Or am I being tainted by my memories of Vietnam

Probably. The thing about the Vietnam protests was that they were huge- against two administrations (Johnson and Nixon) that were losing 200 young men a week for much of the war, and covering up the disaster by using the mushroom theory of communication to cover up their serial failures (often in stark contrast to the images being shown by CBS, NBC, ABC and Life Magazine). And young men, conscious of their draft lottery numbers, wanted no part of that war.

With the shelving of the draft, and the relative paucity of combat deaths in both Afghanistan and Iraq, young men (and women, just don’t feel the urgency to go out and protest.

Plus- what have protests actually changed?

Yes- activism.

Organization. Supporting voter registration and voter rights. Financial support for advocacy groups, independent press. Volunteering in local programs and initiatives that address human needs etc etc etc.

Haven’t attended a protest since 1970. But have participated in many of the alternatives listed above.

As Michelle Obama said recently, “Do something!”

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