tomhayden

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==Tom Hayden was born on December 11, 1939 into a middle-class family in Royal Oak, Michigan. He was one of the most significant leaders in the development of the New Left and in 1962, was the draftsman of the Port Huron Statement ([|Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society, 1962] ) which embodied the ideals and revolutionary beliefs of the New Left. The goal of the Port Huron Statement was to create a radically new democratic political movement that rejected hierarchy and bureaucracy. The document called for “participatory democracy” which was a form of government that gives direct individual involvement in decisions that influence everyday life. The New Left movement evolved out of the support for participatory democracy and the support for radical change in the US. == == The Port Huron Statement was composed of about five dozen middle-class students, who were known as the Student Democratic Society. The SDS was involved with many issues, including black-voter registration rights and protests against the Vietnam War. With the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1965, SDS became the major channel of student protest and organization against the war. This organization was composed of a small group of young, radical intellects who believed in participatory democracy. ==

Speech delivered by Tom Hayden: (Audience: Student Democratic Society members on Berkeley Campus) Gather round my friends. “We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit.” I am here to encourage you to help us save our future. Our once promising nation has been taken hold of, twisted and changed into something that I cannot recognize. I call upon you now to help me find a cure for this growing epidemic that has taken hold of our once beloved country. This country that was built on the basis of freedom and equality is tarnished. I look around and I see racism, discrimination, poverty, violence, and university bureaucracy. Is it fair that young men are being torn of their education and future and forced to fight in a war they do not understand or believe in? Is it fair that all of //you// must live in fear that at any moment you yourself will be forced to fight in this war, and possibly die for a cause you don’t believe in? This needs to stopped. It is time for a new type of government, where you do not live in fear or confusion. I call for //participatory democracy// in which politics is seen positively instead of negatively. A new radical form of politics is needed that strives to bring people together and promote individual reflection on the meaning of life. It is based on the principle that decision making is carried on by public groupings instead of representational democracy. I'm sick of the so-called "elites" who run this country. I'm sick of politicians who only benefit the rich, "uppercrust" of society. I want an equal opportunity to participate in the decisions that will impact my life. I’m tired of this never-ending war. I’m tired of seeing black Americans rejected of their rights to vote and live equally. The violence and hatred of war, and the violence and hatred of racism will destroy our country and humanity if we do not act now. We must abolish violence because it turns a human being into a mere object of hate. We need to replace power rooted in possessions by the power of love, reason, reflectiveness, and creativity. Racism in its own definition is the opposition of reason, love, and understanding. I’m tired of listening and following the rules of this once mighty nation that is engulfed in its own hypocrisy. I’m tired of listening and blindly following the regulations and ideals of this nation. Why should we? It’s time for a change. It’s time for a completely new way of thinking and a new form of government and societal living. This new government will be based on real equality and real freedom. There will be no poverty and no dominance of society by the elites who run business and foreign affairs. It is time for the ideals and beliefs of the New Left to rise from beneath and continue to spread its beliefs to other people all across the nation. I am speaking to the youth of America. I am speaking to brilliant students who will one day run this nation and have the ability to create change. We have the power to change our lives; we have the power to change to the world. It is our time to stand up, and do what is right. It is this generation that will change this nation forever. Thank you.