Laudator Temporis Acti

Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982), "Protest of the Month Club," San Francisco Examiner (April 17, 1963):

Larry and Chris Handelin of San Francisco have launched a unique experiment — Protest of the Month. "Once each month," says their leaflet, "you'll be notified of a protest." They suggest that each following monthly protest be decided on the picket line of the ongoing protest, with notices sent out to all interested in joining the Protest of the Month Club.

What a splendid idea! Nuclear submarines, Cuban invasions, Jackie's taste in lipstick or cultural advisers, Jack's hairdo, Mac's Common Market, Charley's Common Market, Sedar-Senghor's Negritude, Nasser's Anti-Semitism, Ben Gurion's Semitism, Barry's Democracy, Gus Hall's Democracy, Senator Eastland's Democracy, Martin Luther King's Satyagraha, Malcolm X's Soul Force ... take a position ... grab a placard ... march up and down.

How do you feel about Birth Control? Women's Suffrage? Evolution? Edward Teller? Bishop Pike? Make your opinions known on the picket line. You haven't got any opinions? Fine! Join the picket line, any picket line. Placards free, tattered jeans, holey sneakers and false whiskers at a slight charge.

Whither are we drifting? Certainly past the point of diminishing returns.