Page 36 - TheGoldBug1969-70

PAGE 4 THE GOLD BUG NOVEMBER 21,1969 This decade has seen the emergence and mobilization with most of the country's Ills. But It in this country of a number of what I would personally Iogies and organizational forms of the refer to as «soctal-pohttcajv organizations, which have strongly espouses the notion of Individual continually expressed a growing concern for America's finds no applicable model elsewhere In poUtical and social rnsutuuons. Their concern has been In history, for what It thinks the U.S. primarily critical and has taken various forms from be- Along with these statements Mr. Burck ing peaceful and non-violent demonstrations to unlawful describe, however, the movement as being , and violent action. AddItionally, their views have been dlverse--as multUeveled and varted as humanitarian, anarchistic, reforming, and revolutionary. iety Itself. Its members have neither These are only a list of widespread generalizations party nne, neither national office nor that could be easily made by almost anyone. Although There Is no unanimity among them about I feel they are generally true, we as students should be tactics or even appropriate ends except more deeply aware of what others in our generation general way... As a result of this are doing. Often there Is too quick a tendency to blind- heartfelt commlttment to Individualism, the ly crtuctzs or accept the tenets of these organIzations has de!ied all attempts to bring its members by individuals in our society. Before we select and Into disciplined cohesiveness. Most of its commit ourselves to any set of principles and action carried out at the local level, by we owe it to ourselves and those around us to know just anarchist groups. Its national what we are selecting or rejecting. This article focu- often seek to set the tone for those ses upon the "student activists" in thIs country and I the national name-plates, are not really hope it wUl shed some light on their nature and system tlve of the Movement's nord groupings, and In a way whIch wUl allow for a better evaluation of them. quently little more than advisers to their In the January, 1969 Issue of Fortune Magaztne, Mr. ter s;" Charles Burck wrote an article entitled Student Activi- If we assume that most of these sts: Free-form Revolutionaries. In this article, Mr. Burck, made a number of statements concerning the "radical movement in the United States." Briefly, there are a number of baste characteristics he pointed out that underlie the movement as a whole. " .•.•the Movement, as It Is called,hadthesense of social obligation that characterizes leftist movements In gen- eral. The Movement finds Itself in agreement with the thesis that U.S. society has institutionalized exploita- tion, and it seems to be coming to an Informal accept- linked e People-- ance of the view that capitalism Is Inextricably by Michael Basile On a cold brisk November morning over 250,000 people movement has just recently taken. assembled in Washington, D.C. to show their total com- Their efforts to disrupt and alarm were unsuccessful, mitment for peace In Vietnam. The crowd would have been however, as the feeling of peace and the desire for non- much larger had not the threats of violence and the fear violence prevailed. It was a beautiful day. As I walked to of a replay of the 1968 Democratic Convention infected the assembly r was greeted by warm smlles, much need- this moratorium. It became apparent after only a few short ed coffee, and a friendship I have never known before. nears that these tensions and fears had no food for growth These were strangers. These were people I have never as the air of the entl re day was full and rich with peace. seen before, people with nothing in common but one dying There Is no denying the attack on the South Vietnamese urge to stop war, to stop killing. The goodness of the day Embassy or the vandalism committed at the Justice De- was heightened by the fact that this general feeling of love partment Saturday night. There is no justification for it spread to everyone; to par'Hclpator-s , to bystanders, to either, but the slmplefactremalnsthatonlya very minis- pollcemen. A common sight was a young, bearded man cule minority of radicals were associated 'with these vio- dtsplaytng his anti-war banner talking to a police officer lent and aggressive actions. Newspapers and those peo- and one offering the other a cup of coffee, a show of direc- ple dedicated to strangling this peace movement will for- tion, a warm smile. Amidthetension,amldall the threats ever rely upon these two events to prove to the American came that one unfaltering desire for peace. Many have public that it Is only young, Irresponsible communist- disputed, and many still do today, how much effect last orientated radicals who attend such gatherings like the one weekend will have on administrative policies. The mora- last Saturday In Washington. That Is sorer from the truth torium in October seemingly had no effect, and, judging to the point of being blasphemous. Less than one hundred from the steadfastness of our President, this month's people, representing a mere fraction o!themoratorlum's showing may not either. That Is sad. It Is so regrettable participants, actually vandalized the Justice Department that a president, a representative of his people, will watch Saturday night. a football game and refuse to even recognize the plea of handed down by fiat." Mr. Burck describes Their actions could hardly be called truly representative so many concered people. But his Ignorance and denial of the great maicrttywhowara sincerely non-violent. Dur- must be realized. This is why last weekend's moratorium !~~o~~~a(m~::in~;,s s~~eches, d;~,;;,i,,,tlo;,. Ing the rally in front of the Washington monument during may seem worthless assuming, of course, it wUl only be the day Ylpples and other radicals paraded their North brushed aside by Agnews as a mob of "Impudent snobs," contacts, pamphlets, and leaflets-·'educating' dents In a university or high school." Vietnamese flags accompanied by shoutsofHo-Ho,HoChl but its Immediate effectls not nearly as important as what Along with the S.O.s. there Is another ",:»"'o