From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Date: Wed Mar 03 1999 - 14:46:26 MST
>> Not to open a hornet's nest, but my comrades and I were certain
>> that cowardice was at the root of the protester's actions.
I think the most likely commonality of most protesters was just
an emotional, non-rational desire for non-conformity; the same
kind of kids who today are piercing and painting everything and
keeping Anne Rice in business. I'm sure there were some who were
motivated by cowardice, and I know at least one counterexample
to both: my mother, one of the most courageous people I have ever
known, who not only protested the war but did so while living on
an Air Force base while my father was off fighting it. I think
she even made Nixon's enemies list.
Even at the time, without hindsight, some arguments against the
war were quite rational. Particularly the argument that if it
were indeed a just war, why the limits? Why the secrecy? Why
the deception of the public? Any time the government does
something covertly, it should be questioned vigorously. I was
too young to fight, but I knew many people on both sides who
were motivated by honest beliefs, and many on both sides who
were motivated by cowardice or ignorance. I don't think
either was the "root" of their cause.
(For the sake of evaluating my historical point of view and that
of others who may enter this thread, I was born in 1963.)
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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