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FOREWARNED!
(Continued from page 3)
cant in other regards.
lt
was a turn–
ing point for the United States in
the United Nat ions, where the bal–
ance of power in the world body
began to shift away from the U.S .–
Ied West.
America's present ambassador to
the United Nations, J eane K. Kirk–
patrick, took note of this power
shift- and the watershed year of
1964, as she called it- in a speech
she delivered befa re the Heritage
Founda t ion Conference in New
York City, J une 7, 1982:
"Eig h teen mo n t hs is long
enough for me to have observed at
firsthand the relative powerlessness
of the Uni ted States at the Uni ted
Nations.... Today there are sorne
157 members of the U n ited
Nat ions.... T he big influx of the
forme r coloni es into the U. N.
occurred alongside the beginning of
the decline of U.S. influence.
"Someone noted that 1964 was a
watershed year . D ur ing that year
17 new nations were admitted to
membership.... "
The year 1964 was also a critica!
one for the United States on the
home front as wel l.
Moral Tobogganslide
In May, President Johnson pro–
posed the bui lding of a "Great
Society." During the year a vast,
far-reachi ng legis lative program
was enacted , greatly increasing the
fede ral government 's role in all
aspects of life. This was the begin–
ning of the expansive-and expen–
sive-welfare state.
Only four years earlier Presiden t
John F. Kennedy had proclaimed
in his inaugural address: " .. . ask
not what your country can do for
you; ask what you can do for your
count ry."
Now, the ethic was to be: the
federal government ,
with tax dol–
lars,
will salve problems and r ight
wrongs.
The year of 1964 witnessed the
passage of
far~reach i ng
civi l rights
legislation. Unfor t unately, the way
was a lso ope ned for nonracia l
causes such as gay r ights, the "fem–
lib" movement, the r ight of abor–
tion on demand, even .. ki d s'
May 1983
rights." In universJtJes, students
clamored for the r ight of "free
speech."
T he fabric of society was being
unraveled. l ndividuals began to
think primarily in terms of their
rights (licit or illicit) rather than
respons ibi lities.
Moral " Junk Food"
Also in 1964 a new word entered
the popular lexicon-Beat lemania!
The word was coined to descr ibe
the hysterical response by U .S.
you ths to the music of four young
inst rumentalist-singers from En–
gland who made their first personal
appearances in the United States.
Almost tame by today's stan–
dards, the rock sound of the Beat les
unleashed a whole new genre of
music, ultimately lead ing to acid–
rock, punk- rock and other variants.
Popular culture was never to be the
same again.
For the majority of youths today,
writes University of Chicago soci–
ologist AJlan Bloom, "Rock is al l
there is. There is now one culture
for everyone, in music as in lan–
guage.
It
is a music that moves the
young powerfuJly and immediate–
ly.
" T he most powerful formative
influence on children between 12
and 18," continues Dr. Bloom, "is
not the school, not the church, not
the borne, but rock music and all
that goes with it. It is not an elevat–
ing but a leveling influence.... T his
is the emotional nourishment they
ingest in these precious years.
l t
is
the real junk jood .
.. "
(emphasis
ours throughout).
Perhaps it was significant that
the late manager of the Beatles,
Brian Epstein, recounting his expe–
riences with the group, entitled his
book
A
Cellarful of Noise.
Historie Court Decision s
America's retreat from the piona–
ele of power and prestige acceler–
ated during the 1970s. Looking
back to that t ime, two most note–
wor t hy events occu rred almost
back to back.
On J anuary 22, 1973, in the case
of
Roe
v.
Wade,
the Uni ted S tates
Supreme Court, by a 7-2 vote,
legalized abor tion nationwide.
T he court based its ruling on the
concept of a "woman's right to priva-
In 1980, a record 1.55
million legal abortions were
performed in the United
States ... more t han double
the legal abortions in
1973, the fi rst year of legalized
abortions in the nation.
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