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We've come a full circle, or perhaps a 'half-circle.' The generation before that fought against an establishment has brought forth children who became the establishment. Now, it's the right-leaning folk who are backed against the wall and may become the 'hippies' fighting an establishment in the near future.
As I read the news stories regarding the protests, I thought of that famous song 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield. If I understand the lyrics correctly, the song sympathized with the 'liberal' movement at the time, yet warned them overdoing it to the point where they became the very thing they were protesting against. And with the Berkley protests against Milo, the prophesy of Mr. Steven Stills has come to fruition.
I have no idea who Milo is, apart from the news stories that say he's white, gay and dating a black man. Sounds like the 'liberal' poster child to me. Yet many people didn't want him to publicly express certain ideas on a PUBLIC campus. I don't know what Milo's ideas are or what he intended to say, and it's irrelevant anyway at this point. These protesters were not content to just NOT go hear him speak, but they violently blocked him so that NOBODY would here him speak. By force, his voice was silenced on campus.
Which begs the question...
How's this the polar opposite of the theocratic/McCarthyesms that the previous generation rallied against? (The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, perhaps!) Both had a dogmatic view. Both made great efforts to silence opposition including costly measures against their socio-politcal opponents.
Y'know...
"There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong."
and
"Singing songs and carrying signs.
Mostly say 'hooray for our side!"
Interesting that Steven Stills, one of the greatest singers of the Hippie Movement once said in concert regarding the efforts to bring social changes, "If we can't do it with a smile on our face and love in our hearts then we've got no right to do it at all! Because we're supposed to be something different." (on the album Four-Way Street)
So far, I see no smiles or love from the U.C. Berkley protesters who assaulted people, smashed windows and set fires. Yes, the self-described 'liberals' in the U.S. have become the nest generation of Cotton Mathers and Joe McCarthys in their witch hunts to silence those who would dare challenge their dogma. (Where indeed HAVE all the flowers gone?) So in conclusion, people are alike all over. The more things change; the more they stay the same.
So I leave you with this:
"Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid.
Step out of line the man comes to take you away."
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