MovieChat Forums > The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) Discussion > why don't people....

why don't people....

posted 17 years ago by sarah29683
11 replies | jump to latest

protest the war in iraq? i wasn't alive in the 60's but if i was i would have been a radical anti-war activist. why don't they protest now? there are so many people saying that we have no business being in iraq, the same as vietnam. also the fact that they osracized the soldiers when they came back. was is there fault? no, they were drafted, they didn't have choice.

so anyway before i ramble on can someone tell me why there aren't as many protests and if there are, where can i sign up?

[–] gusssss 17 years ago

You know, I love the States a lot, I come here all the time for business and vacations(Chicago right now). Since Bush Jr. happened to you, though, this same question just won't stop reverberating inside my head. It's so ridiculously the same situation, it's like one of those remakes the movie studios have been doing. And you know what, the fact that you don't protest anymore is sad. But the reason for that, in my opinion, comes from the fact that the system has learned how to always win. In Lennon's case he won, he stayed in the States after all. But now there's no end to how big a stronghold that a group of people can have on power as the become government. After all the man is clearly a moron, has all kinds of limitations and liabilities that would disallow him into being tha Man. Still: he's there, no matter what goes on in Iraq, or Iran (which seems to be next) or even in New Orleans. But hey Sarah, sorry for rambling on.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] paultbaker 17 years ago

I think there's two distinct reasons why we don't have the same level of protest as we did back during Vietnam.

1st: Vietnam didn't have a 9/11. There was no beginning rallying event like the one that gave the current American administration the opportunity it neaded to invaded a non-involved country. Vietnam, unlike Iraq, wasn't well supported by the majority of Americans from the beginning, protest came more easily.

2nd: We no longer have the Draft. If every kid in America graduating from high school had the 'Sword of Rumsfeld' hanging over them we'd see a lot more of them taking to the streets. Think of all the people you know between the ages of 18 and 25. Now imagine if 1-in-5 or 1-in-6 would be sent to Iraq. Would you be more vocal?

"Film is a mosaic of Time."
-A. Tarkovsky

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Writer01603 17 years ago

We Support the Troops We Don't Support The War. Bring Our Boys Home!

The anti-war movement during Vietnam had some dumb jerks but not the majority, who insulted soldiers calling them baby killers.

American youth I think like the idea of a soldier, if people could send the message that We Need To Support Troops But Not The War, and the best way to support soldiers, is that when you're not giving them the equipment they need, the respect they deserve when they're injured (I believe there should've been a revolution when Walter Reeds was discovered, that was a slap in the face to every soldier and every American who ever thought their tax money was going to the soldiers).

[–] Katz5 17 years ago

I agree with Piccolo. We Americans have our little bubbles now, thanks to American Idol, professional sports and other forms of total escapism.
With so much sensory input (cell phones, emails, iPODS, Blackberries, etc), it's hard for many Americans to sit back and think about how this country has been hijacked by this administration and its blind followers.

A few months ago, on a particular day that saw several U.S. troop casualities in Iraq, I commented about it at work. A co-worker said, (exact quotes), "I don't want to talk about that....who won on American Idol last night?"

The apathy in the '70s was nothing compared to now.

Human Beings...Wow

[–] MightyYar 17 years ago

I want to offer an alternative explanation. Some of us are not what you would call "anti-war", and accept that we need to stay in Iraq for a while until it calms down a bit, or at least until most of the anger is directed at us instead of at each other. Some of us just feel that we shouldn't leave Iraq until civil war is not completely certain upon withdrawal.

That said, it could take 10 years or so for that to happen - in the meantime, troops will die every single day. Some of us, and this may include your co-worker, don't want to spend the next 10 years talking about nothing but troop casualties every day. Other topics are still interesting (though American Idol is not).

I want to emphasize that I am not putting your anti-war stance down - it's a perfectly valid viewpoint. I just think that the consequences of simply pulling out of Iraq are too severe. We made mistakes in this war, and we have to stick around an take our medicine. I feel that starting the current mess and then pulling out is irresponsible, and that the discussion about the war should transcend body count.

[–] klatuu02 17 years ago

Perhaps it would be too ridiculously obvious to point out that
there has been no draft for Iraq? I think that would motivate a lot of people
to protest in exactly the same level that people were protesting about Vietnam.
And remember, this would be the first war that if a draft was implemented
it would be targeting men and women. How many middle class and wealthy fathers could you see supporting a war that their son or daughter had to fight in?
The thing that has kept the protests to a minimum is the lack of a draft.

[–] MTulliver 16 years ago

People DO protest the war in Iraq!

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

There's one, for starters.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Anna86 15 years ago

Sarah, I HAVE protested a lot against war in Iraq in these past few years, and I'm not even American. I'm Italian...there were 3 million people rallying in the streets in Rome on 15th Feb 2003 against a possible war in Iraq and I was one of them. that was about a month BEFORE the war actually started. I don't know exactly about the US, but over here in Europe there were lots of demonstrations in that period. They might not have been very "60s" or "70s" but they were protests anyway.