Buried in the Washington Post's Outlook section is an excellent
article about the young anti-war generation. The article focuses on how the new generation does not get credit or exposure for its work for peace. Being a member of this group, I just want to give my personal version of this, and issue a call to any other young activists out there.
First, let me say that I am a high school senior, and so I am only beginning to enter into the real world where I can make my own initiatives. I follow politics extrememly closely, and I am actively involved in local politics. Obviously, I get a little tired of all the reports about "the uncaring youth who never vote." Let me first say that our generation has been much quicker to swell the peace ranks than Vietnam. Some have said that we are not radical or passionate enough. Yet as Ms. Kamenetz says in her article, we're more focused on getting a real result. We have to deal with a conservative tide, and so we must add practicality to our pleas. This is not compromising; it is smart politics.
More in extended
Back in 2004, my school in Washington DC was not uncaring, was not cynical about the elections. No, we were passionately involved, staying in touch with the latest news. Our Government Club had its biggest membership. The week before Election Day, when we debated Bush v. Kerry, everybody in the room was standing up. People were whooping when one side had a great line. It was amazing...and it was completely opposite of the stereotype of a slacker youth.
We've gravtitated to the peace movement much more quickly than Vietnam. With Vietnam, the peace movement took several years (counting from 1965)to be a major force in the country. With Iraq, the peace movement was strong before the war even started, and only 2 years in it has the sympathy of the majority. I'm certainly not belittleing the Vietnam movement; I appreciate it greatly. I simply am pointing out that the youth has not failed to help the peace movement.
The youth of today are concerned. And what we are most concerned about is that all our funds, all our energy will go towards stopping bad ideas, not creating new ones. We have to protect Social Security, fight off terrorism, and come out from under massive debt. There's not much room for new things. Even on global warming, more of the energy will be going towards stopping consequences rather than creating new energies, since we've gotten such a late start (if any start) on the problem.
And why are we in this position? Because we are living in a time when the conservative tide has controlled the country for 35 years. Nixon had his "Silent Majority," which abandoned his party temporarily over Watergate, but returned in even greater numbers when Reagan became the face of it. Sure, Clinton came along, but he was one of the best politicans ever. He knew that the country had moved to the right, and he moved with it. Even then, the Rpepublicans continued to advance, taking the House in the 1994 mid-terms. Now, we have this awful President whom we cannot even unseat.
All that stands in stark contrast to 1965. Then, the country had been in Democratic hands for nearly 35 years. First came Roosevelt's New Deal and 20 years of a Democratic White House. Eisenhower was that era's equivalent of Clinton in that he was quite centrist, accomadating the tide of liberalism. Some will point out McCarthyism, but he was a short phenomenon, shunned by many centrists within his own party. Then the Democrats took over again under Kennedy and Johnson. The assault on so many tenets of progressivism had not yet begun. Now, we have to deal with this assault before we can build our own programs. Until the tide recedes, it will be difficult to move on.
I have departed from my intended topic slightly. What I want to let everyone understand is that the youth of today is active and involved. What we have done is adapt to the times. We understand that there is some truth to the "right-wing conspiracy" and we want to adapt to that and defeat it. We do so by thinking up solutions, not simply counting on zeal to carry us through. While we may not be as easily-spotted as the Vietnam protesters, we are there and we are working hard.
If any other young people are reading this site, I would like to ask them if they want to start a young people's internet blog/organization (don't worry, kos, we'll still be active here). Our generation is Internet-savvy and we can easily network. If you want to, and have any experience with stuff like this, please email me. I'll be happy to work with you. Thanks.
And to all those young and old who have taken the time to read this, thanks. I think the right-wing tide is receding, and we will soon come back to a better time when we can really work on helping our country. So keep working hard: people are listening.