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The Lessons of Isla Vista: cont...
 5)
The young people may be upsetting us with their external appearances
(long hair and beards), but they are concerning themselves with
more than the externals. And this is one of the basic reasons
that the unrest won't soon go away. There is a new value system
emerging in this country, starting with the youth but not limited
to them. It is becoming one of the new facts of life for the rest
of us to deal with. It challenges basic assumptions that we not
only have taken for granted, but that have virtually dominated
our national life for most of our lives.
 When
Calvin Coolidge in 1925 said, "The business of America is
business," a thoughtful people nodded "Why yes--that's
right." Today's young people are saying, "That's not
enough." Some are going further and saying; "Business
is ruining America. Business is destroying our natural resources--polluting
our air and our water--and why? To produce garbage--things we
don't need--and must throw away to keep the economy going. It's
a garbage economy, and we don't need it."
The people who are talking this way are not all hippies and are
not all young . . . . (P)eople have come to regard the "system"
as some kind of conspiracy. (but) Let's think about it:
The struggle for just the bare necessities dominated men's lives
through most of history. Then, all of a sudden, just within one
lifetime, have come all of the technological breakthroughs that
change all that. It was not surprising that we should all get
swept up in the excitement of producing--and in the excitement
of the whole game of producing things.
. . . The ones who could do the most of that were the greatest heroes.
Now we wake up to realize that in the process of "conquering"
nature, we were in fact destroying it--and destroying part of
our own lives with it.
 For
generations we have been mouthing the clich, "You can't stand
in the way of progress." Now there is a new generation that
is saying, "The hell you can't." That generation and
an increasing number of its elders--are saying, "Prove to
us that it really is progress." In a sense, that is the essence
of everything that is stirring and boiling and seething: thoughtful
people in increasing numbers are asking about one thing after
another, "Is it really progress--progress for the human condition?"
. . . And we shouldn't have to wait for them to ask the question--because
these should be our questions, too. This deterioration of the
quality of life isn't something that just happens to other people;
when it happens, it happens to us, too.
And because they think we are blind, or are refusing to see all
these things that seem so plain to them, they are increasingly
turning their backs on the things that we have said were important
. . . . They don't know all of what they want--that's part of
why they are so confused and mixed up--but they know they don't
want that.
6) . . . (T)he final lesson--what to do about it . . . . To this,
I don't have all of the answers . . . only one or two.
The first one is to communicate; and it really calls for a second; open your minds and keep them open.
I would suggest that . . . each of you find a college-age youth--student
or not--and spend some time with him, to find out what's going
on in that world that is crowding in on our heels.
 And
if you do, remember that God gave you two ears and only one tongue--use
them in that proportion . . . . (A)s one who has tried it, let
me say that it will be a sobering and maybe even a humbling experience
. . . . (I)t will shock the pants off you, it will jar and shake
most of the assumptions we all have grown up with.
. . . These (issues) aren't things that other people need, that
other people want, that other people expect of us. These are for
us--we need the clean air, etc.--for ourselves and our families.
They should be a part of our value system.
. . . (T)here are some hard-core radicals bent on the destruction
of the "system" (and) . . . there is another group committed
to the "system." But in between is the great, great
majority of students and other young people, troubled, disturbed,
questioning . . . waiting to be pulled either way. We can win
them, if we are willing to work at it--if we are really willing
to revolutionize the system from within--in order to make it conform
more closely with the value systems and needs of today--rather
than the value systems and needs of yesterday. In fact, we will
be halfway home if they are convinced that we are really, sincerely
willing to work at it. Because part of what lies at the root of
their dissatisfaction, is the feeling that our generation just
doesn't care about theirs.
We have two choices as to which way we can go. We can divide into
camps and shoot it out; or we can try to find common grounds so
that we can grow together again . . . . One course will bring
bloodshed, destruction and ultimate crushing of . . . the human
spirit; the other course can bring peace and with it, a hope for
the rekindling of the American Dream.
The hour is late; there isn't much time. But the choice is still
ours.
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