The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Front-Ranger:
There were many ways to avoid getting drafted. One of the easiest was to enroll in college. If you were responsible for your parents or family like Pacino was, that was another way. You could register as a conscientious objector. You could go to Canada for a while. Or you could get a doctor to write a letter for you. You could say you're gay. No, the protests were not because of the draft.
One reason I heard many times is that it's not sufficient for all these men to lose their lives or be traumatized just to protect American corporate oil interests in Vietnam and SE Asia.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on September 08, 2024, 09:26:52 pm ---If you're a Log Cabin Republican you're a complete idiot.
--- End quote ---
True! I think Bill may have been, in spirit at least.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on September 08, 2024, 09:35:49 pm ---There were many ways to avoid getting drafted. One of the easiest was to enroll in college. If you were responsible for your parents or family like Pacino was, that was another way. You could register as a conscientious objector. You could go to Canada for a while. Or you could get a doctor to write a letter for you. You could say you're gay. No, the protests were not because of the draft.
--- End quote ---
The writer Tim O'Brien ("The Things They Carried" and "Going After Cacciato," both about Vietnam) started to go to Canada -- he's from Minnesota and IIRC his dad was willing to drive him -- but then couldn't bring himself to do it. Many of those things would have been hard to do for some people, including college. Draftees skewed lower-income because higher-income young men could go to college (also would be more likely to have friendly relationships with doctors, connections who could pull strings, etc.) You'd think anybody would have said they were gay (I don't know how the Army would prove otherwise) but I suppose the social consequences back then were too high for many.
I didn't mean to imply that the personal desire not to go to Vietnam oneself is the only reason anybody ever picked up a protest sign. But I don't see how the prospect of dying or being seriously injured at a young age, or at the very least enduring some extremely unpleasant experiences, wouldn't have lent a bit of extra urgency. Not only for people who might themselves get drafted but for their loved ones. I couldn't imagine seeing my sons go off to war, so if there'd been a draft when they were that age I'd be protesting on their behalf. I also think protesters held the idea that the war was unjust and stupid in general, even if they had nothing personal at stake.
The Project 2025 plan calls for all public-school students to go into some sort of service. Private-school students would be excluded.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on September 22, 2024, 06:19:49 pm ---The Project 2025 plan calls for all public-school students to go into some sort of service. Private-school students would be excluded.
--- End quote ---
That's part of their plan to kill public education. Of course, it's also racist.
serious crayons:
I lost my mailbox key for a while. I didn't worry about it much because I get so little mail, I figured the only thing I'd be missing is my New Yorker and I have plenty to read. I finally requested a new one and finally had a chance to stop by the office and pick it up.
There were TWO New Yorkers. Great -- two ways to interrupt whatever I was reading in the previous most recent New Yorker.
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