For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 28, 2013

well, my mother refused to let me dress up as a hippy. Same old- same old no matter what generation!

Boy George had a really smooth and calming voice. That song was a favorite of mine.

Of the three imminent unrestricted nuclear war events of the last half of the 20th century, the only one that was publicly known at the time was the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. That was the closest Canada has ever been to nuclear annihilation and known about it publicly. That preceded the “make love not war” slogan by 5 years. I don’t understand the reference.

Or did the ‘anger’ reaction have more to do with Elizabeth’s punk costume? Couple with the traditional ‘previous generation’s bafflement with the next.’

Thanks for the interesting background notes. Spot on.

Right. Foolish not to want to encourage even more weapons that destroy the entire world many times over. Anyone remember the old nuclear arms race analogy of the two cavemen who keep piling up bigger and bigger mounds of clubs against each each other? Of course, it kind of fell apart when you remembered that clubs, without being wielded, do little, But a bomb is a bomb at all times.

howtheduck: Remember the evil triumvirate well: Maggie, Ronnie, and Moronie.

However, don’t forget that during the 80’s the US led the buildup of military in Europe. This could be what the reference is to, but again it is forgetting the Vietnam war during their childhood period. This European buildup was based on the belief that a war with Russia was imminent at the time. At the height of build up, there were approximately 300,000 US service members in Europe. The area thought to be the planned route of attack was through the Fulda gap. On one side, the Russians had several divisions stationed, with the US having similar numbers. Part of the US defense was to heavily mine the area, in the event of an attack, to slow the Russian advance. There is book out regarding this information that is interesting.

The Hippie generation taught MY generation a lot: Drugs is Great, personal responsibility is a myth, and hate the military/police because they risk their lives for us.

As the Hippies slip into drug induced dementia, hopefully my generation will right the wrongs of their colossal screw ups.

“We have yet to see if Elly prevents little LIzzie from wearing her punk rocker outfit, but we have already seen that Elly forced Michael to be Sherlock Holmes and not Boy George.”

Parental prerogative. That’s a parent’s job: to make decisions on behalf of children, in their best interest.

Would I let my child dress as a punk rocker for Hallowe’en? Yeah, I might – but that might be wrong, in the long term.

The kids don’t make the rules. Parents make them, and others need to butt out.

Either butt out, or quit blaming parents for the failures of children and sabotaging their efforts by criticizing their efforts loudly in front of those children.

You can’t have it both ways.

@howtheduck

“Canada was heavily involved in the war in other ways than militarily.”

Apart, of course, from the boys who eagerly migrated south of the border to enlist. There were a good many Canadians serving in the US Military in Viet Nam.

“Why are kids so angry?Could it be that they have parents like the Pattersons??”

More likely that they’ve been relentlessly told by the schools and the media that their parents are cruel, brutal and incompetent, and their resentment and anti social behaviour is well justified.

They haven’t got a hope, because even if they have competent, loving parents, they have been turned against them before they are old enough to ride a bicycle.

Their anger is earned behaviour, taught by the system.

While hippies and that generation had their problems, they showed the true American way, freedom, pursuit of happiness and abhorrence for involuntary servitude(the draft).Finishing what other countries have started against the US is one thing, but forcing Americans to be in harm’s way for a police action, is a whole different thing.I fully support anyone who wants to do so and feel that we owe them plenty, but that was their choice.

The US Air Force is the largest air force in the world. Who has the second-largest air force?.The US Navy.

Which would you rather they have, realistic parent like the Pattersons, or ideal, bland parents like Ozzie and Harriet and the Cleavers? Personally, I like the Pattersons.

As problematic as FBofW got, the parents were never as bad as those in, say, “Foxtrot.”

Since Elly went around saying “make love not war”, did she hate her father for being a veteran of the Second World War?

STORY SPOILER: Was there a 2001 story where Michael joined the Army after 9/11?

Bravo, GrizzlyGary. Suppose Ms. Johnston would be happy today, as our allies – reasonably – don’t trust us and our enemies don’t fear us. Unilateral surrender is always an alternative to freedom.

Uncle Joe: I was there in those days, although I went with a V-A (over age) draft card in my billfold. There were about 2,000 in the Vancouver area, half in the organized American Exiles. To my knowledge, I never met one, although that is hardly a conversation starter. I met a lot who had “served their term” in the military and still wanted a free country..I remember a University of British Columbia noncredit follow-up to the 1976 UN conference. One seminar was on “Marketing Smale-Scale Industrial Products in Canada”. A US citizen attending facetiously asked “Can Americans attend?” The facilitator replied, “Why not? I am.” Half of those there were current or former US citizens. That attempt to pick up fragments of the French Empire in Indo-China cost us a generation of the best and brightest. Some returned in the Carter amnesty, but most remained and their children are fighting with them against Harper’s “branch plant mentality” (a Canadian term for blindly following US orders).