A timely and important article from writer Sam Graham-Felsen, reflecting on how to bring forward a student movement that can really change the direction society is moving.
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Sam Graham-Felsen International Herald Tribune
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2006
NEW YORK The greatest disappointment of my generation has been its
failure to truly stand up to the Bush administration – and
particularly, its refusal to actively oppose the war in Iraq.
We are the youth who are living through what will perhaps be remembered
as the most scandal- plagued, secretive, privacy-invading,
rights-infringing, incompetent administration in American history – and
we have barely made a peep.
How is it possible, that during a time of unprecedented promise for
youth mobilization that this generation has remained so silent, so
acquiescent?
Many point to the lack of personal threat; there is, as of now, no
draft to frighten us into action. Others suggest that the pressures of
an unstable and uncertain economy have caused my generation to look
inwards, focusing on creating a solid economic future for themselves
rather than dilly-dally with Utopian visions.
All of these explanations have merit, but I want to offer an
alternative hypothesis. The reason that youth aren’t protesting about
anything, let alone the war in Iraq, is because there is no longer a
serious youth political culture in this country. And the reason for
that is because this generation does not believe in its ability to
alter, or even slightly disrupt, the status quo.
Community service and volunteering is at an all-time high, so young
people do, in fact, care. But this generational shift from activism to
volunteerism reflects our lack of faith in our ability to affect broad
social change.
We were force-fed the ideology that there is no alternative to the
existing model of neoliberalism and corporate- controlled
globalization. If we tried to suggest that we could play a role in
molding our own destinies, we were laughed at. What’s best for business
is what’s best for the world, we were told, and if you disagree with
the bosses, too bad, because no one’s going to listen.
All you can do is face this cold reality, get a good job, and try to
keep as warm as possible within the confines of your isolated,
insulated home.
Idealism died in this country because the doctrine of “There Is No
Alternative” killed it. We don’t dream of utopia anymore. So it’s no
wonder that our parents, not us, are showing up to protest the war in
Iraq. They believe in the power of social movements because they saw
the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement shape
history before their very eyes.
I grew up with the belief that the only people who had real power were
CEOs. When you grow up in an age of tax cuts for corporate bosses and
slashed social programs, this is what happens.
But we are not asleep. We realize, plainly, that we’re inheriting a
profoundly precarious world. We know our economy is on the verge of
collapse, that the climate crisis will soon leave our cities under
water, that nuclear weapons will soon find themselves in the hands of
willing detonators.
We know that the current course is unacceptable. We know that the
future they want to hand us is far from what we want. And we are
finally beginning to channel this anxiety into action.
This month, in one of the most significant moment of youth opposition
to the war yet, New School undergraduate Sara Jean Rohe boldly
challenged commencement speaker and uber-hawk John McCain. “I am
young,” Rohe stated after scrapping her original speech, “and although
I don’t profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know
that pre-emptive war is dangerous and wrong, that George Bush’s agenda
in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost.” Her speech created a buzz on
the blogosphere and Internet news sites, where those of us who do
follow the news read it.
Because the war in Iraq embodies nearly every problematic aspect of the
“There Is No Alternative” doctrine, it is the natural starting point
for a youth social movement in this country.
If America’s young are ever going to shape their own futures, they must
first help put an end to this costly, bloody, directionless war.
And if millions of young people take to the streets – as they have in
other countries, and as they have in the past in this country –
policies will change, the status quo will shift, and young people will
once again believe in their own power.
Sam Graham-Felsen writes about youth and campus politics for The Nation.
NEW YORK The greatest disappointment of my generation has been its
failure to truly stand up to the Bush administration – and
particularly, its refusal to actively oppose the war in Iraq.
We are the youth who are living through what will perhaps be remembered
as the most scandal- plagued, secretive, privacy-invading,
rights-infringing, incompetent administration in American history – and
we have barely made a peep.
How is it possible, that during a time of unprecedented promise for
youth mobilization that this generation has remained so silent, so
acquiescent?
Many point to the lack of personal threat; there is, as of now, no
draft to frighten us into action. Others suggest that the pressures of
an unstable and uncertain economy have caused my generation to look
inwards, focusing on creating a solid economic future for themselves
rather than dilly-dally with Utopian visions.
All of these explanations have merit, but I want to offer an
alternative hypothesis. The reason that youth aren’t protesting about
anything, let alone the war in Iraq, is because there is no longer a
serious youth political culture in this country. And the reason for
that is because this generation does not believe in its ability to
alter, or even slightly disrupt, the status quo.
Community service and volunteering is at an all-time high, so young
people do, in fact, care. But this generational shift from activism to
volunteerism reflects our lack of faith in our ability to affect broad
social change.
We were force-fed the ideology that there is no alternative to the
existing model of neoliberalism and corporate- controlled
globalization. If we tried to suggest that we could play a role in
molding our own destinies, we were laughed at. What’s best for business
is what’s best for the world, we were told, and if you disagree with
the bosses, too bad, because no one’s going to listen.
All you can do is face this cold reality, get a good job, and try to
keep as warm as possible within the confines of your isolated,
insulated home.
Idealism died in this country because the doctrine of “There Is No
Alternative” killed it. We don’t dream of utopia anymore. So it’s no
wonder that our parents, not us, are showing up to protest the war in
Iraq. They believe in the power of social movements because they saw
the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement shape
history before their very eyes.
I grew up with the belief that the only people who had real power were
CEOs. When you grow up in an age of tax cuts for corporate bosses and
slashed social programs, this is what happens.
But we are not asleep. We realize, plainly, that we’re inheriting a
profoundly precarious world. We know our economy is on the verge of
collapse, that the climate crisis will soon leave our cities under
water, that nuclear weapons will soon find themselves in the hands of
willing detonators.
We know that the current course is unacceptable. We know that the
future they want to hand us is far from what we want. And we are
finally beginning to channel this anxiety into action.
This month, in one of the most significant moment of youth opposition
to the war yet, New School undergraduate Sara Jean Rohe boldly
challenged commencement speaker and uber-hawk John McCain. “I am
young,” Rohe stated after scrapping her original speech, “and although
I don’t profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know
that pre-emptive war is dangerous and wrong, that George Bush’s agenda
in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost.” Her speech created a buzz on
the blogosphere and Internet news sites, where those of us who do
follow the news read it.
Because the war in Iraq embodies nearly every problematic aspect of the
“There Is No Alternative” doctrine, it is the natural starting point
for a youth social movement in this country.
If America’s young are ever going to shape their own futures, they must
first help put an end to this costly, bloody, directionless war.
And if millions of young people take to the streets – as they have in
other countries, and as they have in the past in this country –
policies will change, the status quo will shift, and young people will
once again believe in their own power.
Sam Graham-Felsen writes about youth and campus politics for The Nation.