This chapter in Zinn highlights the chaotic nature of the United States government at times. The seventies was a time when we were trying to get control of ourselves, although we weren’t always successful. After the turmoil of the sixties, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal the Americans trust in the government was not really there. As Zinn states a survey showed that “more than 83 percent agreed” that “‘the people running this country (government, political, church and civic leaders) don’t tell [them] the truth” (550). This anti-government sentiment around the US led leaders to perform some horrific acts as a way to regain control and their trust, as well as prove to the rest of the world that we were still powerful, especially after we lost the war.
The Mayaguez affair was shocking to me. The US government seemed to act a bit out of control in this instance, only in an effort to seem powerful to the rest of the world. The casualties that resulted from this incident were saddening, especially because the government acted in a way that was supposed to help the country, but only did more harm. This feeling of the US needing to assert authority everywhere in the world throughout leaders in the country created a system that hurt the citizens at home. The American people still had low hopes for the future, as the economy was doing worse, their confidence in the government was decreasing.
The seventies highlights once again the separation between the powerful leaders in the country and the actual citizens. Although, each seemed to feel as though things were out of control. It’s interesting to see how the government wanted to fix many of the same problems the American people did, but the way they wanted to handle it was very different. They were more focused on their global influence and the way the country looked, and the citizens didn’t seem to care about the rest of the world. But, then it brings in the question of what is more important, what should we be focusing on?
The Mayaguez affair is a silence in history that does not get taught to us as we study our most notable Presidents of the United States of America. I felt like the Mayaguez affair exemplified what could happen if American exceptionalism goes too far. The U.S. was so obsessed with control that lost a valuable relationship with Cambodia that resulted in several U.S. and Cambodian deaths and casualties- and for what purpose?
I had never learned about the Watergate Scandal and The MayaGuez Affair prior to reading Zinn’s chapter “The Seventies. I think it is very unfortunate that the American people had to endure such a chaotic and distrustful government throughout the 1970s.