Solitarity
Today on Digg there was a video of Stephen Colbert’s segment “The Word,” which was made popular because of a shout-out to digg.com. (The video in question was removed from YouTube because of copyright — use the preceding Comedy Central link and watch the video called “Solitarity.”) The content of the video caught my attention, though, because Colbert is right — the current young generation does not know how to become active in the real world, even to the point of doing nothing while a classmate is excessively tasered a few feet away.
For me, this is a key issue: how to empower obviously concerned citizens who are active online but will not speak up offline. Obviously, I’m not saying that online political efforts are useless; I would sure be wasting my time writing this if that were the case. However, a certain amount of political work has to be done in the public space and “in the streets.”
In all honesty, I do think both laziness and a postmodern sense of detachment are working their ill effects throughout our democracy, as the Colbert “Solitarity” clip suggests. We do, in addition to personal foibles, have a very palpable society-wide resistance to activism in general to overcome. In many American cities, but especially in Lubbock, we have a pervading atmosphere of “don’t speak up; don’t make trouble.” That’s where online activism and organizing can help the most — we don’t suffer the disapproving glares of the local conservative status quo in front of a computer screen. So, begin your activism online because it’s safe and convenient, but don’t forget to take it with you when you stand up from your keyboard.
To borrow a phrase from a popular textfile group from my youth:
Save yourself! Go outside! DO SOMETHING!
Maybe saving the world is really that simple too.
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September 21st, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I wholeheartedly agree. I saw the Colbert segment on TV, and it hit home for me. I see a lot of folks like myself who have jobs and children and busy lives with little time for activism. But I see college students, and I think “what the heck?”
Bottom line, we all have to do something. The question is what? Many of us have written letters and signed petitions, and called our congressmen until we’re blue in the face. I think what we need is some leadership in action. We need to tell people exactly what they can do that will have an impact.
I wish that I had time to put together some sort of “Activism for the commitment-phobic” book.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I’m still waiting for the day the 28,000 Tech students show up to vote in their own best interests.
That will change the politics of Lubbock County in a heartbeat. Maybe your generation doesn’t need to burn your bras or picket county courthouses, but you really do need to understand that if you don’t vote, you don’t matter to so many policy makers.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:43 pm
lubbockdem: Amen! Maybe it’s the huge campus and the tens of thousands of students who don’t live on-campus at all, but TTU suffers from the same apathy shut-up-don’t-speak-up atmosphere I talk about.
WhosPlayin: When I was a college student, I wasn’t aware of my own capability to act. I became more and more aware of politics in general and started to learn that it’s ok to talk about politics, but, unfortunately, I never DID anything until after graduation. I agree that we need leadership that can connect with youth (we skipped a generation here in Lubbock, so it’s harder to communicate even among folks on the same side) and that we need creative, outside-the-box ideas for action.