Observations
When did we fall off the horse?
Ashley Erb
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Post
When did we lose the fearless confidence activists of generations before us exhibited? I hate to admit it, but I don't see my generation burning bras in the streets, marching in the masses or slipping daisies in the barrels of guns.
Maybe this lack of visible activism is simply because times have changed and we no longer need such radical demonstrations of activism to get the job done. I fail to believe such statements though because I know the job is not getting done. When I turn on the television I know this is not a world I want my children to grow up in and, although I know the world will never be a perfect place, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Unfortunately, the only true visible activism I have seen from my generation, myself included, appears in the form of Facebook groups and Myspace blogs. For example, a Facebook group called "Gay Marriage Killed the Dinosaurs" (the content is much more serious than the name would lead you to believe) had a membership of 27,190. Another, promoting aid for third world countries, had over one million members. Imagine if those numbers took to the streets armed with rhetoric and determination.
And so I must ask, is this what our generation will be remembered for? Will we be remembered as the generation of activists who fought their battles from the internet via blogs and Facebook groups? I hope not. I hope my children will read in their history books about the gallant struggles and beautiful rhetoric my generation produced to make life better. We owe it to previous generations and to ourselves to have such an agenda so that past efforts to move forward aren't stalled by our inability to find our confidence - to find our voice.
Even if I were able to find the courage to be an activist like those in previous generations, I wouldn't know where to begin. I am not sure what other options there are for me besides clicking the "join this group" button on Facebook. I do not know where the charismatic leaders of my generation are hiding. Or if you or I am to be one of these charismatic leaders, maybe our time has just not come yet to lead our nation to those new horizons.
I commend those of you in my generation who have already found their voice and I firmly believe your the efforts that have been expended are the beginnings of change. I envy you. It is a helpless feeling to want and know change is needed and yet feel inadequate to create such change. It is even more frustrating when you understand that you have to be the change, you have to be the beginning and despite being ready for change, you are somehow still falling short.
All I can hope for at this point is that my generation will eventually find the spark that ignites passions so intense that we find the courage to act as boldly as previous generations. •
Maybe this lack of visible activism is simply because times have changed and we no longer need such radical demonstrations of activism to get the job done. I fail to believe such statements though because I know the job is not getting done. When I turn on the television I know this is not a world I want my children to grow up in and, although I know the world will never be a perfect place, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Unfortunately, the only true visible activism I have seen from my generation, myself included, appears in the form of Facebook groups and Myspace blogs. For example, a Facebook group called "Gay Marriage Killed the Dinosaurs" (the content is much more serious than the name would lead you to believe) had a membership of 27,190. Another, promoting aid for third world countries, had over one million members. Imagine if those numbers took to the streets armed with rhetoric and determination.
And so I must ask, is this what our generation will be remembered for? Will we be remembered as the generation of activists who fought their battles from the internet via blogs and Facebook groups? I hope not. I hope my children will read in their history books about the gallant struggles and beautiful rhetoric my generation produced to make life better. We owe it to previous generations and to ourselves to have such an agenda so that past efforts to move forward aren't stalled by our inability to find our confidence - to find our voice.
Even if I were able to find the courage to be an activist like those in previous generations, I wouldn't know where to begin. I am not sure what other options there are for me besides clicking the "join this group" button on Facebook. I do not know where the charismatic leaders of my generation are hiding. Or if you or I am to be one of these charismatic leaders, maybe our time has just not come yet to lead our nation to those new horizons.
I commend those of you in my generation who have already found their voice and I firmly believe your the efforts that have been expended are the beginnings of change. I envy you. It is a helpless feeling to want and know change is needed and yet feel inadequate to create such change. It is even more frustrating when you understand that you have to be the change, you have to be the beginning and despite being ready for change, you are somehow still falling short.
All I can hope for at this point is that my generation will eventually find the spark that ignites passions so intense that we find the courage to act as boldly as previous generations. •
Be the first to comment on this story