I just finished reading this article about youth activism (or lack thereof) in the U.S. While I don't agree with everything the author writes, a few of the points really resonated with me.
*A lot of young people DO care and DO commit their time to being active in political and social justice causes, despite some of the very constraints mentioned in the article. Many of us are fighting various systems and standing up for various causes and doing a damn good job. Some of us are out protesting in the streets. If want real, big change we have to mobilize more people to get involved. Please check out this awesome organization called the Young Progressive Majority Minnesota and get involved. Also, check out the book Do It Anyway by Courtney Martin, which "introduces a new generation of activists drawn to the kind of work that keeps you up at night because you believe in it so deeply."
I think that Levine really hits the nail on the head concerning student loan debt:
During the time in one’s life when it should be easiest to resist authority because one does not yet have family responsibilities, many young people worry about the cost of bucking authority, losing their job, and being unable to pay an ever-increasing debt. In a vicious cycle, student debt has a subduing effect on activism, and political passivity makes it more likely that students will accept such debt as a natural part of life.
I've had the exact same thoughts. I would love to devote more of my time to being politically active, but I have to work in order to pay for school and living expenses. And I still ended up taking around $25,000 out in student loans this year. I don't know if people quite understand how scary and depressing it is to have tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt at a time when so many of us are finishing school and NOT finding jobs.The reality is that people are going to spend their time looking for jobs and working so they can survive and pay off their debt, not attending rallies, political events, etc.
I want to tackle Levine's second and third points together. I agree that psychopathologizing noncompliance is an issue and that our schools can be more like obedience schools than institutions of genuine learning, but one problem is that our current system is not set up to deal with these problems. Having helped in a classroom environment on a regular basis quite recently, I can attest to the fact that classrooms can be downright chaotic, especially those in which many students do have legitimate issues with learning or behavior. But even those students who don't have such issues still occasionally talk out of turn or do something they're not supposed to do. Why? Because they're kids.
We will never have enough teachers and staff to give kids the one-on-one attention that many of them need to thrive. That said, I think that many students have lost the ability to think critically, make well-informed decisions on their own and question authority within many schools across the country. And much of that has to do with Levine's fourth point...
No Child Left Behind is crap. I won't say much else on this topic but will leave you with this quotation from the article:
[NCLB and other policies] are essentially standardized-testing tyranny that creates fear, which is antithetical to education for a democratic society. Fear forces students and teachers to constantly focus on the demands of test creators; it crushes curiosity, critical thinking, questioning authority, and challenging and resisting illegitimate authority. In a more democratic and less authoritarian society, one would evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher not by corporatocracy-sanctioned standardized tests but by asking students, parents, and a community if a teacher is inspiring students to be more curious, to read more, to learn independently, to enjoy thinking critically, to question authorities, and to challenge illegitimate authorities.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Levine's fifth point is interesting... I agree that a college degree isn't the end all, be all. I know plenty of amazing people who don't have college degrees and plenty of horrible people who do. And I think that we need to respect people's choices - to attend or not to attend college. Unfortunately, it's becoming harder and harder to find good paying jobs without some sort of college degree.
I disagree with Levine's notion that we're more politically ignorant about class warfare when we're more educated. Maybe he found some statistic somewhere to back up that assertion. I think that applies to some people, but definitely not all of us. I hardly knew anything, and certainly didn't care, about class warfare (or many other important things) while I was growing up in a largely white, middle-class suburb. The education that I received in college, both inside and outside the classroom, taught me things I never knew before, awakened in me a desire to change things, and motivated me to become active in various causes.
I laughed when I read Levine's short bit on surveillance. How many times have we, as emerging professionals, been reminded that we shouldn't post or talk about certain things on social networking sites because potential employers might see? If I think that I might be passed over for a job that I desperately need because of something I do or say, I'm gonna watch myself. Okay, maybe not. But I will definitely untag myself from some Facebook photos.
While Levine's seventh point borders on conspiracy theory for me, I do agree that
those with the most money own most of what people see; fear-based television programming makes people more afraid and distrustful of one another [...] TV isolates people so they are not joining together to create resistance to authorities; and regardless of the programming, TV viewers’ brainwaves slow down, transforming them closer to a hypnotic state that makes it difficult to think critically.
I don't own a TV, and some days I am really glad about that. I know that when I do happen to spend a few minutes in front of the TV, I find myself thinking that it's nice to just sit there on autopilot and not have to think hard about what I'm doing. And I want to keep doing it. *Shivers.
Levine's last point is a little vague to me. I don't have much to say about religious fundamentalism only to repeat Levine's claim that "[a]ll varieties of fundamentalism narrow one’s focus and inhibit critical thinking." Consumerism makes many of us feel like crap and spend more time doing things that will result in the acquisition of more material goods (i.e. working all the time) instead of being active in political and social justice causes.I believe that our consumption driven culture and the fact that so many people seem to be in constant competition with others to have the most, best and/or newest things not only makes us work more, but it also pushes many people to turn to less legitimate forms of amassing material goods as well.
There is definitely not a lack of outrage among folks, both young and old, about what is going on in our country right now. If the 2008 and 2010 elections are any indication, there are people who care and who use their power - at the ballot box - to make change. If more of us were able stop worrying so much about debt, finding and keeping jobs, paying for our own or our children's education, retirement and everything else, maybe we'd be able to do more. Here's hoping...