The Port Heuron Stalemate
The Sixties called for a lot of change. Schools were integrated, students gained rights and women did too. Political candidates had come along with radical ideas and big changes had begun to take place. But in 1962, the world was introduced to the Port Huron Statement. Written by Tom Hadden and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the manifesto set out to change both American society and government. But change would not come because the American ideals were stronger than the ideas made to change them. The Port Huron Statement was a beautiful dream but completely impractical in the world during the Sixties. The Port Huron Statement attacked many aspects of the American government and society to insinuate change, but one of the principles they fought for already existed. They fought for “human independence.” The SDS was looking for a society that didn’t “reduce human being[s] to the status of things.” In the Port Huron Statement, Hadden and others claimed that our system of government made the public “inherently incapable of directing [their] own affairs.” They even referred to the Constitution as a “doctrine of human incompetence.” The Statement also says that “as a social system we seek the
But even if the United States changed their ways to the ideals of the Port Huron Statement, it would still be impractical. The statement is clearly directing its speech towards Americans. It talks about the US’s North and South, the “national efforts” at Universities, and the opening lines began with “When we were kids [in] the United States.” Because the Statement is calling for American society and government to change and not the governments and societies of the world to change, we face an issue. If America changes and the world stays the same, we are subject to an immediate war. Other nations will see our nation as weak because of our new Constitution, the Port Huron Statement. In the Statement it says that we should completely disregard our fighting ability or our “potentiality for violence.” The other nations of the world would take control of the vulnerable United States. establishment of a democracy of individual participation, governed by 2 central aims: that the individual share in those social decisions determining the quality and direction of his life.” The SDS claims that the government does not give the public enough power and that is why they are unable to govern themselves. The SDS is claiming that the public is not involved with the “shar[ing] in
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Approximate Word count = 876
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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