other cases. Not only is the autocratic paternalism of employers
still functioning--and strongly, anyone checked into union membership
statistics lately?--but one of the functions seems to be quite in line with
exactly their Time-Warner-dot.com glitz-media revision--"Over the hill and
under the sod with you, Sixties radicals!" Hey, who controls the present
controls the, etc.
Nevertheless, venceremos--or some "we" will, anyway.
Paula
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