General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSensibilities can change radically as generations change
And once they do, they no longer are perceived as radical. I was reminded of that (and of my own youth) while watching a clip of AOC being interviewed on 60 minutes. Her generation, by and large, does not hold the political reigns in America. I suppose mine now does, but we sure as hell didn't when I was her age. I was a part of "the counter culture", and though we couldn't stop the Vietnam war on a dime we managed to change the world in ways that were lasting to the point that it's hard to remember how it used to be. The Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, the Environmental Movement, the Sexual Revolution and more, all left lasting marks. The average American literally sees the world differently today largely because of the effect of generational changes.
Sometimes change happen faster than at other times, but in its early stages it very seldom is taken seriously by those in charge. But fast forward a decade or so and the world can be dramatically different none the less. I remember in the early 80's crossing over from West Berlin into East Berlin. It was a pretty damn dramatic transit. Now it is all just Germany, and it has been for decades. China once was called Nationalist China, then it was Red China, now it more or less is simply China.
AOC thinks the rich should pay their fair share. She extols the virtue of progressive taxation, and explains how the higher tax rates only cut in on dollars earned once a person is already pretty damn wealthy. The money raised could then help save our planet from severe climate change for many generations yet unborn. Divorce that view for just a second from pragmatic calculations as to what it now politically feasible. On the face of it I would say that is a pretty sane way to collectively deal with a grave pending crisis that will require a mass mobilization to even somewhat effectively counter.
It's not as if Americans have no experience in that type of thing. Study what we achieved after we entered World War II some time. Comb through the history of victory gardens and war bonds, food and gas rationing, women entering the work place in overwhelming numbers to replace men gone off to war, the virtually instant creation of a massive merchant marine fleet, the shifting of production lines from assembling private autos to assembling tanks etc. But generations now in power have grown set in their ways again, and used to reality the way reality seems to them today. Dramatic change is radical, radical is impracticable, and impracticable means it ain't gonna happen. That's without even factoring that those who most benefit from any status quo tend not to let go of that without a fight, of some kind anyway. Same as it ever was.
So AOC sounds radical, she seems impracticable, and she's not going to get her way any time soon, that's for sure. To which I say One: what she believes in makes a whole lot of sense and Two: if by any time soon you mean this session of Congress, correct, it's not going to happen. But generations of Americans below 40 have a different world view than the currently prevailing one. And if you drop that down below thirty the differences become even more stark. AOC has few if any peers in Congress. But she has tens of millions of them across America. Her voice does not represent all her peers precisely, no one voice ever does. But change is coming, and what may seem radical today can become conventional wisdom in time for a tomorrow that is rapidly approaching.
ret5hd
(20,433 posts)irisblue
(32,829 posts)"So AOC sounds radical, she seems impracticable, and she's not going to get her way any time soon, that's for sure. To which I say One: what she believes in makes a whole lot of sense and Two: if by any time soon you mean this session of Congress, correct, it's not going to happen. But generations of Americans below 40 have a different world view than the currently prevailing one. And if you drop that down below thirty the differences become even more stark. AOC has few if any peers in Congress. But she has tens of millions of them across America. Her voice does not represent all her peers precisely, no one voice ever does. But change is coming, and what may seem radical today can become conventional wisdom in time for a tomorrow that is rapidly approaching."
New days coming.
LisaM
(27,759 posts)I do get really tired of people not giving props to the generations before them.
Don't forget that Americans essentially elected Al Gore in 2000, and with him at the helm (as we wanted), we'd have had massive environmental gains versus what actually did happen. The difference between now and the 1960s is that many of those that came before are on the same page with her, and her failure to acknowledge that really, really rankles.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,911 posts)I don't mean to discount generations before. For example I heaped praise on generations before my own for what they did to defeat fascism and totalitarianism both before and during my own lifetime. And, like I said, we changed the world through the movements we engaged in etc. I am only saying that a world view is not as solid as it seems. Prevailing wisdom today, regardless of it's value or lack of same, may turn 180 degrees in less than a decade in significant aspects.
I say that in the face of those who judge what is pragmatically practical by measuring possible changes against the standard of what is, rather than what can be.
LisaM
(27,759 posts)I'm just tired of being dismissed because everything I worked for didn't happen.
True Blue American
(17,972 posts)Taking up the mantle of those generations. I have never seen so many becoming involved except during the Vietnam war.
People like John Kerry and others were vilified by the right. But they were on the right side.
Now,we need someone to end these useless wars that Bush, Cheney,the MSM started.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)That's a good way to summarized it!
DFW
(54,052 posts)Look at Iran 40 years ago, for example.
underpants
(182,274 posts)Nitram
(22,671 posts)stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)McKim
(2,412 posts)Please people, never view the Anti War Movement as a failure. We did end the War on Vietnam and we discredited the Wars on the Middle East enough so that they are very very unpopular.
If a vote were held today US voters would vote us out of these wars on Iraq, Syria, Lybia and Elsewhere. If you have ever been a part of this movement, congratulate yourself and never say that we failed, we didnt!!!
Tom Rinaldo
(22,911 posts)I merely stated that we didn't stop the Vietnam War on a dime, which we didn't. Just because some fights can't be won in a matter of months, or even in a couple of years, does not make them not worth fighting
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,038 posts)You can't turn by holding to the same old path.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)some conservative tendencies.
True Blue American
(17,972 posts)And I am more than ready for the change.
I see this Government as a last gasp of the dying old ways and hope to live long enough to see the massive change.
I think the fact of people losing decent Health care and the brutalization of both Congress and the Presidency has awakened people to what is happening to their values and Liberty.
pecosbob
(7,507 posts)that now make me cringe for their overt racism and sexism, like John Ford's films. In the forties and fifties it almost seems there was a cottage industry making racist jokes in popular music. Danny Kaye was a phenomenal musician, actor and comedian...half his routines were racist or sexist gags. It doesn't take very long for our 'enlightened' world view to become a caricature of close-mindedness.