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To: ansel12
The following Gallup data from 1971 does NOT show "double" the support in the under 30 age group relative to the over 49 cohort:

Under 30 30-49 Over 49 May 1971 34 30 23

I also fail to see how 34% of one age cohort showing support can constitute some sort of generational majority. Between the "no support" and the "no opinion" categories, you have have a majority who cannot be seen as supporting it.

So you have about 1/3 of BB supporting the war in 1971, not a small number (0.34*77 million = 26.2 million approximately).

So while they may have more supportive then the Geezer Gang, it still wasn't anything approching a generational consensus.

But let's go back to what I said. That is that BB's in general didn't seem to be aware of - or discounted - Communist atrocities in the 1930's, and that this skewed their view of the aftermath of a Communist victory.

Perhaps there is no data on this, so you have used support for the war as token representing the opposite view: that they did understand the dreadful possibilities.

I disagree. Even among combat veterans, I was surprised by the number who either were not aware of that history, or didn't think it would actually happen. This is my own personal experience. And it is only related to support for the war - even people who did support the war in many cases told me that they didn't think the North would do that. Very few spoke of the Khmer Rouge; too obscure.

Narrow my broad brush? Perhaps.

My sister was a Goldwater Girl who went to the convention in '64 and by 1972 was wearing a McGovern button (shades of Hillary!). My cousin was on the platform with Mario Savio in '64 when Clark Kerr had all of them either thrown off or arrested. He hasn't changed. I think that the unrelenting propaganda spewed by allegedly objective sources such as the MSM (ABC/SeeBS/NBC) changed many young, impressionable minds. A solid minority never bought that - that's the 34%.

But a lot of others did, and thus we have the modern world where much damage - probably irreparable - has been done.

Was it the 30's Geezers, the old Unionistas who wore the workman's caps and slugged it out with Reuther in Detroit? Or Harry Bridges in San Pedro? They were closet Commies, no doubt about it. I think that's your point: a far larger part of the so-called "Greatest Generation" were Pink Sympathizers with Uncle Joe, and that was the root of their opposition to Vietnam.

Perhaps. Maybe a lot of them just got drafted in WWII and didn't like wars at all. Met a lot of those guys, who were other wise Conservative.

So that's it spud. I still think a lotta Baby Boomers were ignorant boobs who were historically challenged. And that vacancy in their brains persists to this day, although it's somewhat been attenuated by Ronald Reagan's successes, and the reality that came out of the wonderful "Year Zero" of Mr. Pot and his chief executioner, the infamous and suitably named "Yek".

48 posted on 10/15/2013 3:54:26 PM PDT by Regulator
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To: Regulator
Sorry, screwed up the table:

Support for the war, May 1971 :

Under 30 30-49 Over 49
34% 30% 23%

49 posted on 10/15/2013 4:03:24 PM PDT by Regulator
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