I may be one of the slowest bloggers to respond to the results of the election last Tuesday, but I was using that time to think about what I would say about it. And the truth is, I have very little to say. The Democrats won both the House and Senate back, a day later Rumsfeld resigned, and George “Dubya” is shifting his policies. America is changing; it’s as simple as that. Wether it’s for better or worse, has yet to be determined.
Today Elton John made the comments that religion should be banned and that this generation’s youth isn’t being proactive enough about world issues. Sure, the blogosphere has probably revolutionized how people get their ideas out there, but it is also because of the blogosphere that we don’t see protests against the war in Iraq like we did back in the 60’s and 70’s over Vietnam. I’m not calling for the mass histeria that we saw during that era, I’m just calling for action.
This is my call to teenagers across America and the world to stand up for what they believe in through some, physical, non-technological means. Talk to people about what you believe in, start a club at school that supports that idea, JUST DO SOMETHING!! There’s a range of political and cultural issues to take up, including, but not limited to:
the war in Iraq
the war in Afghanistan
the nuclear threats posed by North Korea and Iran
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
the U.S. trade deficit with China
abortion
stem cell research
women’s rights, men’s rights, children’s rights, gay’s rights
the list goes on and on. The image of American’s being ignorant and complacent is only supported by the fact that most of us don’t know what those issues are that affect our world and those of us that do don’t do anything about it. I’m just as guilty as anyone.
My call is to Stand Up! Do something! The world is changing wether you like it or not, and believe it or not, you affect the outcome.