Picture a time when the nation was engaged in a war on communism, the president had a rapidly dropping approval rate, the United States had a draft and students everywhere were protesting a war they were being forced to fight.
Now picture the situation today: The nation engaged in a war on terror, a president with rapidly dropping approval rate, yet no threat of a draft and, peculiarly, less student protesting.
Student involvement in protests today seems less prominent than that of the Vietnam-era protests in the 1970s, despite the fact that both wars seem to share parallels.
According to South Bay activists who participated in anti-war protests during the '70s, the social differences made the biggest impact on protest involvement.
"The draft was a big component of the protests for Vietnam," said Jay Lawson, a history teacher at Cupertino High School. "You have to understand that we were scared. The voting age was twenty-one, but we were being sent to war at eighteen. We had a type of mold to fit into and we had no avenue to speak out. We were frustrated, and that is where the heart for protests in the '70s came from."
Lawson did not consider himself a radical during the Vietnam protests, but rather an occasional protest attendee. Still, his viewpoint is similar when compared to those like Charlotte Casey, who was heavily involved in the resistance to the war during the '70s.
Casey, now an event organizer for South Bay Mobilization, an organization devoted to resistance of the war in Iraq, said, "The people of my generation had more of a revolutionary outlook. There were so many movements that shaped the thinking of my generation."
Forty years ago, the country was going through rapid changes, including the civil rights movement and the women's liberation movement, all dealing very directly with youth and college students.
During Vietnam, the impact was tangible and physical because of the draft and the protests. But, today's war isn't felt as viscerally because there is no draft and the casualties are much lower than in the days of Vietnam.
According to Oscar Flores, a student mentor from San Jose, "The youth understand what is going on. They can relate the situation in Iraq to gang wars because they have the same components of vengeance and advantage. The kids understand that. The problem is they don't know how to fix it."
In order to begin to fix it, local youth activists said young people need something to draw them in so they can get interested in the movement and its mission.
"Youth need something to react to. Like a musician or a poet. Watching lecture after lecture doesn't give them something to connect to," said Chanté Cardoso, youth activist and protest organizer at San Jose State University.
By contrast, Vietnam protests were rich with music, poetry, art and fashion. Youth flocked to hear and see these new and creative ways of making a stand.
John Burk of Food not Bombs, a San Jose group that opposes the occupation of Iraq, said "Through past events, we've found a lot of political activity comes through the hip-hop culture." The concern, he said, is whether a hip-hop movement is enough to engage the younger generation.
Technological advances made since the '70s may have also hindered more than helped the Iraq war generation.
"The luxuries of today make the difference," said Keisha Evans, an East Palo Alto activist. "It has broken down a certain amount of integrity. There is no need for struggle."
As much as the use of technology may detach youth from social issues, it also provides an outlet for speaking out against the war.
Students today use chat rooms, instant messaging, Web logs and MySpace.com as a way to discuss Iraq and other social problems. As one example, the San Jose-based group Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) organized its immigration march primarily through the Internet networking site MySpace.com.
Another key technical outlet is the online organizations like MoveOn.org, which works on a global scale to gain support for the termination of the Iraq war.
Through the Web site MoveOn.org administrators can organize in-person meetings for its members to discuss matters pertaining to their mission. Using this method, people sharing the same opinions can come together and fight for their common cause.
MoveOn.org and similar organizations also send mass e-mails to Congress members, White House officials, military officials and even the president to get their point across. It's almost as if today's generation has substituted e-mails for marches as their course of protest.
Cordoso said that although the computer deserves some credit, it just doesn't have the same effect.
"Teenagers need to go out and research for themselves. You can't believe what CNN or ABC tells you. We'd rather hide behind our iPods and our laptops so we don't have to find the truth," Cordoso said.
Burk shared Cordoso's sentiments, saying, "The Internet is very effective, but it is very important to come together in person."
What happens if the youth don't stand up, come together and make their feelings known? The theories for repercussions are varied.
Tom Tullsen of South Bay Mobilization said, "The government will crack down harder and faster if no one does anything. They will bring out the National Guard and the military and will not have tolerance for the action being taken. It would be very serious."
Cordoso brought the idea that many young people seem to forget.
"A draft could happen again. And when and if it does, all of us will be asking 'How could we have let this happen?' " she said.
Still, some people have not given up hope on the young activists who protest the war in Iraq.
"The younger generation will step up," Burk said. "I believe in them."