Jonathan Hoffman: '60s youth thought they had the answer, too

I remember the “‘60s Revolution,” which spilled into the ‘70s. I was in high school much of that time, and though the revolution had its home on college campuses, enthusiasm bled into middle-class high schools.

The revolution had its roots in the New Left, those who rejected traditional communism yet pursued a similar anti-American revolutionary agenda.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the initial New Left organization, collapsed in the latter 1960s and was replaced by the Weather Underground, which itself disappeared in the early 1970s. However, according to New Left apostate David Horowitz, “Most notably, the ex-New Leftists found a home in the Democratic Party.

By 1972, they had seized control of the party, as evidenced by the nomination of George McGovern ... the New Left occupied the corpse of authentic liberalism (i.e., the Democratic Party) and appropriated the name, ‘liberalism.’”

The idea of the inherent irredeemable evils of American society spread beyond the college campuses to the broader youth. We became angry, demanding and intolerant of those who held differing views. We believed that our lack of worldly knowledge and experience gave us some sort of insight unavailable to adults. Note that we were supported in that belief by a large segment of the adult population.

Fast-forward 50 years and we have students from Parkland, Florida, who survived a shooting rampage that left 17 dead. They are angry, they feel entitled to make demands, and they say, “I say BS!” to those with whom they disagree.

They, too, are accompanied by a segment of the adult population who seem to believe that the children’s victimhood has endowed them with special insight not available to adults.

This type of adult shepherding is exemplified by Laurence Tribe, who tweeted, “Teens between 14 and 18 have far better BS detectors, on average, than ‘adults’ 18 and older. Wouldn’t it be great if the voting age were lowered to 16?”

Locally, Steve Kozachik, the Tucson city councilman representing Ward 6, devoted a portion of his Feb. 20 newsletter to the Parkland killings. He repeated the statistic, “It was number 18 so far in 2018,” a false claim, according to an article in the Washington Post. He expressed contempt for those who offered “thoughts and prayers.” He pointed out, “The kid wasn’t old enough to buy a beer, but we allowed him to buy an AR-15.”

These are points often repeated by those who are on board with the efforts of the Parkland kids, the success of whom will be made possible by adults, like Mr. Kozachik, who have no ulterior motives but do share a sincere belief that firearms are the problem. Alas, Mr. Kozachik reflects the views of a large segment of Tucson. You can read more about his feelings on “American gun culture” in his recent guest opinion in this paper.

I feel sad for the Parkland children who suffered a murderous attack in a place where children should feel as safe as they do in their homes. My sadness is deepened by watching them now go through an experience eerily similar to mine when I was of that age. They appear to be angry, demanding and intolerant of those who held differing views, just as we were.

As with most of my peers, they will eventually move on and not harbor resentments toward those who could have comforted them and helped them reclaim their childhoods rather then use them as political pawns. As for my resentments, I’m still working on them.