(no subject)
I went to a book launch party / poetry reading today. The book - or anthology, rather - was a collection of poems written by draft dodgers from Vietnam, and just about all of them showed up today to read, which was pretty cool. You can imagine the sight of aging second-wavers in a cafe with a microphone and bongo drums. Yup.
By the way, second wavers? Show some love. Seriously. Believe it or not, we're not all the same punks as you had to deal with in those godawfull backlash years. We're a new wave, and quite frankly, we deserve a little respect as such, mmkay?
Of course I was the youngest person there: the only third waver. I was cool with it; we're not exactly the same, but we're certainly on the same page about most things. The issues have changed, but I like to think the mindset hasn't. Well, not entirely. Point is, people actually fucking got up and moved when I sat down. Eeeew, it's one of them. They don't understand.
You're right: I don't understand what it's like to dodge a draft. Just like you didn't know what it was like to live through the depression. And just like you don't know what it's like to try to kickstart a new wave while dealing with backlash and the AIDS crisis all at once. No, it's not as dramatic, and yes, we need to learn to take it to the street instead of the journals, but hey. Nobody's perfect - ya'll weren't either.
I felt like yelling at them "of course YOU were liberated. YOU didn't worry about being killed by your sex life."
Point is, third wave has struggles of it's own, and I think we'd be a lot better off if we could just play nice. Like the bisexual movement - those guys take shit from both sides, which probably pisses me off the most these days. Choose empathy instead of another seat, is all I'm say'n.
/rant
By the way, second wavers? Show some love. Seriously. Believe it or not, we're not all the same punks as you had to deal with in those godawfull backlash years. We're a new wave, and quite frankly, we deserve a little respect as such, mmkay?
Of course I was the youngest person there: the only third waver. I was cool with it; we're not exactly the same, but we're certainly on the same page about most things. The issues have changed, but I like to think the mindset hasn't. Well, not entirely. Point is, people actually fucking got up and moved when I sat down. Eeeew, it's one of them. They don't understand.
You're right: I don't understand what it's like to dodge a draft. Just like you didn't know what it was like to live through the depression. And just like you don't know what it's like to try to kickstart a new wave while dealing with backlash and the AIDS crisis all at once. No, it's not as dramatic, and yes, we need to learn to take it to the street instead of the journals, but hey. Nobody's perfect - ya'll weren't either.
I felt like yelling at them "of course YOU were liberated. YOU didn't worry about being killed by your sex life."
Point is, third wave has struggles of it's own, and I think we'd be a lot better off if we could just play nice. Like the bisexual movement - those guys take shit from both sides, which probably pisses me off the most these days. Choose empathy instead of another seat, is all I'm say'n.
/rant