This note appears to have not posted yesterday, so I'm trying again...
Scott Kerlin
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As I continue to follow this discussion, from the Canadian side of the
border, with great interest, I'm also periodically locating websites with
relevance or at least contribution to the dialogue. Here's one that some
of you may want to visit:
"Controversy: Do Liberals Need Radicals?", from the website American
Prospect (www.prospect.org).
This seems to be an ongoing online discussion between Congressman Barney
Frank and a number of other commentators. The thread begins here:
http://www.prospect.org/controversy/radicals/frank-b-1.html
I'm inclinded to agree (to the extent that my memory of the 1968 election
is accurate, since I was only 15) with Ron Jacobs' latest posting re: 1968
and 2000 election parallels. Except that this time, there is no mass
anti-war coalition activating the opposition and organizing any concerted
Left campaign.
Some time in the early 1980s, I recall there was progressive research
being conducted by MIT Political Science Professor Walter Dean Burnham on
what he termed "the party of the non-voter", and how it seemed to play a
major role in the election of Reagan. Last year, I heard Jimmy Carter
being interviewed on a Larry King episode in which Carter said "there's an
inverse relationship between age and percentage of people who vote in U.S.
elections. 60% of 60-year olds vote; 40% of 40 year-olds vote, but only
about 20% of 20 year-olds vote."
If this is true, are younger people on the whole more to the left of the
voting electorate in this era? Do we have any evidence or information
about this? Maybe I'm hopelessly hopeful, but I still believe that if
there is to be a change in the U.S., it will again, just like in the 1950s
and 1960s, have to come from young people (i.e. those under 30, maybe
inspired by 1960s activists who still care about social change). I would
only hope this list can attract many young people, as there are a lot of
lessons they can learn from reading the comments of the "seasoned
veterans" of the 50s and 60s.
Scott Kerlin, Ph.D.
http://www.teleport.com/~skerlin
P.S. Seeing Country Joe's recent posting to this list inspired me today. I
checked the Rock history book collection at my University library and
found a text by Professor Paul Friedlander of the University of the
Pacific Conservatory of Music, "Rock and Roll: A Social History",
published in 1996 by Westview Press. And yes, Joe, you are listed in
there, a number of times!
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