Posers

In further preparation for the upcoming '60s event I read the Communist Manifesto. I had learned that the people who participated in the debate "Students in Revolt" seemed to have Marxist leanings, so I thought I should read some Marx.

And I can't help but kind of laugh about the university students acting like they can relate to the plight of the industrial proletariat. There is an entire section of the Manifesto dedicated to describing Socialist groups who aren't true Communists. Posers, if you will. None of the groups described are actually made up of the proletariat, which makes me think Marx doesn't think you can really be a Communist without being a proletarian. These students of the '60s who seem to idolize Marx (they took a picture by his grave after the debate) are surely middle class.

I wonder if anyone saw the irony.

1960s

What I learned today about demonstrations in Britain during the Sixties:

There were three protests held at Grosvenor Square in '67 and '68. During the last one, protesters broke into the American Embassy. One of the men who was behind the protests, Ali Jordan, said he wanted the Embassy occupied “for just as long as the Vietcong held the American Embassy in Saigon.”

Although the people involved were more interested in having a "weekend revolution" than in peace, these protests were considerably more tame than in other parts of Europe.

In June of 1968 the London School of Economics and the BBC hosted an international debate called "Students in Revolt." Several of the speakers were stopped by immigration, but were ultimately allowed to enter the country.

There is a Pinky and the Brain episode in which the Brain uses a circle of hippies as some sort of transmitter, maybe for a radio signal. Anyway, he reveals that his plan has worked because all hippies have braces. They have rich parents.

It is kind of funny to think about all these college kids discussing Marx at the pub and trying to change the world with their idealism and half-formed philosophies. Not that different from what college kids do now, actually. Well, with more debates and less breaking into Embassies.

Penguins

I went to the library today to find some books on the 1960's (doing research for an upcoming Ancient House event) and saw penguins. Now you have seen them, too.