The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 26, 1967 Page: 2 of 12
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Peace demonstrations:
two observations
'Politics of despair' ...an ill o men
By PHIL GARON
Thresher Editorial Staff
A wave of criticism has been hurled at the
"violence" of the demonstrations against the war
that took place all over the country during this
past week. Indeed, one of the disturbing incon-
gruities of the entire situation is that the sector
of our society most committed to stopping the
violence of a senseless war is compelled to use
tactics of violence in the demonstrations at home.
Yet:, 1 cannot bring myself to condemn the
actions of the protestors this week, even though
such a blanket condemnation might assuage
some of the fears that now run through my
mind—fears of a greater violence that, going
uncurbed, will lead to a revolution within Amer-
ican society.
My res peer, for and empathic involvement
with the protestors is'undiminished, in spite of
{hi events of this weekend. Unlike many of the
people at Rice, 1 have had the opportunity to
meet and talk with that group called, rather
ambiguously, the "New Left," for I have travel-
ed In large student conclaves in the east and
midwest at several times during tlu1 past
-•kchleeii months. Until one talks personally with
representatives from this alienated group, he
■ a t. " envision the frustration that has built
•o insidi them over the past three to four
years or recognize the dangers this portends
ihis country.
Feeling of Disengagement
The war, the conditions in the ghettoes, the
feeling of disengagement from the decision-
making processes which democracy should, in
theory, grant them—these are the factors that
have possessed a segment of our society and are
in the process of tearing it apart inside.
Knowing tVas, it is not difficult to ace why
"peaceful demonstrations" evolve into the not-
so-peaceful events of the past week.
Violence is the new ethos of the country; civil
disobedience, on the other hand, has-always been
an integral part of the American political pro-
cess, one of the rights granted in the democratic
system. But when violence and civil disobedi-
ence combine today in a system which is coming
apart at the seams, the results are predictably
combustible.
Violence is not a tactic of the left alone; the
rijrht has adapted it to their purposes also. In
Hermann Park this summer a demonstration
in support of the war was challenged by pro-
testors for peace, also carrying placards. Some
"off-duty" marines took it upon themselves to
silence the peaceniks,*'and a brawl' erupted in
which several people were injured.
Futility & Frustration
This. 1 fear, forebodes a growing trend, for
as the left erupts into more violent forms of pro-
test, the right will no doubt follow, and it is
not difficult to envisage the battles in the streets
becoming bloodier. *
The students who protested in Washington on
Saturday did not stand quietly by the White
House with their signs until they were asked to
disperse, and then allow themselves to be led
away like sheep. Stated in the simplest of
psychological terms, these protestors felt they
had nothing to lose by adopting stronger tactics
—storming the Pentagon, blocking the induction
centers, etc. The intensity of the war has in-
tensified the feeling of futility among those who
object to it, and such a feeling of inner frustra-
tion is what goads people—particularly people
en masse as they were this weekend—into an
explosive display of feelings.
In the current issue of The New Republic, Hans
Morgenthau searches for an answer to "What
Ails America," and comes up with conclusions
similar to the ones I have suggested. Morgen-
thau notes that the United States is waging a
war that is both politically aimless and militarily
unwinnable in terms of the Administration's pro-
fessed aims, a war which violates every principle
of this nation.
('real ive Reconstruction ?
This senseless, immoral war has only sharp-
ened the recognition among the American people
that the present government is ineffectual, and
the "system" which fosters such a government
is itself rotten to the core. As the Administration
continues to press impossible policies both at
home and abroad, those against the system
realize that the days for quiet protest are over.
Morgenthau observes:
"What these different policies have in com-
mon is a negative attitude toward American so-
ciety and the American purpose which that so-
ciety is supposed to serve. They do not work
within American society in order to improve or
transform it. or even to revolt against it. They
offer no viable alternatives to the status quo,
but only different ways of escaping from it.
Theirs is a politics of despair, that is, no politics
at all for America."
The "politics of despair" . . . self-defeating
pei haps, but nevertheless potent, and consequent-
ly dangerous. Unless the power-figures in Amer-
ican society work towards a creative reconstruc-
tion of the system, the new purpose of the
"movement" could well be a total, apocalyptic
destruction.
Impotence of Violence
But the Administration makes no such attempts
at restructuring. It continues to pursue policies of
senseless and impotent violence in Vietnam,
seemingly disregarding the conditions of squalor
and poverty in the ghettoes which could event-
ually cause the cities to explode.
This is the way the game is being played, al-
though everyone seems to have his own set of
rules. And if the trend continues—and, indeed,
it shows no signs of abating—then a violent
revolution between rival factions, the type we
had a sampling of last summer and this past
week, is a not-so-unbelievable possibility for this
country in the near future.
For the protests have taken on a radically
altered appearance, and what James Baldwin
calls "the fire next time" may become, sooner
than we dare to think, "the fire this time."
Regrettable acts
By BILL SCHNITT
Thresher Editorial Staff
In recent weeks, the anti-war movement has
taken a new turn—its strategy has shifted from
passive opposition to active resistance. Persist-
ent efforts to disrupt induction centers and last
week's massive protest in Washington signal
this change.
The new form of the protests has ramifica-
tions for almost everyone: Hanoi will interpret
it as a further sign of the weakening American
backbone; President Johnson will not soon soften
his bombing policy, for fear of "rewarding" the
demonstrators; lawmakers will look for fresh
ways to control the protestors, instead of the
war; pop thinkers will view the disorders as a
widening of the "generation gap"; harbingers of
upheaval will point to the turbulence as an omen
of mass violence to come.
