This was a contribution to the history forum recently:

Also recall watching the series a few months back about 'the lefties' was it called? various episodes about the greenham common women and those streets of squatters communes in an area of London that tried to set up an alternative society.

Must be my age but i just thought all these people were incredibly niave. Of course that's easy to say with hindsight, but even in the 80's growing up i was astonished at some of the far left's claims and desires.

Is it just my age? (Stephen Daughton)

http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/forum/index...c=7492&st=0

I tried to reply but it seems I am still banned from the website. However, this is what I said.

I was one of those who was very active in left-wing politics in the 1960s. We were indeed called naïve and idealistic. It is a good job we did not take any notice of those conservatives who described us in this way. Our campaigns led to legislation that attempted to give equality to women, racial minorities, and homosexuals. We helped to keep the UK from sending troops to Vietnam and forced the Labour government to take action against the racist governments in South Africa and Rhodesia. We also campaigned for comprehensive education and a more progressive rate of income-tax (both measures introduced by the Wilson government between 1964-70, although these gains were largely lost under Thatcher-Blair).

Our main failure was to persuade the government to stop producing nuclear weapons. However, our arguments are still relevant. As we argued at the time, if nuclear weapons kept us safe, how can we persuade other nations attempting to develop nuclear weapons? The same is true today.

The problem is not with the idealistic young people in the 1960s, but with the apathetic and self-centred youngsters in the 1980s. Hopefully, young people today will not let us down. Society constantly needs a large number of young people to campaign for a better world to help us old folks who have never forgotten our dreams.

"Our main failure was to persuade the government to stop producing nuclear weapons. However, our arguments are still relevant. As we argued at the time, if nuclear weapons kept us safe, how can we persuade other nations attempting to develop nuclear weapons? The same is true today.

The problem is not with the idealistic young people in the 1960s, but with the apathetic and self-centred youngsters in the 1980s. Hopefully, young people today will not let us down. Society constantly needs a large number of young people to campaign for a better world to help us old folks who have never forgotten our dreams."

Not a complete failure in the sense that inspiration is given to others in the world, I remember in the 70's and 80's we followed the struggle in the UK (and elsewhere) and the marches, direct actions on bases and mines probably contributed to the limiting of uranium mining. Young people have their own networking across countries through travel and what they see in the media and identify readily. Communal living, imagining a world without boundaries etc.

I see that my posting still has not appeared on this Forum.

I was [and still am] one of those 'lefties' from the '60s'....I grew up in the USA and while I could talk much about the political and social changes we fought for and in some ways lived and acheived [now all negated by the recent goose-stepping of the right], it was HOPE more than anything I remember, which is much missing now. We were NOT naive, in my opinion, for those who dream and fight can acheive anything or die trying...those who do not have hope enough to dream and fight can acheive nothing, for they won't even try. Much that was done in my country [the assassinations especially, but also many of the dirty-tricks and oppressive laws, police actions, etc.] were to break our sense of hope and progress: JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm-X, Black Panthers, John Lennon, so many others - some you don't know about.....We were spied upon, infiltrated, provoked, dirty-tricked in ways too complex to detail here....but some of us have not yet given up the fight nor hope....though there is not the same momentum there was then....fueled by HOPE....and we could see how we were changing things....and daring to imagine a world of equality....men and women, white and black, rich and poor no more...all comfortable and no extemes; natural values again - long lost by the stupidity of false-'civilization'; peace.....a peaceful world where War was not much needed and never used except in defense as the last resort; kindness and gentleness and altruism and not the meanspirtedness that has prevailed; a new way of looking at humanity and all life; Uno-Mundo - everyone on the planet as one; and other values; and end to the 'domination paradigms' - I still hold unchanged and unchallenged in my mind to this day, and to my last day. Then, there was a groundswell, so huge it scared the Neaderthals to act as they did to try to stop it - and they did to a large extent...but maybe...just maybe it is making a return.....join us.....for we are getting old and will soon pass...but the hopes and the dreams need not. The current world I see is unsustainable and to self-destruct in very short order....[and is meanspirited anyway...only a few can share in the beauty of many things] and the positive values of life have much been lost. I miss that time and the thing I miss was the momentum and a shared hope, as well as the knowledge many of us held of being on the right track.....long lost by much of Western and Human civilization. That path is still there, if you/we dare. It is not the easy road, especially now...but what lies at the end is very special and very different from the rather horrilbe planet we now inhabit, due much to the worst in Humans - greed, selfishness, false and un-natural values, etc. We are capable of much better. The leaders, most of all, have failed us. The very worst rise to power. They have no vision and must be resisted. Look to Nature and to Natural values - and treat all other lifeforms as our brothers and sisters. Have Hope for real and positive change. Become one of the dreamers - we/they are not naive. It is the cynics who are - as they allow evil, if even by their inaction. Might is not right. What is right and fair and full of kindness and progress [human, not financial or technical!] is correct. The answer my friends is still blowing in the wind..... if we raise our sails again and tack wisely. The Native peoples had it mostly correct....we do not as a culture now. We can get that back and still have our computers and internet....and without the spyng, wars, ill deeds, etc. by the 'bad guys'. Imagine. They killed Lennon for his song 'Imagine'........

I was banned form the schoolhistoryforum at the same time as John. However I decided I no longer wanted anything to do with such a right wing and uptight organisation and and insisted that they delete my membership, all links to my website and all my posts.
Having said that more than one of the administrators of that forum are members here and one even works in a partner school of our common European Project.
Either they are very lazy as administrators or perhaps they don't like the contents of John's post.