The generation of quiet idealists?
Recently, Thomas Friedman, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, called our generation the “Q Generation.” By this, he meant that we are “Quiet Americans” who are more idealistic than we should be but less radical and politically engaged than we need to be.
So does this apply to Whitman? Undeniably there is a strong sense of idealism here almost to the point where many of us can sum up our future careers as “saving the world.” But at the same time, how many of us are actually doing something to create change while we’re still here at Whitman?
A lot of us volunteer. A lot of us are in clubs. A lot of us click on the link adding our name to a petition for Moveon.org or join a Facebook group that donates money to help starving children in Darfur.
I highly doubt Friedman would consider any of these actions radical. Nice, yes but radical, no. As Friedman said, “When I think of the huge budget deficit, Social Security deficit and ecological deficit that our generation is leaving this generation, if they are not spitting mad, well, then they’re just not paying attention.”
Friedman is wrong. We are paying attention. But in the words of many Whitman students: “I’m sorry, I just don’t have time.”
Everyone has the same number of hours in the day; it’s how you use them that matters. Yes, we are busy. But somehow that phrase is associated more often with activism than with other things. For example, how often do you hear “I want to go get drunk, but I don’t have time” or “I really want to go on Facebook, but I don’t have time”? We make time for things that we care about. So the next time you find yourself about to say you don’t have time for something, ask yourself if you really don’t or if it’s just easier to make excuses for something you don’t really care about.
Perhaps this sounds harsh. As columnist Connor Guy wrote last week, we are here at Whitman to get our money’s worth and to live our lives, i.e. to have fun. Taking to the streets protesting the Iraq War or urging Congress to cut carbon emissions doesn’t exactly fit into our schedules of class, studying, exercising, eating and getting drunk at the TKE house.
But then again, will activism ever really fit neatly into our daily planners? Are we really going to pretend that once we’re out of Whitman we’re suddenly going to have loads of free time? Sure, our responsibilities will be different, but graduate school, actual jobs and families will likely be even more time consuming.
One of my friends was recently complaining about certain professors who were trying to make him feel guilty for not being involved and caring about issues going on in the outside world. He told me he hated this because, quite frankly, he came here for the “Whitman Bubble.” He explained that right now, we can’t be effective activists, and if we try to, we will suffer academically. In his opinion, the best thing we can do right now is prepare ourselves so we have the expertise to actually doing something meaningful.
That’s not true. There are plenty of examples on this campus of people who are making a difference and getting good grades. Think about Whitman Direct Action; they built co-founded cooperatives in South America to run off of biodiesel and are now working for clean water in India. Or, closer to home, take the recently formed group Walla Walla Community Action working to make change in our community here. Or how about the new Outdoor Program for Youth that wants to give youth the chance to get outdoors?
I’m sure there are plenty of examples that I’m neglecting, but the point is that there is plenty that we can do to create real change while still being students and having fun. We’re involved in extracurriculars; that’s how we got to Whitman. Now we have to make sure those extracurriculars count.
Youth are the conscience of our society, and Whitman students should be at the forefront of political and social issues facing our society—this is a responsibility of people living in a democracy and the moral imperative of the educated. In other words, Whitties, it is time to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
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