Kent State: 50 Years Ago Today

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I wasn't thinking about the massacre at Kent State when I woke up this morning. (Although I think I would have told you it happened in 1970 if asked, I don't think I have ever known what the precise date was.)

Then I saw on Twitter and elsewhere a breaking story, that the Trump Administration is internally predicting that deaths per day from C-19 will double by mid-June, at the same time it publicly advocates for "reopening" of the economy and ending stay at home orders.

Those headlines reminded me of something my father once said. I've been interested in 60s counter culture for a long time, and I once asked what it was like to live thru that galvanized period -- particularly Kent State. I'm sure I was listening to Neil Young at the time. One of the things he told me (paraphrased somewhat) is that during the 60s the Vietnam War allowed activists and society generally to focus on foreign policy. But Kent State was a turning point, because "now, they're turning the guns on us."

Although certainly not a perfect metaphor, it's happening again. Opening the economy at the expense of thousands of extra dead people *per day* makes people fodder of the economy just as the draft made people fodder for the cold war.

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