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Too many people living in a cocoon of comfort to start an "upheaval". It's quite sad! Americans don't operate as citizens in this country. (partaking in community politics, general awareness..ect..) Once that illusion is removed along with a growing mass of people, then maybe there will be a social upheaval.
Okay, everybody up against the wall!
This thread is going off on a tangent. It seems that some are equating social upheaval as a bloody revolution. Like people getting their guns ready, making homemade bombs, and huge crowds throwing bricks and bottles at riot police. Burning cities and wanton destruction come to mid also.
The Sixties were a time of social upheaval, there was plenty of violence, but it wasn't a bloody revolution.
A comment about what some have mentioned as the conditions for upheaval...the Sixties were not marked by mass unemployment, economic despair, a devaluation of currency, or lack of consumer goods.
The social upheaval of the Sixties was against the Status Quo. Against "the Establishment" was the phrase for those old enough to remember. It was an upheaval against the Status Quo values. This upheaval was in changing attitudes. Protest included long hair, beards, clothing, music, burning draft cards and bras, art, emerging alternative media, etc. "Don't trust anyone over 30" -Remember that one?
Of course, not everyone appreciated Status Quo values challenged or ridiculed. Anyone remember the "hardhats"? Those who sided with the Status Quo came to be known as the "Silent Majority".
Agreed, no matter how much some people want us to believe that things are bad in this country, the truth of the matter is we are all generally fat and happy here in America, and most everyone knows they dont have much to complain about.
Just like an accident victim high on morphine has little to complain about. What happens when the drug wears off and America realizes it's been deliberately put to sleep and its freedoms usurped under cover of night?
It's easy to be complacent when one is not armed with data. They think they are the unusual ones that are not getting ahead, and everyone else is doing just fine. They buy into the rhetoric (that is untrue) because they haven't done their homework to realize that the wool has been pulled over the eyes, and that every day, the standard of living decreases for the class of people who work 40+ hours a week at a mid-level job.
Or they buy into the myth, that one day, they too will be Donald Trump, not realizing how much closer to fantasy than reality that really is, and so they sympathize with those who are the one's screwing them over in the first place and place their anger at those who have less than them. (And you see it right and left on this forum.)
There are reams of data available to the public, in fact more now than ever in human history. What keeps people complacent is a full bellies from supersized fries, plasma TV's, an auto that stands 12 feet off the ground and gets 12 miles to the gallon, 400+ stations on cable, sat radio in their cars, 2800 sq ft of living space for 2 people, and a mailbox full of "you have been preselected for 12% interest introductory offer". These things are what make people complacent, and it is that we so value "things" that keeps most stupid an uninformed despites having reams of information, as all one needs to know is how to get more things.
This upheaval was in changing attitudes. Protest included long hair, beards, clothing, music, burning draft cards and bras, art, emerging alternative media, etc. "Don't trust anyone over 30" -Remember that one?.
Oh... that's what you mean. I don't see the upheaval there that was in the 60's. There have always been youth that dressed different than their parents and listened to different music, and unpopular wars and student demonstrations. It didn't really lead to the government collapsing or even a dramatic restructuring of government or society. It certainly wasn't like the French or Russian revolutions. The 60's stuff you are thinking of is more trends and fashions
There are reams of data available to the public, in fact more now than ever in human history.
With all do respect, we have not had a culture that has had this available for very long. It wasn't that long ago that I graduated from college, and a lot of this data was NOT available.
Secondly, most people are not that interested in the detail. That's also a cultural issue having to do with education. So they take whatever the news told them, or their neighbors, grandmother's cousin's dog told them, at face value, without evaluating it. In fact, I have heard many repeat talk radio verbatim. The problem with talk radio is, that many of the facts are true, in obscurity. But, they are also easy to refute when you have more than just the superficial information at hand. But it takes time, effort, and a bit of ability to seperate the wheat from the chaffe. Along with dry data, it takes skill to interpret the data. That is why economists often disagree with each other.
With all do respect, we have not had a culture that has had this available for very long. It wasn't that long ago that I graduated from college, and a lot of this data was NOT available.
Secondly, most people are not that interested in the detail. That's also a cultural issue having to do with education. So they take whatever the news told them, or their neighbors, grandmother's cousin's dog told them, at face value, without evaluating it. In fact, I have heard many repeat talk radio verbatim. The problem with talk radio is, that many of the facts are true, in obscurity. But, they are also easy to refute when you have more than just the superficial information at hand. But it takes time, effort, and a bit of ability to seperate the wheat from the chaffe. Along with dry data, it takes skill to interpret the data. That is why economists often disagree with each other.
