What were the equivalents of marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage 20 years ago? 40 years ago? Etc. And what policies did young people support that weren’t enacted?
Let’s see. In terms of youth subcultures, 1994 would be a little after grunge had peaked; punk would have been on its way out as a mass movement rather than a vestigial scene, but it still had some presence. Rage Against The Machine was probably the most politicized band I remember from that era, although it wasn’t linked to any particular movement so much as a generalized morass of contrarian sentiment.
Anti-globalization wouldn’t peak for another five years, but it was picking up steam. Race relations were pretty tense in the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots. Tibetan independence was a popular cause. I also remember environmentalism having a lot of presence—lots of talk about deforestation, for example. I don’t remember much in the way of specific policy prescriptions, though.
Bill Clinton had just been elected, and I think he introduced his health care reform plan about that time. That one failed, but I don’t remember it showing the same generational divisions that marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage now do. ’Course, I could be wrong; I was pretty young at the time.
Are you saying that these were distinctively supported by young people?
If so, I’m skeptical that “stopping the red scare witch hunts” falls in that category, at least if you mean McCarthyism. The others seem more reasonable to me.
Which one? I mean, superficially, the second option on the list (“Non-aligned countries”) is not actually a policy proposal, but I’m assuming the charitable reading is something like “Support for non-alignment”. Is that what you meant, or something else?
Neither was ending the Vietnam war. For that matter, did the Non-Aligned movement accomplish much of anything besides providing cover for various dictators?
I considered those two options but figured that they’re more muddled cases. Africa decolonization was clearly an order of magnitude worse than the worst-case interpretations of Vietnam+Nonaligned.
What were the equivalents of marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage 20 years ago? 40 years ago? Etc. And what policies did young people support that weren’t enacted?
Let’s see. In terms of youth subcultures, 1994 would be a little after grunge had peaked; punk would have been on its way out as a mass movement rather than a vestigial scene, but it still had some presence. Rage Against The Machine was probably the most politicized band I remember from that era, although it wasn’t linked to any particular movement so much as a generalized morass of contrarian sentiment.
Anti-globalization wouldn’t peak for another five years, but it was picking up steam. Race relations were pretty tense in the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots. Tibetan independence was a popular cause. I also remember environmentalism having a lot of presence—lots of talk about deforestation, for example. I don’t remember much in the way of specific policy prescriptions, though.
Bill Clinton had just been elected, and I think he introduced his health care reform plan about that time. That one failed, but I don’t remember it showing the same generational divisions that marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage now do. ’Course, I could be wrong; I was pretty young at the time.
A whole lot of things having to do with race, I believe.
This is what I don’t know, and would like to pick LW’s brains for.
Nuclear disarmament, Non-Aligned countries, decolonization of Africa, ending the Vietnam War, and stopping the red scare witch hunts.
Are you saying that these were distinctively supported by young people?
If so, I’m skeptical that “stopping the red scare witch hunts” falls in that category, at least if you mean McCarthyism. The others seem more reasonable to me.
One of these things is not like the others …
Ending the Vietnam War? Although young people in 1969 reported being more likely to sympathize with anti-war demonstrators’ goals, they were generally less likely to call the war a “mistake”, at least between 1965 & 1971.
Which one? I mean, superficially, the second option on the list (“Non-aligned countries”) is not actually a policy proposal, but I’m assuming the charitable reading is something like “Support for non-alignment”. Is that what you meant, or something else?
Decolonization of Africa.
I don’t get it. In what respect is that not like the others?
It wasn’t a good outcome.
Neither was ending the Vietnam war. For that matter, did the Non-Aligned movement accomplish much of anything besides providing cover for various dictators?
I considered those two options but figured that they’re more muddled cases. Africa decolonization was clearly an order of magnitude worse than the worst-case interpretations of Vietnam+Nonaligned.