As our government charged down its path toward war, students came from across the state and even nearby states, to take to the streets. What originally began as a peaceful gathering devolved into violence.
Shops were smashed and looted. Fights broke out. Cops pepper-sprayed the students. Students threw rocks at the cops. Cops tear-gassed the students. Thousands of dollars of damage occurred.
Cops blamed students: \They were out of control!"" Students blamed cops: ""They were out of control!"" And each other: ""Why did a few people have to ruin it for everyone else!""
Thirty-five years ago, the above paragraphs could have described Vietnam War riots. Today, they describe the Halloween riot. Why aren't students taking to the streets over a possible war with Iraq? Are we really that different from students in the late '60s and early '70s?
Before we answer these questions, let's begin with the background. The Halloween riot (which took place on Nov. 2) began when a few girls in an apartment above State Street stopped flashing the crowd. A few sex-deprived cretins threw glass bottles at windows.
Fast-forward a couple hours and shattered glass litters the sidewalks, fires burn in the street and a seriously injured student needs medical attention. When cops forced students off State Street, students retaliated, causing an out-and-out riot.
The causes of the Halloween riot, therefore, seem quite trivial when compared to those of the Vietnam War riots. Students were being drafted to fight a deadly war halfway around the world. And, with the draft in full swing, they wanted an end to the madness.
But while students have changed in some ways, the ways in which they haven't changed are the most telling. For example, let's look at the real reason for riots in both cases: us. Our riots have always been about a group of individuals looking out for their own interests.
It's obvious that the Halloween riots were about us, whether it was our ""right"" to see breasts or our right to walk down whatever street we please. No one rioted because of war with Iraq or a loss of civil liberties.
But were the Vietnam War protests about us as well? Not according to local myth. Those protests are portrayed as a passionate struggle against an unjust war. How exciting, how moving, how poetic.
How exaggerated. The Vietnam War riots were not about foreign or domestic policy, and they certainly were not about ideals. It was more about a fear of dying than anything else.
Of course, the Vietnam War riots may seem more justifiable, but students were still rioting for their own interests. At some point along the way ""Stop the war"" became ""Show us your boobs.""
And this is the point: Students haven't changed, circumstances have. In this case, the most important change in circumstance is the end of the draft.
It was the fear of the draft that sent people to the streets. If the Vietnam War were fought without the draft, would students have rioted? No way.
Today we have a volunteer army and the prospects of a draft in the foreseeable future are slim at best. Which means no draft cards to burn.
Make no mistake: The draft changes everything. How different would your reaction to a possible war with Iraq be if you might be called up and shipped off to war? Or what if you or your friends and family members had just received their draft numbers?
How privileged we are to riot over nudity instead of war. In one way, it's a commentary on the strength of our country. We have so many people, so much powerful technology that even a call to war only distantly affects our lives. (Witness our ""wars"" against Bosnia and Kosovo.)
But the end of the draft also means less passionate debate, less civic engagement and less of a check on our government. Most people, not just students, can afford to be indifferent, can afford to stay disengaged.
I don't mourn the loss of the draft. If I had to choose between rioting over war and rioting over nudity, I'd take nudity any day.
That brings us to the sad truth: We have the choice to be oblivious to our government's actions. Much of the world does not.
