In the spring of 1962, sixty students who belonged to the Student for a Democratic Society abbreviated as SDS, meet for a period of four days and nights at Michigan Lakeside of the Port Huron. Notably, the SDS was a formed in the late 1950’s by members to critique the colleges and universities as well as the American society at large (Hayden, 2005). This had been necessitated by the fact the baby-boomer generation, though being considered as a privileged demographic with comforts that were unknown to the previous generations; nonetheless, it was encountering its challenges. As such during the meeting at Michigan Lakeside, the students came up with the Port Huron statement. It sought to address concerns the students had with respect to the government, social, economic and race. Moreover, it sought to highlight the oppression the students were encountering in the colleges. This essay, therefore, aims at making an analysis of the Port Huron statement.
In focusing on the statement, there are two major phenomena which showcase the factors that shaped the college protestors. The author notes that their generation was bred in at most modes comfort. They belonged to the wealthiest and also most influential country, that is, the United States. It was the only one which owned atom bomb and was least scared about modern war. However, the events which transpired thereafter were too troubling to be dismissed. First, there was a slow encroachment of human degradation which saw the Southern struggle to fight against racial and bigotry and this made them transform from being silent to being activities (Hayden, 2005). The second phenomenon was the enclosing of the Cold War, which was symbolized by the presence of bombs. This raised a great awareness, not only to the students but also to others of the imminent danger of death that could occur at any period. These two factors they felt could not be ignored as they were immediate as well as crushing in their impact. As such, they demanded them to take responsibility to bring a resolution.
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Subsequently, according to the author, there were other paradoxes which were affecting the United States. There existed a declaration which stated that “all men were created equal,” (Hayden, 2005), however, the Africans American continued to be discriminated largely in the South as well as the big cities in the North. The author notes that these regions stated that peaceful intentions of the US would contradict the economic as well as the investment the military had made in the “Cold war Status quo.” Another paradox was the fact that the country had nuclear energy which could easily power the whole cities. The dominant nation-states, however, seemed like it would unleash a destruction which was greater than any that had been incurred in the history of the human wars. In addition, the above, another paradox which faces the people of the US is the fact that, regardless of the fact there was new technology which was creating new opportunities to humankind; still, a large part of the population undertook meaningless work and preferred to be idle ("Port Huron Statement, 1962", 2017). This, therefore, led to a state in which almost two-thirds of the population was suffering under nourishments while the upper class was reveling amidst a superfluous abundance.
Consequently, Hayden points out the inadequacies of the systems of higher education and American prosperity. According to him, even though there have been universities established, a sign of prosperity, still the universities have not been able to bring about moral enlightenment to the students. The professors and also administrator often “sacrifice controversy to public relations” (Hayden, 2005). Often their skills are silenced and have been purchased by wealthy investors with respect to the arms race. The curriculum also has not changed as the changes came about and people with a passion are termed as unrealistic. Thus, in answering the questions in regards to the American prosperity and the system of education, the best suggestion is imposing great value on uncorrupt systems of passing knowledge. This would mean that the rich in the country would not exploit those with adequate knowledge to use it for their benefit; instead, they would create venues for the poor to receive adequate education as well.
One of the key goals of Hayden’s is to achieve a participatory democracy, which would work to ensure that power that is rooted in privileged as passion is replaced by one rooted un-creativity, reasons, reflectiveness, and love ("Port Huron Statement, 1962", 2017). As such, in a participatory democracy, there would be several root principles which guide the political life. The decision making of some primal social consequences can be easily be carried out in public spheres. Moreover, it would ensure that politics are seen a positive aspect, that is, a collectively create an acceptable that fosters proper social relations. In addition, politics would be view as playing a role taking people out of their isolation and integrating them into the community. As such, this would bring a necessary means of helping people t realize the actual meaning of personal life. Furthermore, politics would serve to enable people to clarify and solve their problems.
Perceptively, the goal of participatory democracy, to a large extent has been attained. To begin with, there are no longer systems of totalitarianism and dictatorship in politics in most of the US as a majority of political systems now allow for freedom of speech, assembly and economic and cultural organization. This means that people are able to gather and convey the social problems which they face and possible solutions. Moreover, the political parties in the current times are able to accommodate both women and men to ensure that all their need are addressed and solved efficiently. There have also been several amendments which have seen a decline in racial profiling and discrimination and the equal treatment of every person. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have been able to unite in some aspects and bring about changes which are needed to in the country. At no point has one political group exercised power over the other but the two have operated in mutual respect (Rudnick, Smith & Rubin, 2009). This, therefore, shows that to a significant extent, the participatory democracy has been able to bring the necessary reforms which have brought positive changes to the US.
In conclusion, the Port Huron statement of 1962 has been effective is bring about changes in areas which it critiqued. The two major factors which helped shaped included the slow encroachment of human degradation in the Southern as well as the enclosing of the Cold War. These two factors made them realize that the dangers they would face if they ignored these major problems. There were other paradoxes pointed out by Hayden such as the presence of nuclear bombs with the intention of causing destruction and the benefits of technology being undermined. As such, a majority of the population was still living in poverty while a minority thrived in riches. There were also the issues of racial discrimination against the African American irrespective of a declaration of equality for all. The education systems were also corrupt which points a need to place great value on the education systems to avoid misuse by the rich people. There was a move to attain a participatory democracy which overtime has been realized with may change being made in the political systems.
References
Hayden, T. (2005). The Port Huron statement: The vision calls of the 1960s revolution : Public Affairs.
Port Huron Statement, 1962 . (2017). History.hanover.edu . Retrieved 27 November 2017, from https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111huron.html
Rudnick, L. P., Smith, J. E., & Rubin, R. L. (Eds.). (2009). American identities: an introductory textbook : John Wiley & Sons.
