revolution by appointment only | Carl Davidson |
"Young people in the 1960s had acted as a critical force, holding up a mirror to the rest of society, prodding it to respond. The Black student sit-ins in the Deep South were a prime example, as were the antiwar students on the campuses and the young alienated GIs returning from Vietnam.
But this new insurgency was different in important ways. First, the 'long wars' had fed a deep crisis abroad, feeding both the Arab Spring 'square' occupations and a long-frustrated antiwar majority at home. Second, the financial crisis had alienated millions in the working class and other strata in a deep way. The labor upsurges in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio revealed an angry discontent in the U.S. heartland. So instead of taking years of 'critical force' protests to create and awaken a progressive majority, the young occupiers rather quickly found that they had large and important allies."
