The Wonder Years

I stumbled upon this oldie but goodie today on Amazon, and I decided to watch a few episodes.  I forgot how much I adore this show.  When I was younger, I watched it for entertainment value, but now that I am older and supposedly wiser, I am fascinated with the historical context of the show.  


Wow, I just really sounded like the wife of a social studies teacher.  Truth be told, I have a not-so-secret love of history.  I love the 1960's.  I often wonder, who would I be if I lived during that time?  I would like to think that I would be someone who would protest the Vietnam War or march for civil rights, but I don't believe in protesting so I probably wouldn't.  Maybe if I had lived during the 60's, I would believe in protesting.  I am amazed at what the youth of that generation did to try to make a difference.  


I think my contemporaries and I were raised to be a generation of complacency, and that has largely been the trend ever since.  I tend to lean in a more liberal direction, but I think that people who are either too far left or right are in a dangerous spot. 


One of my best qualities (I think anyway) is my ability to really see both sides of an issue.  While this sometimes causes me to struggle to make a decision, I also think it lends itself to that smarter, in the middle thinking.  I believe that there are very few situations in life that are truly black or white, which can be very frustrating.  


But do I really believe that people's actions cannot make a difference?  Of course not!  I wouldn't be a teacher if I didn't think it made a difference.  So why did I roll my eyes every time Occupy Wall Street was on the news?  I can't say for sure.  Part of me looks at the 60's and says those people were fighting for something real.  Is anything "real" anymore?  The modern day protest usually involves a "post your underwear color" on Facebook as a supposed cancer or what-have-you awareness.  Somehow our protests feel superficial, and I just cannot get on board with that.   


Maybe I am just romanticizing history.  I just feel like Martin Luther King, Jr. really meant every action in his life.  He lived with intention, and I am hard-pressed to find anyone like him in our time.  He made great change non-violently.  How about that?  


"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.