Generation Q Finally Will Be Heard!!
Almost a year ago I read quite an interesting article about Generation Q or “The Quiet American”. I was struck by the sheer reality of the situation that Thomas Friedman, an opinion columnist for The New York Times describes. According to Friedman, a generation of Quiet Americans known as Generation Q which makes up the population of college campuses around the country both impresses and baffles him. Friedman says he is “impressed because they are so much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be, but I baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be”.
While I believe this is true, I think our generation has reason to be so quiet. Our generation has only been able to (until recently) quietly pursue our idealism, but we need to do more than that in years to come. Our generation has been handed down problems ranging from the huge budget deficit to the Social Security deficit and ecological deficit. Friedman says he is baffled at how Generation Q has inherited these problems from probably one of the greediest generations alive and somehow they are able to stay quietly optimistic.
Despite the fact that Generation Q will probably spend their entire adult lives digging themselves and future generations out from the deficits which Friedman’s generation has created, these quiet Americans are so courageous! It is apparent in many ways, ranging from the way that college students today are not only going abroad to study in record numbers, but they are also going abroad to build homes for the poor in El Salvador in record numbers or volunteering at AIDS clinics in record numbers. Terrorism has not deterred them from travelling or building houses for those who can’t afford them, but college students at every campus need to do more than quietly try to fix the world. We need to demand answers to our questions from local politicians in addition to remaining optimistic.
It is our generation that needs to ask politicians what their plans are for mitigating climate change, or what their plan for reforming Social Security, and what their plan is for dealing with the deficit? America as a whole needs a jolt of the idealism, activism and outrage (it must be in there somewhere) of Generation Q. That is what we are here for-- to light a fire under the country. But we can’t e-mail it in through an online petition or a blog. These attempts are great at catching other college students’ eyes, but they just won’t cut it. Our generation must get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize us.
Friedman reminds us that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms. Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall. Though, I completely agree with Friedman that our generation is much too quiet and that our voice needs to be heard, I have such great hope that the new President will listen and we will have a more active role in fixing these major issues and rebuilding America for generations to come. I believe much will have changed since this article was first published, and hopefully all generations will start to see a change soon.
While I believe this is true, I think our generation has reason to be so quiet. Our generation has only been able to (until recently) quietly pursue our idealism, but we need to do more than that in years to come. Our generation has been handed down problems ranging from the huge budget deficit to the Social Security deficit and ecological deficit. Friedman says he is baffled at how Generation Q has inherited these problems from probably one of the greediest generations alive and somehow they are able to stay quietly optimistic.
Despite the fact that Generation Q will probably spend their entire adult lives digging themselves and future generations out from the deficits which Friedman’s generation has created, these quiet Americans are so courageous! It is apparent in many ways, ranging from the way that college students today are not only going abroad to study in record numbers, but they are also going abroad to build homes for the poor in El Salvador in record numbers or volunteering at AIDS clinics in record numbers. Terrorism has not deterred them from travelling or building houses for those who can’t afford them, but college students at every campus need to do more than quietly try to fix the world. We need to demand answers to our questions from local politicians in addition to remaining optimistic.
It is our generation that needs to ask politicians what their plans are for mitigating climate change, or what their plan for reforming Social Security, and what their plan is for dealing with the deficit? America as a whole needs a jolt of the idealism, activism and outrage (it must be in there somewhere) of Generation Q. That is what we are here for-- to light a fire under the country. But we can’t e-mail it in through an online petition or a blog. These attempts are great at catching other college students’ eyes, but they just won’t cut it. Our generation must get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize us.
Friedman reminds us that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms. Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall. Though, I completely agree with Friedman that our generation is much too quiet and that our voice needs to be heard, I have such great hope that the new President will listen and we will have a more active role in fixing these major issues and rebuilding America for generations to come. I believe much will have changed since this article was first published, and hopefully all generations will start to see a change soon.
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