Cross posted at the Daily Kos
Yesterday was my birthday, and it made me think of a lot of things. Since we’re in the political realm I’ll just share with you guys what I think is relevant. One of the things I have noticed over the years is how birthdays at one point in my life used to entail this feeling of complete unbridled joy. I remember waking up and just feeling the excitement of having a day in which each person I was close with dedicated a certain portion of their time just to celebrate me. Year after year this feeling seems to fade away, and is replaced by wanting to be around friends and family but not feeling the need for the attention and self-centered nature that the birthday originally entailed, but the nostalgia remains. So yesterday when I woke up and was officially twenty-four, I thought to myself, that this was supposed to be a special day, a day just for myself and a day where this is socially acceptable.
When I woke up and was reading the newspaper I found this hard! I don’t know how else to say it, but I think we live in pretty fucked up times. We have two wars going on, which are totally out of discussion in our media, at least what’s really going on. We have an administration that doesn’t care about its own people (unless you are a white Christian, I kid); why should I be celebrating my birthday on such a day? How can I just forget about all of what is going on and just be apathetic for a day and ignore the world? This takes effort. It takes effort to pretend that I am not apart of this world and that what is happening does not affect me. But I managed to pull it off. I managed to have a great time with my friends and family. What I really wonder is how Republicans can make an ideology out of this. Republicans live like everyday is their birthday.
what it would be like to be this age (i’m 24 too) during the Vietnam War. I really should have a chat with my parents about this. From the commentary I’ve read on Nixon and that war, I see alot of parallels.
I know what you mean about the guilt bit, but at the same time I have a lot of resolve to work towards change. I guess that’s why I’m a frequenter at the blogs, it gives me hope that I’m doing something right by opposing the atrocities of the Bush Administration. I worked hard to get John Kerry some electoral votes from Arizona, but it was hard to fight against the conservative onslaught of people that are in the Phoenix area. It’s tough being in a red state, but we are out there as progressives to lend a hand where we can. Thanks for the diary deano, don’t forget to give yourself some time to have fun everyday, and Feliz Cumpleanos!
Man Eegee, it would have been pure crap to be 24 then. Draft was first all men under a certain age and then it was if you were married no draft, then 1 kid and then 2. It was a sweat out every time the lottery was held and your number might come up. It meant that we, none of us were secure that our men and our sons, would not be sent.
The news coverage then was wall to wall vietnam, all the pics. of battles, body bags, rescues, burning, napaalm, agent orange, plane crashes, more dead every day, not just one or two but dozens.
Same as today and I did a diary of a little about this man, called remembering the 60’s and 70’s. The parallels are all over the place, right down to the president approval ratings.
Happy Birthday Deano…..
Thanks Diane. Sometimes having people put things in perspective like you and Wayward Wind have done is helpful.
I went into the Army when I was 18, to Vietnam when I was 19, and celebrated my 20th birthday there. Shot to hell two months later. Got out of the hospital shortly before my 21st birthday, and was astounded to find that I could not legally buy a beer in most states.
I reflect on it from the opposite direction as you: I looked at my kids when they hit those ages (now in their twenties) and found myself absolutely horrified at the thought that they could have wound up in a similar situation.
Old men lie, young folks die.
Thanks Man Eegee, that’s some good advice. We need more people like you in the red states.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEANO!!
Great age, 24. Enjoy it. Play more, worry less, when you can do something to help effect change, do it! Enjoy your days, you deserve it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !
Thanks Shirlstars!
My birthday pretty much got totally hosed this year; it was in March, a month after my mom’s funeral and we were in the midst of clearing out her house, and my in-laws were in Oregon at a memorial service for my mom-in-law’s sister (there’s been waaaay too much death in my family the last couple of years). I finally got the celebration at the end of April, combined with celebrating the spouse’s and my 14th anniversary.
I think the important thing on birthdays (and actually every day), is instead of dwelling on what’s wrong in the world today, to think of what’s right that you want to fight for. If you dwell too much on all the bad stuff, there’s the temptation to just say, “Screw it!” and give up…or worse, switch to the “winning” team and become a Republican.
Think about what’s good in your life: family, friends, job (or school). Reflect on the fact that you have a roof over your head, food on your table, a computer to post your thoughts…then remember those who aren’t so lucky, and work on finding ways to help them.
Here endeth the birthday sermon…
I just turned 32 (born during Watergate, six months after Roe vs Wade.)
I’m just old enough to remember the omnipresent possibility of dying without warning in a nuclear war. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the world today has gone even more wrong than that.
Happy belated birthday.
Its hard to wonder what is worse, the feeling of nuclear war at any time, or the thought that extremsism could win over in our world.
12 June 1917. 88 years old. Survived the flu epidemic that killed his mother when he was two years old, The Depression, WWII, the Cold War, Korea, McCarthy, Vietnam (with two of his three sons coming home on stretchers), Nixon/Kissinger, Watergate, Reagan, Central America, Iran/Contra, and two Gulf wars.
And still rants every single day about Bush/Cheney, et al., being the most evil people who have ever been in charge.
(Cross-posted at dKos as well)
Thanks for this – my bd is coming up next week, I hope you’ve taught me something about how to spend my day in a totally different way. I’ll be 56 – yikes!
I was there and remember it so well. I had one friend who applied for a ‘conscientious objector’ draft status. He did it successfully on his own, with no support from his parents (who remembered the ‘good war’)
I had another friend who starved himself in hopes of being underweight for the draft. He was already thin, but said if he had to die, he’d at least be home. Some went to Canada, some went to jail. I knew several who went and came home to ptsd, including one suicide.
I had a brother who joined the navy in the knowledge that he would avoid the ground war that way. My other brother was blessed with a good lottery number.
I did what I was supposed to do as a girl – prayed for them all.
Please know that it wasn’t the same for all of us. Check out the ratio of black soldiers to white, and who they’re recruiting now. You already know what George did during the war – take a look at Dick Cheney’s ability to avoid service. Nine months and 2 days after it was announced that married men without children were no longer exempt from the draft, Lynne Cheney delivered Dick’s first child.
Oh yes, it was a terrible time, and so is this. But my birthday’s coming, I must celebrate my life.
my oldest niece was born 10 months after my sister’s wedding — her fiance/husband was in his last year of college, so they went from one deferment to another.
Since he was an engineer at Lockheed, it’s possible he could’ve avoided service anyway, but they weren’t taking any chances.
My brother had a mild hearing problem, but it was probably enough to get him declared 4F if he had been called. I forget what his number was, but I think it was high enough where he didn’t have to worry in 1971.
Despite the claims that there will never be a draft, I have the forms to apply to be on the local Selective Service Board, to review people’s requests for exclusion. (My criterium would be that if they voted for Bush, they’re going, no questions asked.)