‘I’m alright’ say the lads.
Fri 2:16 pm +01:00, 10 Feb 2023 6When I was out on the street leafleting for The Teds yesterday in fine sunny weather, most people took a leaflet willingly enough, many older citizens saying thank you as they received one. Females were highly receptive, young and old. Foreign English like Turks, Bulgarians and so on, now citizens of this country, were especially keen to be included in English politics which so far rather shuns them. They want to be included.
One category of the throng was heavily negative refusing a leaflet using the same words almost every time. Yet young men are the most vulnerable to a military ‘shift’ and an outbreak of open conflict between NATO and Russia. The war ratchet is grinding away at full speed and it might be only two years from now before British men are facing conscription – or draft in American terms.
I will challenge the ‘I’m alright’ leaflet refusal from strong healthy young men, with ‘Let’s keep you alright’ and the suggestion that anti-war politics is a good thing for youth who care about their health and wellbeing.
Here’s a reminder of an earlier anti-war campaigner – Country Joe at Woodstock in 1969, with 300,000 people singing along with his chorus – ‘Don’t give a damn. Next stop is Vietnam.’
His verses nail it. Give him a listen. And boys. Come on now. Wake up. You’re alright for now. But what can happen will happen, so let’s get opposing war while we still can.
Join the Teds.
That brings back memories of the Isle of Wight festival that I attended in 1970! 5 full days in glorious sunshine and a crowd of 600 or 700k people in a natural amphitheatre in the hills near Newport. With a stellar lineup including Family, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, The Doors, The Who, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen and many many more. Jimi’s last performance I think and he was the star for me, a brilliant set
It was a very chaotic organisation too, so much so that they gave up inspecting tickets and declared the festival free after just one day. [Damn it, I’d bought a 5 day ticket] Most days, the acts finished in the middle of the night and started again around noon. So I slept in the open air during the downtime, no tent just a sleeping bag, thankfully no rain at all other than the final morning. When I have a vivid memory of walking away from the site about 8am just as Richie Havens [the act that opened Woodstock] was wrapping up the final set of the festival
There were minimal facilities too, the toilets were a real sight at the after 5 days. And it was very hot, all five days, so I certainly needed a good bath by the end. I hitchhiked to relatives in Buckinghamshire for a good bath on my way home north
Sorry Tap that was a bit off topic but I couldn’t resist
As regards the young men of Britain then you could well be right about the coming conscription. I guess that most young men here haven’t a clue about that prospect. Most are probably completely oblivious to the reality in Ukraine
I don’t suppose the Russians are quaking in their boots either. About the prospect of facing the UK’s woke, politically correct, pussified, soy boy, army. God help our guys if it does happen, it will be lambs to the slaughter, again
The Ukie war has clear echoes of WW1 it seems. The “meat grinder” has been in full swing on the poor Ukranians in Bakmut and the like [as per Alex and Alexander and others]. I never thought that I’d see that in my lifetime. It is a shocking thing to behold, satanic evil
The smell in those cars……I guess the drivers kept their windows wide open!
Very likely there could be conscription, but I don’t think that I could improve on Pete’s excellent take on the situation. Boy did the music take me back. Music, like smells, seem to bypass the thinking brain and take you to exactly the place you were. Great post Tap.
My missus saw Country Joe [minus the Fish] at Camden Lock in the seventies. That anti Vietnam war song was his his headline then. Definitely his most memorable song. Come to think of it, I can’t remember any other of his ditties at all
The Vietnam war debacle was massive for youngsters in the ’60’s, it hung over our generation like a shroud. At least Harold Wilson kept the UK out of that mess
This was so important to missus and I that we decided that we must see the place before it changed forever. So we toured the whole country in 2000. 4 weeks of back packing, starting in Hanoi and finishing in Saigon, both amazing places.
I just loved the Viet people, so hard working, happy, laughing [most of the time] and tough. Always on the make from rich westerners like myself. They reminded me of the latter day scousers that I grew up with. Always a smile, rarely a frown, always on the make and with a definite edge
Everywhere that I went I tried to buy a sun hat [it’s very hot there] but there were none that ever fitted my English/Irish bonce, none whatsoever. I often had crowds of locals all trying to sell me their biggest hat in the market [no shops anywhere, none]. Ended up with a bandana for petes sake
I watched a documentary a while back about Americans who were retiring to Viet Nam. They seem to be happy and the people are ready to welcome them. Hope they spend lots of money.