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Is America Overdue For Social Upheaval?
It has been a very long time since Americans have taken to the streets in massive numbers to demand change.
Several years ago I read an essay by sociologists who stated that modern societies become restless and usually provoke upheaval about every 30 to 40 years. As an example they pointed out the Roaring Twenties and the turbulent Sixties. We are about due for something big.
When looking at our society today I doubt if anyone can overlook the social tensions which seem to be increasing with every year. Our society is riddled with frustration, anger, suspicion, depression, paranoia, anxieties, insecurities, and various other ailments.
Just look at the issues that we face daily; war, political corruption, immigration, domestic surveillance, conflicts with constitutional law, the influence of special interest groups, rising consumer prices, budget deficit, global warming, closet racism, credit crunch, stagnant wages, healthcare problems, energy and resources problems, out sourcing of jobs...anyone care to add more to the list?
Many people feel they are being being pressured to work harder, work faster, surrender benefits, and be expected to sacrifice more of their private lives to further corporate interests. Some paddle faster, but feel to be falling behind. Mutual trust has broken down, we have become isolated and alienated from each other. People fear their neighbors...he might be a sex offender, it might be a crack house, they might be illegal immigrants, etc.
We have people who are professional deceivers, others who preach apocolyptic visions, and politicians who are ready to rake in as much money (for themselves and friends) as they can.
Maybe one thing we, liberals and conservatives, may agree upon is that current conditions shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
Is our Melting Pot getting close to the boiling point?
No, they took the LSD that fueled it in the 60s away, gave us Budweiser and American Idol, and now we don't have the care in the world to cause a upheaval.
No, things don't appear to be bleak enough for social upheaval. We go through some periodic adjustments with our elections, and I don't see the great problems resulting in upheavals.
When you look at the 1960's, the situation was much different than today. I just don't see the "engine" for this upheaval. Sure, you always have the 5-15% who think life is falling apart and a radical political change is needed, and those folks tend to be pretty vocal, but for the most part I just don't see the massive problems and discontent preceding an upheaval.
I know a lot of those unhappy with current state of affairs posters will disagree, but the degree of problems just isn't there. Things could always be better, and change is a constant ebb and flow with folks disagreeing on what constitutes improvements vs backsliding, but that has ALWAYS been the case.
I don't think any social upheaval would come about based on the people deciding to demand change. But more on unpredictable events which could a cause a chain reaction leading to upheaval. For example, Kennedy was killed as the Baby Boomers were in their teens and becoming politically aware. Who could have predicted Kennedy's death? Soon the Viet Nam war escalated rapidly. Quickly, being against the draft and war became anti-establishment (or counter culture) and spread across the nation as the young people demanded more; sexual liberation, tolerance, equality, etc.
Somewhat true, but how can we predict a cataclysmic event?
The Sept 11 attacks were about as big as we can get, what was the upheaval? I see a major upgrade (and perhaps overreaction) in security and monitoring, but that isn't upheaval in my book.
9/11 was tragic and horrible however it did not cause a degradation in the standard of living for the average man/woman. When peoples personal living conditions are effected negatively in a major way, then we will see some sort of social unrest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KevK
Social unrest in a democracy is a very rare event.
9/11 was tragic and horrible however it did not cause a degradation in the standard of living for the average man/woman. When peoples personal living conditions are effected negatively in a major way, then we will see some sort of social unrest.
Civil Rights movement
Vietnam
ring any bells?
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.
Civil rights movement was validated by Johnson in 1964, implementation was really the problem in the late 1960's. Vietnam was a polarizing event, but we had a military draft making the war more personal for a much wider audience.
There is a social upheaval going on. Its called the gay rights movement. If you combine that with the massive spread of atheism among those under 30 today, I think you have something pretty big.
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