The Decade of the 70's

I've just finished reading a book, How We Got Here - The 70's: The Decade That Brought You Modern Life - For Better Or Worse, by David Frum. I heard it recommended by Evan Sayet in his speech to the Heritage Foundation (which was not given much discussion here for some reason). The book takes a look at some of the major cultural and political events in the 60's, 70's and 80's that have shaped this country into what we are today. I found it fascinating, not just because the 70's was the decade in which I came of age, but because so much of what happened then explains what we see happening around us.

to read the rest....

Frum's basic working hypothesis is that the middle decades of the 20th century were marked by stability and cultural conservatism - caused by circumstances in the eary part of the century, such as war and mobilization for war, the heyday of heavy industry, a depression, and the birth of big social programs. These circumstances, he posits, convinced Americans to submit to "unprecidented direction and regimentation," thus resulting in stability and calm. In the 60's, the pendulum began to swing back as Americans chaffed at this control imposed upon them, and in the 70's the pendulum gained speed and reached for its maximum height. The self-indulgent, individualistic, fractious, restrictions-smashing movement we see in its maturity today thus was born.

Of course, Vietnam played a huge role in the day, and in a chapter called, "Our Inordinate Fear of Communism," Frum details some of America's actions in the final days of that war. I wasn't aware of much of what occurred, especially the pathetic cut and run we pulled off. I mean, I realized that we pulled out and left a disaster which eventually led to the slaughter of the Cambodians, but I didn't realize how political the decision was, and how heartfelt the pleas were to not abandon our friends. What we are experiencing today is eerily similar, and I cannot imagine how our politicians could not have learned from that disaster.

How did the war end? By congress cutting off funds to the military. As the North Vietcong closed in for the kill, congress reduced the military aid to South Vietnam from 2.1 million in 1973 to 700 million in 1975. When the Pentagon tried to shift some leftover funds to help South Vietnam out in 1973, Senator Edward Kennedy mobilized a 43-38 Senate vote to forbid the expenditure. Giving South Vietnam the money it needed to survive, he said, "would perpetuate involvement that should have ended long ago."

President Ford made some last minute appeals, especially for Cambodia, which fell on deaf ears. Finally, on April 12, 1975, the last of the Americans were helicoptered off the roof of the embassy - a picture we often see as depicting the evacuation of the Vietnam war. We offered to evacuate some of the leading figures in the Cambodian government at that time, but the vast majority of them refused. A former Cambodian prime minister declined in a letter:

"I thank you very sincerly for your letter and for your offer to transport me toward freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it."

The man was later shot in the stomach by the Khmer Rouge, and it took him 3 days to die a horrible death.

I have scanned this chapter so you all can read it. I hope you do. I would encourage you to get the book from the library and read it all. It will make you shake your head in wonder and amazement, and will also give a perspective to what we see going on around us today.