1970: YEAR OF THE R/P-OFF
by Michael J* Ferguson
1970: Year of the Rip-Off
By Michael J. Ferguson
In 1970, an astonishingly swift
and petrified year, is bel^d us. It
was a year filled with changes,
some subtle, some startling. It
was also a year of altering
consciousness, of culmination,
perhaps. Twelve months
dramatically marked by the
spreading of the Viet Nam war
into Cambodia, death on college
campuses, and the passing away
of world leaders and con
temporary heroes.
In many respects, 1970 served
as epitaph for the ’60’s. During
1970, this generation, which five
short years ago set out to change
the world with love, truly became
“outlaws in the eyes of
America.” And while ’70 served
as epitaph, it was also a nuitrix of
sorts - the beginning of our race
toward some kind, any kind it
seems, of inevitable apocalypse.
America in 1970 slipped into a
dangerous slipstream of com
placency. It was a most crucial
year, a point in time which might
well have determined the future.
This was a year in which it was
essential that our most positive
forces unite and create
meaningful and workable
solutions to the devastating
problems of a hellish war,
choking pollution, hard drug
abuse, racial prejudice, moral
decadence, this plastic nether
world in which we try to find
some shred of value. It was in
deed a time for America to
acquire a true vision which might
save this hungry planet. Instead,
America and her people stum
bled on, ignoring ills with quasi
determination, with political (in
the worst sense) rather than
practical awareness.
Altamont closed the ’60’s and
acted as a harbinger of things to
come. Filling the air with tension
and violence, Altamont swept us
away from our dreams of love
and flowers and into a dance of
death. With blood on the moon,
we crept into the Age of
Aquarius.
-Bewilderment-
1970 was a complex year, with
several diffuse elements sur
facing and creating a very real
maze of non-reaUty. The in
dividual found himself isolated
and helpless as the lines between
people at once widened and
confounded. Leaders moved with
awkward caution and confusion.
It was-is a bewUdering world in
which to live.
The major events of 1970, when
digested fully, perhaps best
demonstrate the disconcerting
nature of life in the 20th Century:
In 1970, the previously suc
cessful American space
program, which had put men on
the moon a year before, met with
near tragedy when the Appollo 13
mission experienced a technical
faUure and three astronauts had
to be rescued from the eerie
depths of space.
am
N.Y. Bomb Factory:
Photo by Dreyer
'in the cause of freedom”
-Environment-
The rapid and shocking
deterioration of our environment
became a major issue, both
socially and poUtically. Iteveral
ecology-minded groups formed
and made headway; political
candidates were literally forced
to include the problems of
ecology in their campaigns.
Despite all this, the problem,
undoubtedly the single greatest
reason for concern in the 1970’s,
continues to threaten our
existence, while Nixon still
pushes for the development of the
SST.
The Viet Nam war, the most
controversial issue in American
life during the ’60’s, continued
and spread into Cambodia,
despite mounting opposition from
political leaders, students, and a
surprising segment of middle
America. While troop reductions
have begim and less people are
killed weekly, that nebulous war
remiains the severest alienating
factor in American life.
-Violence-
Campus violence - mostly in
reaction to the war - became
almost as much of an American
tradition as apple pie in 1970. On
May 4, during protests against
President Nixon’s Cambodian
announcement-decision, four
Kent State (Ohio) students were
killed by Ohio National Guard.
This caused nationwide protests.
On May 15, two Jackson State
(Miss.) students were killed
when police and guards opened
fire on school dorms, following
several days of protests at that
school.
A Presidential Commission on
Campus Unrest reported tlmt
while both students and guard
had acted in haste in both in
stances, the killings were un
justified. The commission’s
report was ignored, however, and
twenty-five Kent State students
were indicted by the Ohio Grand
Jury for their participation in the
riots.
■Court Rooms-
The courts made the news often
in 1970.
At Fort Bragg in Fayettville,
N.C., there was the military
hearing involving Green Beret
Capt. J.R. MacDonald.
Photo by Dreyer
In Chicago, the “Chicago
Seven” (Abbie Hoffman, Jerry
Rubin, Tom Hayden, ete.) were
tried for conspiracy to riot during
the Democratic Convention of
1968. With Judge Julius Hoffman
presiding, the trial turned into a
fiasco not unlike an Ionesco play.
The “Seven” got off lighter than
anyone ever expected, lawyer
William Kunstler paid his dues
and got a taste of American
justice, and Tom Foran, an at
torney for the state, warned that
America had best gear heriself
for Oie “freakin’ fag revolution.”
Hayden wrote a book about it all
and classically termed Hoff
man’s court room as a “neon
oven.”
-Manson-
In Los Angeles, the Charles
Manson “family” went on trial
for the alleged murder of Sharon
Tate and filled the court with
grim tales and hints of satanic
witchcraft. Manson, a tragicomic
figure, often disrupted the court
with his outbursts and attempted
a conjuration of sorts when he
became furious with the judge.
Black Panther Bobby Seale,
bound and gagged in Hoffman’s
“neon oven,” now awaits a
murder trial in Conneticut. Huey
Newton, the B.P. of “Free Huey”
fame, was released from prison.
-San Raphael-
In San Raphael, Black
revolutionaries (perhaps
masterminded by Angela Davis)
took over a court room, held the
judge at gun point, and later lost
a gunfight with police which left
the judge and all but one Black
dead.
Airplane hijacking became a
popular American pastime and
many unsuspecting travelers got
free vacations in such scenic
spots as Jordan and Cuba.
Revolutionary kidnapping
became a favorite device of the
radical left across the world.
Governmental figures in Canada,
Guatemala, Argentina, Uruguay
and Spain were held as hostage
by various underground radical
networks. Murder sometimes
accompained the kidnappings,
most dramatically in Canada.
-Leary-
LSD high-priest Timothy
Leary, in jail for the possession of
marijuana, was sprung loose by
The Weathermen and ended up in
Algeria with Eldridge Cleaver.
Leary, once the advocate of
peace and flowers, wrote several
violent revolutionary manifestos.
Bombings became a vigilante
tactic among the New Left.
Several buildings in New York
were bombed and it is believed
that several radical leaders were
killed “in the cause of freedom.”
General Charles DeGaulle, a
French hero and one of the last of
the Old Guard, passed away
quietly. Despite his last wishes,
France accorded him a hero’s
farewell. Gamal Abdel Nasser,
longtime President of Egypt,
died unexpectedly.
Rock and Roll Superstars Janis
Joplin and Jimi Hendrix died
from drug overdoses.
Spiro T. Agnew and Martha
Mitchell became the self ap
pointed Co-Spokesmen for the
Silent Majority.
1969 was The Year of the
Festival (Woodstock). ’70 was
The Year of the Non-Festival, as
concerned community members
halted most scheduled events and
Atlanta (much to Lester Mad
dox’s chagrin) and Love Val
ley (!) lamely tried to evoke
those three legendary days of
peace, music
Bob Kennedy Jr. got busted for
grass. So did Gov. Bill Cahill’s
(N.J.) son. Twice. N.J. has since
made possession of the evil weed
a misdemeanor (first offense and
limited quantity).
The Pope, visiting Asia, was
nearly an assassin’s victim.
The Beatles, an English rock
and roll band famous long ago
who had great influence on
American youth in the ’60’s,
became men and stopped holding
our hands, cont. On Page 4
• t.aA‘ad-'
“When dissent turns to violence, It invites tragedy’
AP Wirephoto
' President Nixon