Inponderable Violence
And most regrettably, the Fulbrights, Hat-
fields, and Morses will be identified with law-
less anti-war elements, and their work will have
become more difficult.
The great imponderable, however, is the over-
all effect of this active resistance on the Ameri-
can people. Opinion polls attest to a large seg-
ment of the electorate whose thinking on Viet-
nam has not yet ossified. Indeed, it is bewil-
derment, not dogmatism, that infects the public
lie today.
Yet the kind of protests witnessed in Wash-
ington will not likely sway the perplexed masses
toward a more rational understanding of Viet-
nam. On the contrary, dissidents who stormed
the Pentagon, vilified the President and his
family, and unfurled Vietcong flags have raised
a spectre of fanaticism and anar <% incongruous
with the American Way. Tragically, the pro-
testors may be alienating that part of the policy
which could bring peace to Vietnam through the
electoral process.
As peace groups escalate their war against
the President, they will provoke a reaction of
unpredictable force. This backlash may be tem-
pered—and offset—only by the hatred of the
Vietnam War itself.
Herbert K. Humphrey
Herbert Kay Humphrey, the first Head of the Rice De-
partment of Electrical Engineering, died in Winnetka, Illinois,
last Friday, October twentieth. Professor Humphrey completed
his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois, and
earned his Master of Science degree at Union College, Sche-
nectady, New York. After a term of office as Assistant Con-
sulting Engineer at the General Electric Company he came
to Rice in 1914 to organize and direct the work in his specialty.
By his very successful teaching he establishes the high credit
of the engineering department at Rice and through the years
sent forth graduate electrical engineers, many of whom gained
distinction for the high quality of their scientific and technical
work. Professor Humphrey was active on important Faculty
committees and his students found him a reliable guide and
a genuine and understanding friend. The Humphrey home was
known for its generous hospitality; Mrs. Humphrey welcomed
her guests with genuine grace.
It was a deep regret felt by their friends on the campus
and in the city when Professor and Mrs. Humphrey had to
leave Rice and go to Winnetka, Illinois, where he assumed
direction of the principal bank. In his second career Mr.
Humphrey repeated his great success in university work. He
and Mrs. Humphrey showed their true devotion to Rice and
their abiding gift for friendship by their repeated visits to our
campus, where their old colleagues and friends found them in-
comparable guests. In sharing their memories of the cherished
friend whom they have lost, Professor Humphrey's few survi-
ving colleagues feel grateful pride in recalling the fine role
which he played in helping to start Rice on her early career
of distinguished university work.
editorial
the rice thresher
fitted
When news of the death of a Baylor student during hazing
was released this week, how many Rice students thought smug-
ly, "Thank God that doesn't happen here. We've passed that;
we're civilized;. our organizations are lead by people with sound
heads. Nothing so foolish—so criminal—can happen at Rice"?
The serious injury of the Wiess students during "Fun and
Games" points to the fact that Rice is riot so different. It is too
bad that it usually takes a tragedy to bring this fact to the
forefront.
The Thresher has editorialized in the past against the intimida-
tion that entering students must undergo. And to this day no sound
argument has been given for the continuence of these activities,
known spuriously as "Freshman Orientation." Indeed, they serve no
purpose—except as sport for upperclassmen. There is no indica-
tion that students who fail to participate do not properly adjust
to the demands of social and academic life at Rice. In. fact the
indication is just the opposite. And it remains clear that Will
Rice freshmen, having been without Fun and Games for several
years, do not in any way suffer because they are left out of the
greased-pole climbs or the polar-bear races.
Initiations rites at this university certainly have become less
and less rigorous over the years. This reflects a maturing pro-
cess in Rice as a community. But today's vestiges of "orienta-
tion" are significant: they show that Rice has not totally escaped
the tradition that marks this area of the country.
The administration may toot its horn about creating a uni-
versity of excellence all it wants, and the colleges may call for
more responsibility in the area of student affairs, but this will
all be negated if such childishness is allowed to continue. Fun
and Games is diametrically opposed to the purpose of the college
system and the idea of a mature academic community.
And the possibility for physical injury is quite apparent.
WTill we wait for another serious injury—or possibly a death—
before the error is realized and corrected ?—JD
A note of cheer
There have been, one hears through various grapevines,
murmurs of discontent that the noble Thresher accidentally
has not been totally depressing and negative this year. Such a
state of afairs cannot be allowed to continue. Obviously
In point of fact, our sports editor seems to like sports,
Rice has not yet been declared dead for the year, and not a
single grad student has found it necessary to criticize our grasp
of the principles of economics. There is every danger, forgive
us, Dr. Cantrell, that reading our rag may even become stylish.
In order to rectify this appalling state of affairs (el Thresh
has traditions just like anyone else), we have seen fit to in-
clude in this issue a few scattered notes of doom, defeat, and
despair:
Item: The median American reads zero books per year.
Item: Dr. Oser will probably not be elected to the school
board.
Item: The average American man and wife talk to each other
17 minutes per day.
Item: Theodore Roosevelt was a latent homosexual.
So go in peace, remember the poor, and be kindly affection-
ed one to another in brotherly love. Assuming that such things
are not yet illegal. —BW
the rice thresher, october 2(>, 1967—paj?e 2
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Hancock, Darrell. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 26, 1967, newspaper, October 26, 1967; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245011/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.