Sunday, October 21, 2007

Generation Q

It's ridiculous that I'm writing this entry.

Thomas Friedman's article Generation Q that appeared in last week's NYTimes could not have been more prescient. In it he claimed that our generation is less active that previous generations of Americans in protesting issues that severely damage our lives and the lives of people we care about. Our contentment with faux-activism (or virtual activism if you prefer) in the form of Facebook groups, chain emails and online petitions has become a real danger to our national health.

The collective effect of those virtual outlets does not rival the significance of a single rally of people on the streets. People on the streets can be seen, heard and felt; they get covered by the media; and they stop traffic and make others ask "what's are all these folks so worked up about?"

In generations past, our government's policies have been kept in check by, among other forces, the young voting demographic's passionate idealism; those ideals that are dismissed by our jaded elders as being unrealistic. "You'll see what I mean when you get older" is what we are told and what we should strive to hear. We are doing our job when that phrase is being repeated on a regular basis. We are speaking out (with our mouths, not our keyboards) about policies and events that are intolerable because they offend our consciences and our values.

And there are plenty of ongoings to get riled up about, right? Shouldn't all of us who claim to want immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq be vocalizing those desires? Shouldn't those of us who are registered with Save-Darfur and receiving their daily emails and "calls to action" be organizing around that cause in some tangible way? It's genocide after all. Last week the French practically shut down their economy for a day to protest Zarkozy's revisions to domestic social security policies. How many times have you heard recently that our generations isn't going to have social security to fall back on? The Bush Administration deliberately legalized the use of torture! And through doing so, didn't they cost us our reputation as a country of people who respect individual rights and freedoms? They really fucked up, the whole world knows about it, and still, with our national image on the line, even those of us who claim to care have done nothing.

It may be that the omnipresence of electronic technology has finally numbed our brains beyond repair. Being constantly bombarded by information about our world, primarily via the internet but also through TV, radio and publications, does raise our awareness levels about the various crises going on in our country and outside of our borders. But perhaps it has other implications for us as well. According to Friedman our generation lacks the passion that seemed to drive citizens of past eras. More information about more topics leads to less focus on singular issues; less focus leads to less passion; and less passion results in a real lack of action that is dangerous.
There is something inherently good about focusing all of one's energy on a singular issue and becoming healthily obsessed with affecting it, changing it, for better or worse. Passion breeds opposition, and when opposing opinions compete in the "marketplace of ideas", we citizens win. Americans used to cherish that validation process. Now I'm not so sure that we do.

The 1st Amendment has never been so rusty. Our national dialog has been reduced to talking heads and pundits dismissing each other's claims about what candidate is farther from center. I'll be the first to admit that I am not doing my part, and writing this blog entry that only a few bored people will read does nothing to alter that. It's time for those of us who say that we care to show that we care and stir things up.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Guilt

I care deeply.
I read and learn and discuss and report and discuss some more.
I’m aware.
I’ve monitored the destruction of our planet, the genocides.
I can see those spirals.
CNN, FOX, NYTimes, The Post, Youtube and Google --- every day I see things.
And I’m a liberal!
I’m a goddamned liberal and I care.
So I consume…. What’s the big deal?
I’m just trying to get by with a little extra.
Since when is it a crime to spend extra, eat extra, own extra, use extra?
It’s my extra and I worked for it.
This is America.
I’d be the first to embrace Socialism; pay for others’ health and education.
But I need to survive in a capitalist society valuing PROGRESS!
You can’t expect me to be one of these crazy people who only buy organic American, who subsist on what they need, even though they could have more.
I’ll trade and buy and sell and trade some more, and then I’ll give back. Philanthropy:
To balance it out, tip the scales back in the world’s favor, in everyone else’s favor.
And I will, you know I will, you know I’m a good person with a good heart.
So I consume a little extra. So I participate. So my foot’s on the gas.
So I’m represented by horrible people.So my freedom is worth the death of thousands.
Can’t expect it all to change, what do you want from me?
I’m here by my own volition.
No one forced me to open up like this.
Don’t you have any guilt?