If he goes to jail, will he think it has been worth it?
"Yes, if my imprisonment brings thousands more kids into the Resistance. People in SDS have argued that we're all silly romantic idealists and martyrs, offering ourselves up on the altar to be slaughtered by the government. I think that argument misses the point that sometimes martyrdom can be useful. By our actions, we galvanize other people into similar acts. There is a whole new generation of energy. It reaches not only the guys who take the step, but also their parents and friends. Let's face it, these are the sons of some powerful, influential people. For whatever selfish reasons, their parents and friends are pushed pretty far. Just like in Chester.
As Stokely Carmichael said: 'Your politics are determined by what you see when you get up in the morning.' When I get up in the morning, I see my 1-A, my indictment, my name in the papers. It's very obviously a psychological, existential thing. Your conditions change.
The Resistance encourages kids to take the step that will cause these changes. That's what I meant by creating energy. Harvard SDS has been called a debating society. That wasn't true during the Dow business, but it tends to be true, partly because the politics of most of those kids are determined by getting up in Dunster House and going to class. They will act when their conditions are such that they have to.
"You have to decide on the moral choice to make the move that will keep you psychologically on the ball to handle things. This may sound very Machiavellian, but I think it's practical politics. If they abolished all student deferments, the revolution would come tomorrow.
"And turning in a draft card is more than a symbolic gesture. It causes friction in the machinery: resistance. Maybe we can get a two or three per cent slowdown. We have to face up to the fact that there isn't going to be a revolution in this country. Maybe we should start talking about change.... The true radical makes any changes he can.
"Some people in SDS, maybe because they've experienced more but probably just as likely because they're more frustrated, think there is no possibility for change and that they're justified in doing anything: That all democracy is dead. That's wrong, though it sounds more radical to say it. But it really isn't because it's less honest.
"I think the Resistance is making a dent that will carry over. If nothing else, it's producing a pretty tough, rugged bunch of people dedicated to change. Whether or not they go to prison, they've done a lot and grown up an awful lot. I've seen lives change in days. Some come out of prison raring to go. One guy was in jail for 14 months, was out less than a day, dropped by our office, picked up a thousand leaflets, and left to hand them out.
"So even if we fail to achieve any programmatic change with this war, we'll still have this new race of people, who won't sell out because they've gone through too much. And all of us are going to be around when the next war comes.