Throughout human history there have been repeated social upheavals, and most have been by people who were poor and uneducated. "Data" or lack there of does not make the average person complacent, contemptuous or knowledgeable. A person need not understand market economies, the relations between education and socio-economic trends, or how a given candidate stands on foreign relations. Even the most poor and uneducated person understands that last week he could afford a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a quart of milk and this week he can only afford the bread and milk and next week, just bread.
The 18th and 19th centuries in America were filled a large masses of people who could not even read let alone have access to any pertinent data that would have changed the course of the nation direction. In contemporary times, it is that fact that since the post Great Depression era that for the most part, Americans have had it damn good and have been quite prosperous. During times of prosper, there is more desire to maintain that prosperity than there is to seek out alternatives, after all, times are good.
Two reasons have constituted the bulk of social and economic change in human history, hunger and oppression and they usually end up hand in hand.
Throughout human history there have been repeated social upheavals, and most have been by people who were poor and uneducated. "Data" or lack there of does not make the average person complacent, contemptuous or knowledgeable. A person need not understand market economies, the relations between education and socio-economic trends, or how a given candidate stands on foreign relations. Even the most poor and uneducated person understands that last week he could afford a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a quart of milk and this week he can only afford the bread and milk and next week, just bread.
Yes that is true. However, if a person thinks it is "just their problem" and not a bigger problem, they are less inclined to do something about it. They chalk it up to bad luck, or they beat themselves up for it, thinking it is a personal problem when it really is, a societal issue.
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The 18th and 19th centuries in America were filled a large masses of people who could not even read let alone have access to any pertinent data that would have changed the course of the nation direction.
Yes, and the political compass of the wealthy was to pity the poor, and try to help them. Not blame them and point fingers. Times change.
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In contemporary times, it is that fact that since the post Great Depression era that for the most part, Americans have had it damn good and have been quite prosperous.
I think the Boomers had it a lot easier than the prior or preceding generations. And too many Boomers think their experience is the same as those of other generations. And since the boomers, all those growing up afterward, are growing up in a world where their parents did not make steps to ensure the prosperity of those that came after them.
Yes that is true. However, if a person thinks it is "just their problem" and not a bigger problem, they are less inclined to do something about it. They chalk it up to bad luck, or they beat themselves up for it, thinking it is a personal problem when it really is, a societal issue.
This I think is part of how our culture has changed or what state it is in today. We see the world so small now that it barely goes beyond our own feet, we have become islands unto ourselves. There is a distinct lack of long term vision and short sighted view of the collective good. We are far too busy trying to command over the world instead of trying to live within it.
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Yes, and the political compass of the wealthy was to pity the poor, and try to help them. Not blame them and point fingers. Times change
Well, this is a matter of perspective that the peasants of France in the 18th and early 19th century may wish to argue. I recall my grandfathers notion that it is good to do for oneself but even better if you can do good by yourself and for the good of the nation at the same time. This may not have been the general consensus as it was before my time but there certainly seems a bit of wisdom to it.
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I think the Boomers had it a lot easier than the prior or preceding generations. And too many Boomers think their experience is the same as those of other generations. And since the boomers, all those growing up afterward, are growing up in a world where their parents did not make steps to ensure the prosperity of those that came after them.
Every generation since the post Great Depression era has had the benefit of our ancestors toil and suffering. However it is now so far removed from the nation mind, that it is high time we repeat it, if for nothing more than a refresher. Seems to be merely a self correcting cycle that all societies go through from time to time.
Social upheaval only occurs when a large proportion of the population is extremely uncomfortable. And in today's America, we tend to be fat, dumb, and happy. Our "news" programs no longer inform us, but we don't mind as long as they replace real content with celebrity gossip. Our "leaders" no longer represent us, but we keep voting the same guys back into office just as long as the price of gasoline remains below obscene.
I think for a huge number of Americans, their lives are good as long as they have the latest in gadgetry: cell phone/cameras, i-pods, blackberries, and mp3's. There's no widespread desire for upheaval. There's just some budding recognition among a few that our country has been driven into the ditch. Americans have been trained to be consumers with 30 second attention spans. We're not likely to get unruly.
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Is America Overdue For Social Upheaval?
