University of Virginia Library

Cop-Out

In his proposal for personal
withdrawal as a means of ending
the war, Mr. Ted Jordan is engaging
in a form of escapism available only
to the socially and economically
comfortable. Whether Mr. Jordan
admits it or not, his escape route is
closed to Blacks, poor white,
laborers, and the thousands who are
dying in Indochina.

Furthermore, as Julian Bond
pointed out, as long as a person
accepts any benefits from the
system - whether rock records,
beer, clothing, or even grass - he is
in the system. Communes and
collectives do not exist in a
vacuum. True, they exist on the
fringe of society, but they are
located on taxable land, are built
with manufactured wood products,
and are usually supported in some
measure from outside. The only
way one can withdraw is by leaving
the country and disengaging totally.

Thus, I submit it is impossible to
escape by simply declaring
ourselves not responsible for what
our system is doing to other human
beings. It is self-deception to seek
refuge by compartmentalizing our
lives. As the saying goes, "not to
decide is to decide."

What Mr. Jordan proposes is the
ultimate cop-out It allows one to
sound radical and yet do nothing. It
is a washing of hands. Meanwhile,
the racism, the sexism, the
oppression and the killing go on.

In a sense, Mr. Jordan merely
reflects an increasingly prevalent
attitude. The inability - or
unwillingness - of the system to
respond to its own self-proclaimed
ideals is cruising the idealism of
youth and leaving us with a
generation of cynics. Once pot is
legal, who will remember the
Vietnam dead, Fred Hampton
murdered in his bed, the
Appalachian coal miners, or the
students at Kent and Jackson
State? Who will care?

Wake up, young people. Your
cynicism is the ally of oppression.
If you are concerned about what
you are, stay and struggle. If rallies,
demonstrations, and strikes "come
to nothing," develop new tactics.
Withdrawal because you can't win
today or tomorrow is a guarantee
that you will never win.