- March 28, 2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Term paper writing
“Karl Marx rejected Comtean positivism but nevertheless aimed to establish a science of society based on historical materialism, becoming recognized as a founding figure of sociology posthumously. At the turn of the 20th century, the first wave of German sociologists, including Max Weber and Georg Simmel, developed sociological antipositivism. The field may be broadly recognized as an amalgam of three modes of social scientific thought in particular; Durkheimian sociological positivism and structural functionalism, Marxist historical materialism and conflict theory, and Weberian antipositivism and critique.”
Persistent criticism against those who protested U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, protesters spat on and ridiculed, otherwise return the soldiers, calling them “baby killers”, etc. Lembcke said he found no evidence that it did not, and suggests this may in part on the everyday life of the protesters to President Lyndon Baines Johnson, “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” One of the issues of the antiwar movement period stated support for troops on the ground and ownership of many returning veterans with him. At that time, he writes exactly like he was not able to find any report to support the media requirements of care. He suggests that “images of antipathy against the pro-war anti-war demonstrations” have helped to create the myth, as described in The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam.
After a review of different sources, Northwestern Law School Professor James Lindgren said that he found the proof of the spitting incidents. On December 27, 1971 CBS Evening News report on the veteran Delmar Pickett who said he “was spat at in Seattle”, is also an element of truth as the claim, but not as evidence that the accident actually happened. custom essays
Covering the same subject is the author and 1989 book journalist Bob Greene Homecoming, in which Green prints several letters he solicited from veterans, with a request to hear from them if they were spat on and focuses on the firsthand accounts of their treatment. Book Greene includes 63 accounts with spit, and 69 accounts from veterans who do not believe anyone had been spat upon return from Vietnam. As Lembke, Green doubted that spitting stories still make sense, noting that “Even in the heady days of protest against the war, it seemed that this was not a soldier, which the protesters have been maligning. It was government leaders, and top generals, at least, that’s how it seemed to mind. During the anti-war marches was extremely popular to say: “Stop the war in Vietnam, bring the boys home.” It could be heard everywhere in America. “Bring the boys home” – was a message. Moreover, the mere thought of a real image of what should happen seemed doubtful. The so-called “hippies”, regardless of what one may feel about them, were not the most courageous people in the world. Would hippies ever have the nerve to spit on soldiers? And if they did, would the fresh soldiers face the enemy in the jungles of Vietnam, just standing there and take it? “While Green admits that he could not confirm for sure the truth of the accounts in the letters he received, he believed there was spitting, saying:” There were just too many letters, going into too small parts, deny. Green also concluded: “I think you’ll agree after reading the letter, that even if a few should not be what they seem, that does not detract from the overall story, which is currently talking about.” Also, it was pointed out that there had been several newspaper accounts of the war protesters spit on antiwar demonstrators. As well, supposedly, these accounts may have been reinterpreted over the years. The spitting image of Lembcke concedes that he can not prove a negative that is not Vietnam veteran spat on, says is hard to imagine there is not an expression of hostility between veterans and activists, according to Jerry Lembcke.
Poured argues that claims of abuse of soldiers antiwar demonstrators became implemented into the American consciousness only a few years after the war came to an end; Lembcke legend attributes the growth to the films associated with Vietnam, especially Rambo. It has been written that the claims were used by President George Bush, in order to help sell the war in the Persian Gulf to American people. As a fact, Lembcke believes that the myth is now useful in promoting a yellow ribbon campaign, which has led to thinking that for one to support the troops, you must also support the war because it links the idea of anti-war sentiment and anti-army sentiment, although the usage was “Support troops: bring them home!”, as stated in The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam.
According to Blumer, “in the interaction of human beings people directly respond to gestures and actions of each other, in a symbolic interaction, they interpret each other’s gestures and act on the basis of the values obtained in the course of interaction.”
Unlike Marx, Marcuse did not believe in the crucial role of the working class, believing that the consumer society corrupted all. In his famous book “One-Dimensional Man” Marcuse has no heroes. All of the victims and all are the zombies, and no one acts on their own. In the West there are one-dimensional people, because they are being manipulated. Society has become a classless, but it is far from the Marxist ideal of communism. Instead of communism has turned a one-dimensional society, neo totalitarian system, which exists due to hypnosis, the media, which are implemented in each individual false consciousness of the needs and the cult of consumption.
A Los Angeles Times book reviewer wrote:
“The image is ingrained: A Vietnam veteran, arriving home from the war, gets off a plane only to be greeted by an angry mob of antiwar protesters yelling, “Murderer!” and “Baby killer!” Then out of the crowd comes someone who spits in the veteran’s face. The only problem, according to Jerry Lembcke, is that no such incident has ever been documented. It is instead, says Lembcke, a kind of urban myth that reflects our lingering national confusion over the war.”
Works cited
Jerry Lembcke. 2000. The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam. NYU Press (May 1, 2000). 217 pages.