Political Complacency

Long have dissipated the days when students across the nation rose up and challenged the government’s policies. Long have dissipated the days when each student across the nation had established views of both domestic and foreign affairs, and based on those views called for change or an extension of the establishment’s course of action. The time of student political activism, however, has dwindled into what is currently believed to be one of the most repugnant aspects of my generation. My generation has manifested the idea that we must not act to change or enhance the ideas of the status quo but should rather allow the political tycoons of Washington D.C. to implement whatever policy or guideline they desire without any political challenge.
We as a generation have given legitimacy to the “door-to-door salesman” mentality, when it comes to politics. We as a generation tend to see an opportunity for political action at our door but instead of taking the risk and voicing our opinion or our ideas for change we instead proclaim that we don’t want anything to do with it. Closing the door on political activism has spurred the politicians and political insiders to believe that we as a nation, we as a populous, we as a generation, are okay with the actions they are taking. It was not to long ago that nearly every political decision made was scrutinized by the students of that time. It was during the Vietnam War that high school and college students alike not only voiced their opinions and their propositions for action but also in several cases used drastic actions to show their discontent with the political establishment’s decisions. It was the student generation during the 1960s and 1970s that brought about the end of the Vietnam War as well as a change in the political makeup of the nation. It is the kind of political activism that was possessed during the 60s and 70s, which the current student generation needs in order to change the political atmosphere for the better.
If the political complacency of the current student generation were to be diverted into centralized political activism, my generation could bring about a massive change within the political environment. My generation, if it were to move from complacency to activism, could challenge the doctrines established during previous periods of political complacency. My generation could use its singular voice to pave the way for ethics reform, as well as improvements in foreign and domestic affairs. A change from complacency to activism would propel our “do nothing with little approval” Congress to begin to, again, ask the citizens and my generation for insight into what their policies should be or what they should or should not vote for. However, in order to receive greater representation we must not only voice our opinions at the polls on election days, but also voice our views through the numerous outlets that the current student generation has at our disposal. We as a generation must use the news, the online blogs, and any other outlet feasible to voice our opinion, to move our generation from complacency to activism.
Political complacency, is the most pressing issue of my generation. The current student generation must move beyond our content, “door-to-door salesman” mentality to a mentality which believes that we can change the political environment of this country. We must still take credence in the words uttered by former President John F. Kennedy, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” because only by increased political activism can my generation make sizeable changes for the future of this great nation.