Reflections on the 4th of July
These are the "Good Old Days"

As another 4th of July looms, I hear a growing drumbeat of unrest from those who claim that our country is being robbed of civil liberties, and that we are beginning to resemble the kind of autocratic, fascist states that we once claimed as being the "enemies of freedom." The Baby Boom Generation, of which I am a member, keeps talking about the "Good Old Days" and how the menacing dangers of modern society are robbing our children of the kind of halcyon childhoods that we experienced.

The Baby Boom Generation has very short and selective memories.

My formative years, starting with elementary school and ending as a graduate of the high school class of 1972, were anything but carefree. As a second grader, I clearly remember going to bed every night during the "Cuban Missile Crisis," wondering if it would be my last, as the world was plunged into a fireball of nuclear war.

I was in third grade when the dashing, young "Hope for the New World," and "ruler of Camelot" was assassinated, leaving me to wonder if we were doomed to be thrown back into the breach of nuclear annihilation.

I remember watching the Civil Rights March on Washington with my mother, both of us with tear-stained faces as Mahalia Jackson sang "I've Been 'Buked and I've Been Scorned." on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, just before Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech that would ignite millions to a higher mountain of thinking and action regarding human rights and equality for all Americans.

From fifth grade until my graduation from high school, the years were marked by almost monthly news of some church acolyte's brother, or a friend's cousin, or a friend's father whose name had been added to the roles of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for a war that nobody really understood.

In the summer between seventh and eighth grade, the Woodstock Music Festival ushered in the "Summer of Love," marked by a radical new freedom of counterculture peaceful demonstrations against war and the establishment. Naked painted bodies became both the symbol of absolute freedom and the most feared sign that the country was "going to hell in a hand-basket."

The next summer, the wheels fell off. The Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, with the Hells Angels killing a fan, was a clear sign that "Peace, love, and drugs" were not the answer to every situation. But nothing made that more clear than having play interrupted twice during Babe Ruth baseball games on hot summer "shirt sleeve" evenings, with the news of the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Again, we watched the nation come to the brink of what we perceived as a civil war of rage against peaceful protest, as the cities of America burned literally and figuratively with pain, hatred and retribution.

In 1971, a war that many questioned over motive and validity came into the harsh, critical magnifying glass of truth with the release by the New York Times of the "Pentagon Papers." As the death toll and myriad stories broadcast nightly across network news grew ever more prevalent and lethal, even the most loyal American began to question our leadership's motives and strategies for getting into the war, and continuing to "stay the course." With the release of these documents, few people could doubt that we were being led by deception and rhetoric with no real battle plan for success.

I had been told by a cousin returning from his tour in Vietnam, that I would be "a fool to go over there." I considered him a hero for his sacrifice, but he made it clear that this was a war that could not be won, and was simply a meat grinder for America's best and brightest. Once a funny, artistically creative person who loved life, he returned a broken man, with a depressed and angry inner soul, his demeanor making it clear that distance and solitude were his only future.

By the time it was my turn to have my birthday thrown into the draft lottery, the war was all but lost, and my year was the final military draft in our nation's history. I received a high number, 296, and never had to make the decision between doing what I felt a "Good American," former church acolyte and Boy Scout should do to serve his country, and the gnawing reality of futility in war as a solution to anything in the modern era, that my cousin's experience made so painfully obvious to me.

I marched in anti-war rallies, protested the senseless violence over the fears that "The Commies" were hell-bent on world domination. I wept when friends were killed, cheered when Nixon resigned, and wept again on hearing the stories of the millions murdered by their fellow countrymen in Vietnam and Cambodia after the war was "over."

So much for the "Good Old Days."

Let's be honest. Compared to the "Wonder Years" of the 60s and 70s, THESE are the "Good Old Days."

When Rodney King was beaten on the streets of L.A. and the cops that did it got off, the riots that ensued were almost justified. I say almost, because I know in my heart that like the riots of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. would say that violence and destruction does not solve anything and leaves innocent victims in its wake. But this was an isolated incident. When was the last time anyone was lynched, as was a common practice in the South in the pre-Civil Rights era before legislation was finally passed, and justice began to become the norm?

We have a LONG way to go before there are truly equal rights for every American citizen. But to compare the struggles of gays, or even those of immigrants trying to become part of our country, to the "Jim Crow" days of our history is ludicrous. We have a lot of work to do, but when it comes to personal freedom, these are the "good old days."

We complain about potential Government spying on our own citizens by wiretaps, phone record and bank record collection, and justifiably so. But can anyone really compare what goes on today with the completely out of control, abuses of power by the FBI, CIA and our own leaders in the 60s and pre-Watergate 70s? Credit card companies have more information on every United Stated citizen than most government agencies. When it comes to real protection of our rights as citizens, these are the "good old days."

We bemoan censorship in the press and on our airwaves. Does anyone remember the "good old days," when the "seven deadly words" for radio, or showing even a married couple in the same bed were grounds for network fines? Today, with cable and the ever-eroding standards for radio broadcasting, we would be hard-pressed to remotely begin to define just seven outrageous words and acts that have become common in our "enlightened culture." I think we have devolved to a society that is rife with drug, sex and violence as the norm for regular programming, and we are worse for it. But the definitions are protected by our Constitution, and we "the people" have the right to determine what we can and can't watch. When it comes to "freedom of speech," these are the "good old days."

