I Declare The War Is Over...in 1968

For those of you who do not know who don't know who Phil Ochs is, he is possibly the greatest and most insightful folk singer to come out of the Vietnam era. His songs are also really really good, on top of being powerful. In fact, Bob Dylan once even said, “I just can't keep up with Phil. And he's getting better and better and better.” The reason you probably have never heard of Ochs is because he committed suicide at the age of 36. (Interesting, it was revealed after his death that the FBI had a 410-page file on him.)



On my way home today, I was listening to my iPod, thanks to my new iTrip (so cool, it let's me listen to my iPod over my car stereo). Anywho, the song, "I Declare The War Is Over" came on. Here is a snippet of the lyrics:

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grizzly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame
Pardon me if I refrain

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

So do your duty, boys, and join with pride
Serve your country in her suicide
Find the flags so you can wave goodbye
But just before the end even treason might be worth a try
This country is too young to die

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

The scary party is that I think that most of this is just as true today as it was almost 40 YEARS AGO.

The first part reminded me, of course, of the protests last August in front of the RNC, in New York City. There were over 30,000 protestors, changing slogans, but really, it was just a lot of anger, and I felt that that protest, and many protests in general, are really just an opportunity for some people to make themselves feel better. On that day, 30.000 people did absolutely nothing but clog up traffic in Midtown. No one's mind was changed as a result of the protest: conservatives probably became more conservative when they watched it and liberals just nodded their heads in agreement.

Wow, I was planning on writing a pretty negative entry, about how America is stupid for not learning from its past, and how the idea of studying history to not repeat mistakes is bullshit. I certainly believe the latter, and the fact that Phil Ochs could write song lyrics 40 years ago that fit the present day scenario perfectly seems to prove this.

But I think that below all of this is really a message of hope. Many people, from my friends, to family, to political pundits on TV, have said that the War on Terror is the end of the American Empire. They've said that we've lost our power in the world, and that we've lost the respect of almost every single other country. Further, if we ever do regain respect, it will take at least a generation or two.

I disagree.

40 years ago, people thought the exact same thing. They thought that we were being hegemons by invading countries we had no business invading. But look at what happened: Things turned out pretty okay. Now, I am not in any way, shape, or form supporting the War on Terror, or President Bush, or any of that. But maybe the one thing we can learn from the past is that things will be okay. As the fat black guy said in Harold and Kumar, "The universe tends to unfold as it should." Granted, "as it should" is a pretty subjective statement, but you get the point. I'm also not staying people should stop dissenting or anything. The sooner the War on Terror is over, the better.

I guess that we have a tendancy to make the worst of things, and to see ourselves, or our generation, as some sort of focal point of history. But, if we sit back, relax, and have a Pina Colada, we might just realize that life isn't as bad as we might make it out to be.

Time to Start

This summer I am taking a month off. Why? Because I came to the realization, about two months ago, that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. It was really shocking, although it shouldn’t be when you’re only 20 years old.

I have thought, since my freshmen year of high school, that I wanted to be a rabbi. For those of you who only know me post-high school, my freshmen year I was in a big car accident, and was essentially paralyzed for a week or two, and spent a few months in rehab, until I got back to where I am today. I viewed this as nothing short of a miracle, and thus, it was my responsibility to spread that feeling of miraculousness to everyone I knew.

[NOTE: In this entry (and subsequent entries) I am going to lay it all out there. I am going to be brutally honest with myself, and with everyone I know. If you don’t want to read this, don’t, it won’t hurt my feelings.]

Now, I know what most of you are thinking already. You’re saying, “Adam, there is a time and place for honestly, and even though a journal is (supposedly) personal, it is still a public venue." I say, “Fuck that.”

The problem is that not enough people are honest with eachother (Screw spellcheck, I think eachother should be one word, since it implies a singular relationship). Of course, there are limits. I’m not going to put anything on here that would embarrass someone else. I’m not here to hurt anyone, I’m only here to begin to figure out where I’m going, and I can’t do that if I continue to hide behind a veil of flirting, lies, and flattery. If you want to know what I think of you, ask me--I will tell you.

I figure, disingenuousness only hampers progress. If I spend all of my time flirting with you, or on the opposite end, sending little snide remarks that intimate that I don’t like you, we’re just going to spend a great deal of time in limbo. For me, and I’m sure for you, this is no fun. There is an endpoint to flirting and insulting, and what the hell is the point if we never reach it? I don’t want to stay up all night wondering what you really think of me. So fuck it, I’ll tell you, and most likely, after I do that, I’d bet you’ll tell me.

The reason for all of this? Because too many people live their entire lives on some linear track that was set in motion at an early age, i.e. inheriting a parent’s business, or going to a college because their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather went there. Life is comfortable on this track, because there isn’t really any friction between them and their circumstances. But then, they wake up one morning, on their 49th birthday, and realize that they’re not happy. They like their wife, but it could’ve been better. They like their job, but there is something else out there that they would’ve preferred to do. But it’s too late. Too many people would be hurt if they made a radical change now.

That’s why I’m starting now. I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life, and the only way I’m going to make any progress is if I’m honest with myself, and with the people who know me best. Right now, I’d like to be either:
a) a fisherman,
b) a writer,
c) a professor,
d) a wall street whore, or
e) a script supervisor.

I don’t know anything else—even the things many people think they “know.” I don’t know where I’d like to live, I don’t know what I’d like in a wife, or even what qualities I life in girls, or friends for that matter. And I suspect that you don’t know these things either. You’ve been told certain maxims that sound nice. You like to quote movies and songs, but you don’t really know if that’s what you think.

I’m going to wrap this up, since I don’t want to ramble too much. There’s a lot more to come. If you care, you’ll learn a bit about me. But maybe you’ll also learn a little something about yourself, too.

Despite all of the uncertainties posed in this entry, I do know one thing: You have an opinion about what you just read; but will you be honest enough with yourself to share this opinion?