You're Messing With the Wrong Generation
Becky Burgwin
We were born at the end of World War II to a generation
that had just won a war against pure evil. We were their hope for a
brighter future. The forbearers of a new era. An era of peace and
prosperity. An era of fun. We had hula-hoops, silly putty, slinkies and
slip 'n slides. We ate Spaghetti-o's, Alphabits, TV dinners and Spam. We
watched Ed Sullivan, I Love Lucy, The Flintstones and American Bandstand.
We witnessed the first manned space flight and prayed for Apollo 13. We
saw a man step onto the moon and suffered through the tragedy of the space
shuttle Challenger. We danced the jitterbug, the mashed potato and the
twist and listened to Murray the K, Porky Chedwick, and Wolfman Jack. We
brought you the Beatles, Motown, Bob Dylan, Sonny & Cher, Rock and
Roll, R&B and Woodstock. We inspired movies like Grease, The Graduate,
Animal House, and American Graffiti and TV shows like Happy Days,
Laugh-In, The Wonder Years and Saturday Night Live. We were there when
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and we saw the first black students
walk into their federally desegregated college. We heard Martin Luther
King say "I have a dream" and then we watched as he was gunned
down. We witnessed the murders of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, Bobby Kennedy
and John Lennon and the premature deaths of Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix,
Jim Morrison and Elvis.
But, through all of this, what stood out most of all, what came into our
living rooms night after night right along with Bonanza and The Wonderful
World of Disney, was war. A war that was happening half way across the
world complete with visions of napalmed children, self-immolating monks
and huge helicopters flying over palm trees. We asked our parents what was
going on but they didn't have very good answers. We asked our teachers the
same question but never got very satisfactory replies. Then as we got
older and started demanding to know what you were doing over there, you
said, "None of your business. Shut up and register for the
draft." It didn't take long before it was us you were sending over
there and we were forced to take to the streets shouting, "Hell no,
we won't go," and singing, "All we are saying is give peace a
chance." We dropped out, grew our hair, dressed, danced, sang, played
music, made love, got high and changed all the rules with only one thing
in mind" to get your attention and show you that it's possible to end
war and live in peace. And when we were done, it was over. We had won. Do
you know who we are? We're Greasers, Hoods, Beatniks, Long Hairs, Freaks,
Hippies and Yuppies.
Now there's a new war. Well, it's not really new. It's the same old song
and dance, really. The same old lies and fabrications. Just history
repeating itself thanks to those who, if they ever did learn it, seem to
have forgotten. So once again, millions of us all over the world tried to
tell you, "Hell no, we won't go," and "Please, please give
peace a chance." But you didn't listen. You invaded a country. You
destroyed homes, cities, schools, power plants, palaces, museums and
hospitals. You killed thousands and thousands of innocent people and
hundreds of good kids who were willing to give their lives for their
country. And this time, when we asked you why, you told us it was to give
them something you call "freedom". But, you see, we don't think
the kind of freedom you're talking about is actually real freedom at all.
In fact, we don't think the people in that country are feeling anything
that even remotely resembles freedom right now. We think they're feeling
devastated. We think they're feeling fear and horror. We think they're
wondering where their children are and where they're going to sleep
tonight and how they're going to get food and water and shelter from the
sweltering desert sun. And we're almost positive that if they did this to
us, you wouldn't call it freedom. You'd call it terrorism. Oh, and one
other thing. A long time ago there were these smart men who, unlike you,
cared about our country and its future. And they predicted that people
like you would come along and try to use something called a
"military-industrial complex" to acquire even more money than
you already had. We don't know exactly what that is but it sounds a lot
like what you're doing when you give huge, expensive contracts to your
friends to re-build things that you actually destroyed.
So here's the thing. We're tired of being lied to over and over, day after
day, while the rest of the world looks on in pity and disgust and we'd
just like you to know a few things. We think your war stinks. It stinks of
lies and greed and murder and stupidity. There's no honor, no truth, no
accountability, no remorse. In college we learned that people like you are
called sociopaths but we think you're just plain evil. So we just wanted
to give you a heads up and let you know"we're baaaaack. That's right.
Remember us? The Hippies and the Freaks? Well, we're the Baby Boomers now.
And, guess what? We're all grown up and we have money"and not only that,
one of us is going to be the next president. So fasten your seat belts
kids. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. And any day now you're going to figure
out that things aren't as hunky-dory as you thought they were because, as
much as you tried to pull the wool over everybody's eyes and get rich
quick off your dirty little war, it just ain't gonna happen. Why? Because,
plain and simple, you're messing with the wrong generation.
Ms. Burgwin's writing has appeared in Newsweek, Time, New York Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review as well as several online Op Ed sites. She is also involved in gay rights, women's issues and the environment. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family