I bemoan the talking heads of Cable News and Talk Radio for creating and perpetuating the divide between our country over partisan politics. But, on the worst day of partisan pandering and name-calling, are we even close to becoming the kind of witch-hunt gone awry that was the "McCarthy hearings?" Nobody in this day and age could get away with that kind of blatant "power run amuck in the name of freedom." When it comes to the ability to think what you want, practice any religion, follow any political ideology and do so in as public a manner as you choose, these are the "good old days."

There is one glaring difference between decades past and today, the degree to which the average American participates in the "American Process of Democracy." When it comes to exercising the one, most important right of an American citizen, the right to vote, our record in an enlightened, politically aware age is abysmal at best. Since 1960, voter turnout, even for Presidential elections has fallen from 63% to just over 50%.

What is even more amazing, is that with the rise in vitriol between parties, the huge struggle for control of the House and Senate, and an almost unending stream of news about corruption and pork spending during an era of record deficits and out-of-control government growth, voter turnout during congressional, non-Presidential years ranges from 33% to an atrocious 16%, depending on local and state referendums.

During the "Good Old Days," affluence meant a 2,500 sq. foot house, a color television and two late model cars. Today, the average American is considered "lower middle class" if they live in a house that is less than 2,000 square ft. with at least two vehicles, a big-screen television, cell phones, Internet, and a house filled with the latest gadgets and modern conveniences. Affluence today is measure in houses exceeding 5,000 sq. feet with six car garages and an intuitive command center of security, lighting, heating, and sprinkler systems. We have more, but appreciate it less.

In an age when the Internet, countless news channels, and talk radio bring the issues to us on a 24/7 basis with any political flavor we choose, when it comes to actually shaping the future of our country by electing leaders that serve our needs and then holding them accountable, over half of our legal voting age citizens would rather defer. And then, after choosing not to vote, complain about the condition of our political leadership, the loss of jobs, the rising cost of gasoline, the cost of "spreading freedom" throughout the world and myriad other issues we face as a nation.

This statistic is made even more shameful, when the elections in war-torn Iraq, where citizens literally risk their lives to vote, do so in numbers that represent between 68%-72%.

There is simply no nice, politically correct way to say it. Americans are lazy and ungrateful for what we have been given. By being members of the "lucky sperm club," we are automatically granted as American citizens, more opportunity, more freedom, and more power in the world, than any other nationality. It is irrefutable, and this reality makes our flagrant disregard for practicing "good citizenship" all the more disgraceful.

When I was young, almost every year we went to the town where my Grandfather lived, and celebrated the 4th by attending the town parade, eating enough burgers, watermelon and fresh cherries to make us sore at the sides, and then going to the city park, where they had set up an amusement park where we rode rides, ate cotton candy and then watched the fireworks. Norman Rockwell would have been proud.

Tomorrow, like every other 4th of July in recent history, my family and I will go to a local celebration at a park downtown that features art, wine tasting, all-day music and entertainment with a great fireworks display. It is a celebration of consumption and community that is about as American as one gets in a town that is so "politically correct" that it has outlawed any displays of Christmas decorations on its city streets, and has a "Slug Queen" as the royalty of its annual city celebration.

As I sit with friends, crammed blanket to blanket across every available square foot of the park in anticipation of the fireworks display, I know I will hear countless comments about politics. Eugene is a divided town, voting strongly left on many issues and candidates, but relying on the money, investments and compromise politics of the Right to keep it going. It is a hotbed for both the last bastion of counterculture ideals, and the strong underpinnings of lumber and agricultural heritages. Political discourse and debates are common, and the local media is rife with polarized discussion.

But we are no different than any other town in the country. Our voter turnouts are horrendous and contemptible. I know that in the upcoming elections, less than half of the voters will take the time from their "busy lives of excess and apathy" to exercise their greatest freedom. I know that while the Oregon Ducks can pack a stadium with more than 50,000 people, willing to shell out thousands for season tickets, less than half of them would show up for a vote over a school bond measure.

I am an ardent believer in the American Process and feel strongly that the vote, our right to protest publicly and the right to question our leadership's decisions are at the basis of what it means to be an American citizen.

As I look back upon 4th of July celebrations of the past, I am increasingly alarmed at the direction of apathy our country seems headed (if apathy can do anything except sit back and let others drive). As I sit with thousands of others, "ooooooing and ahhhiing" over the fireworks, tipsy with wine and microbrew beer, and basking in the celebration of our "freedom," I will do my best not to look into the faces of others, trying to figure out who the slackers are, and how hypocritical their complaints about our government have become.

In the rocket's red glare, I will thank God for allowing me to "win the lottery" and be born an American. I will remember that being an American citizen did not come without a heavy price of lives and treasury. I will also remember that "serving your country" can mean so much more than simply carrying arms to foreign lands in the name of "freedom."

I will remember that our country was founded by men who refused the status-quo and stood up for what was right, even in the face of death by accusations of treason, because they believed in their hearts, that there was a better, more equitable way to govern. I will remember that while it is not perfect, the American Constitution is still one of the most successful and enduring pieces of governance in the history of the world, not only for the rights it grants, but for the most important right of all, the right to protect our basic freedoms through exercising the right to vote.

If you haven't read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the other amendments that shape everything we are as Americans, do it today. It will remind you what a wonderful system of government we have, and what freedom as an American citizen really means.

It's here...online...waiting for you to become enlightened about the country in which you live. http://www.usconstitution.net/

Do it today. Then vote every chance you have.

God bless America and our freedom to choose…