The Dangers of Obnoxiousness

I have a recording (We Shall Overcome) of Pete Seeger, the legendary folk singer, playing at Carnegie Hall in 1963. Seeger was widely known for his left wing views, and had been blacklisted in the 50s. For him to be playing Carnegie Hall was a triumph for him personally, and for the liberal movement in general. More then likely, everyone in that room held left-wing views, and Seeger even points out several left-wing activists in the crowd.

Pete Seeger had plenty of reason to be angry. He could have used the occasion to lash out at those who had tried to ruin his career (as a result of his political views. Instead he dedicated his performance to those working so hard in the civil rights movement.

"If you would like to get out of a pessimistic mood yourself, I got one sure remedy for you. Go help those people down in Birmingham and Mississippi and Alabama," he says before launching into an awe-inspiring rendition of "We Shall Overcome".

What struck me about the whole two disc set was how upbeat and positive it is...This is a snapshot of when the liberal movement knew what it wanted...It had a purpose, a direction...It was a positive movement that fought for positive change.

...And then I look at the liberal movement today. I see these punks lashing out against police because some leaders want to talk in peace. I see these people tying up traffic in major cities, just to piss people off. They spew this rhetoric that stings like acid. All I hear are these "minds that hate", the people that John Lennon tried to warn the movement about in "Revolution This is no longer a positive movement. The positive movement of 1963 has turned into a negative movement in 2003.

Where I grew up is a mere minutes drive from Kent, Ohio. My parents when to Kent State...Several relatives went to Kent State. I've had teachers then went to Kent State. So, needless to say, I hear a lot about May 4th, 1970.

What you had were Marxists and other extreme leftists that came to Kent State from the outside (they were not students) and incited a rather unrulely protest to the war in Vietnam. They burried a copy of the Bill of Rights. That was free speech. Then they burned down the ROTC building. That was not free speech. At that point, the governor called in the National Guard to enforce the peace. He went to his grave without entirely explaining that decision. On May 4th, another protest occured, and the protestors began screaming at, and throwing stones at the line of National Guard soldiers (most of whom were the same age as the protestors). Someone got spooked, as as I'm sure you know, the National Guard opened fire and killed four people, some of whom were merely watching the protest.

This is what happens with negative movements. Obnoxiousness turns to hate, and things snowball from there.