I believe this will be what we used to refer to as an NSSP, if I recall the acronym correctly. It is inspired by what one finds oneself thinking about when reaching yet another unexpected milestone.

I will turn 71 this weekend. The actual date is Sunday the 3rd, but the family dinner out is tomorrow night since Sunday is for the church of football.

As implied in the opening, I never expected to get this old. I don’t feel old – well excluding when I first awake in the morning. I’m in better shape now than at any time in the last 5 years and my health is excellent, knock on wood. But as someone frequently says, facts don’t care about feelings, and the fact is I’m old.

As I’ve stated many times, my teen years were the 1960s. High school class of 1970. We were the generation that subscribed to such stupid slogans as Weinberg’s, “don’t trust anyone over 30” and The Who singing, “hope I die before I get old.” Yeah, our bad, right? Growing up in Stamford, Connecticut and attending school with peers from much better economic circumstances than my own blue collar, single earner family meant that I was exposed to a considerable amount of activism. My classmates went to DC for the first Moratorium Day in 1969 and the first Earth Day in 1970. So what, you ask?

I’ve thought about this while watching and reading about young people today mouthing Hamas and Hezbollah anti-Israel hatred and calls for its destruction while ostensibly merely supporting Palestinian freedom. They incorrectly accuse Israel of genocide, claim the body-cam films from terrorists slaughtering Israeli women and children are fakes, and chant, “from the river to the sea” which is a call for the eradication of the Israeli nation. What idiots, amirite?

Then I recall the late 60s and early 70s. We were almost all opposed to the war in Vietnam and believed the Nixon/Agnew team were the worst ever and a threat to freedom. But here’s the kicker: for many, opposition to the Vietnam war equaled support for Ho Chi Minh and the NLF. And rejecting the excesses of the Nixon administration meant support for communism. Groups like the SDS and the Black Panthers were openly Marxist and Che t-shirts were everywhere.

Like most, I was opposed to the war. But for me it wasn’t ideology at all. It was enlightened self-interest. I had no desire to march through and perhaps die in some miserable jungle for John Foster Dulles’ stupid Domino Theory. Did the NLF pose a clear and present danger to the USA? Of course not, so why should I go fight there? Ironic aside: I was 18 and clearly viewed myself as liberal but, in retrospect, one could see the seeds of Goldwater conservatism taking root in this worldview.

So that is my Roland and Cannoli - like verbose and convoluted point. Why do so many young people ironically view the world through such a binary lens? One can oppose specific policies and actions without hating the nation or group that committed them. I opposed the Vietnam war and was pro civil rights but without hating America or capitalism and while rejecting Marxism. Why is it so difficult to find young people who support peace and freedom for both Palestine and Israel while rejecting terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and their Iranian puppet masters?

Meh, I’m getting windy in my dotage. Now get off my goddamn lawn.