Posted on 07/24/2023 6:44:04 AM PDT by Rummyfan
Turns out the answer wasn’t blowin’ in the wind. The 1960s and ’70s were filled with protest songs against the Vietnam War, discrimination, and The Man! While heartfelt, these songs they didn’t do much except create an artsy activist political class committed to resisting anything resembling hard work to suppress the pending wave of innovation.
Songs can be inspirational, but they aren’t instruction manuals. With an air of despair, Bob Dylan’s 1963 “Blowin’ in the Wind” asked lots of breezy questions. I think “Puff the Magic Dragon” had more answers. Then Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Ohio” in 1970 offered a solution to the horrible Kent State shootings: “Gotta get down to it,” which “should have been done long ago.” That’s it?
Gil Scott Heron sang “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” in 1971. Instead, our television was digitized and revolutionized. I hate war, but I can’t help noticing that Edwin Starr’s 1970 “War, huh, yeah / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing” wasn’t sung in German.
Saigon collapsed. The draft ended in 1973, and my age group didn’t have to register, which explains a lot of apathy. But the cultural damage lingered. In 1984, Bruce Springsteen released the gloomy “Born in the U.S.A.,” right on the cusp of the most spectacular economic boom in history, “I’m 10 years burning down the road / Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go.” Except, it turns out, up.
Nope, my friend, the answer wasn’t blowin’ in the wind. The answer was to roll up your sleeves and dig in. Work your way up. Create the future. Effort over easy. That’s what drove progress. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Also helped a lot of average-looking guys get lucky.
He is mistaken about registering for the draft.
Men must register for the draft.
I fell into that group but they later reinstated it in 1980.
Men born between March 29, 1957 and December 31, 1959 didn’t have to register for the draft.
In 1983 I received a letter about failing to register for the draft. I enlisted in 1978 and entered the army in 1979 and thought I was already cover being active duty for nearly 4 years at the time. I registered then even though I was still active duty. It made no sense and 40+ years later still doesn’t.
there was a gap between the end of the draft and the beginning of selective service
i happened to be in that gap
Is the writer of the article trying to compete with Don McLean’s “American Pie”?
Or write a follow-up about the last 60+ years?
Well, that was a pathetic attempt.
I’m not following you. Are you sure you commented on the correct article?
I can still remember December 1st 1969 sitting around with friends in a ratty rental house on Jackson street in Tallahassee passing around a joint and drinking beer while they pulled the lottery numbers. My boyfriend and future husband got 274. He laughed and said “they’ll take women and children before me”. The next day in Sociology class a guy I sat next to gave me his notes and said he wouldn’t be back. He pulled #5 and was headed to Canada. It was a crazy time.
I was in college at MSU at the time. My number was in the 300s, don’t recall exactly. Was also doing what you and friends were doing. Probably why I can’t recall.
For some reason none of my best friends ever had to go. One had bleeding ulcers, one had a hernia, one couldn’t pass the eye exam and one started stabbing a pencil into the desk during the psych exam when they asked him what he would do if his CO gave him a command in combat that he didn’t agree with. Plus my boyfriend was right. #264 in a a large county like Dade County Fla your number never comes up.
“...The 1960s and ’70s were filled with protest songs against the Vietnam War, discrimination, and The Man!..”
The protests of the the 1960’s and 1970’s were against ALL authority. They railed against parental authority, schools, governmental and churches. They killed law enforcement officers and dynamited government buildings. That was the time of the “God is Dead” movement. Much of their leadership was trained by communists both domestic and foreign. A number of them actually went to Russia to be brainwashed (Bernie Sanders).
Today they are the leaders of the progressive movement and placed on a pedestal by the media and democrats (especially the Obama crowd.).
I was #3.
you ha to register, but were classified as 1h(standby)
i still have my draft card from 1973.
showed it to my old man, was not sure it he was happy or pissed at me, just sat in his chair puffing on his pipe.
Selective Service
Me too. Never had to register. But in 1977 I got an appointment to the Naval Academy (was hoping for Air Force) but didn’t get in.
Military branches weren’t doing much hiring back then and the ROTC wasn’t on my campus.
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