Milwaukee 14, September 24,
1968
Today is the 44th anniversary of the Milwaukee 14 when 14 persons removed approximately 10,000 draft files from Milwaukee’s Selective Service office and burned them with home-made napalm. In those days, 1968, nonviolent actions like this one, of many similar, were major events with major media covering it for years. I still feel uncomfortable when someone points out I was a member of the Milwaukee 14.
These days when major nonviolent actions are taken, like recently when an elderly nun and two senior companions closed down a nuclear bomb plant go by unnoticed. I would like a little bit of the media on Milwaukee 14 of the past for the Million Dollar Move of 1.1 million dollars out of North Central Milwaukee by the Catholic archdiocese. But that is not to be.
The Green Bay Packers football team, my team, lost a football game tonight on a bad call by substitute officials. All the media, Twitter and Facebook are all over this game. It will be the talk of media for days and might have some impact of bringing the regular officials back in the game. It is easier to get upset about the Packer’s football game loss than the segregation of Milwaukee neighborhoods or even the damage of war.
Today I finished listening to the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. I could not understand why these books were so popular among persons of all ages. Now that I have listened to two of them and getting the third from audio books downloads of the library I think I understand. In my opinion this trilogy is similar to what is called Apocalyptic literature biblical writing that talks about the suffering and repression of the present but talking about a future with hope and when all would improve. I think people relate so well to the world of hunger names because they consciously or unconsciously identified with the suppressed peoples in the book.
Maybe people are afraid these days to face the truth of what is happening in our world and like to hear a story about the situation in which they can relate. We need more apocalyptic literature of our times.
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