COLUMN: America’s youth need to care more
A few weeks ago, I tagged along with a roommate to tinker with a troublesome computer at the Junction, the diner catering to students living in the dorms. I wasn’t there to play Mr. Fixit; that was my roomie’s call to duty. I was there to reminisce.
The Junction is full of nostalgia for me. It’s where I munched on cold, grilled cheese sandwiches after consistently showing up late for dinner freshman year. I never could convince myself to dine before sundown. Not after 19 years in India, where dinner is frequently timed to coincide with 9 p.m. prime-time programming.
So, it was nice to visit the old haunt four years later and take in the new d̩cor and the cheery faces Рwithout having to worry about making a beeline for the grill. I sat down at a vacant table and decided to listen in on some of the conversations around me.
The guys just ahead were gabbing about some “fine” girl, who apparently was an “easy lay.” But then, there was a pesky rule against “passionate kissing,” someone pointed out. The suggestion was met with disbelief and some debate ensued.
I didn’t catch all the details. Instead, I tuned in to what appeared to be a lively gabfest at a table kitty corner from the girl-crazy collegians.
A couple of bubbly gals were grumbling noisily about some professor who, in their view, was full of crock.
“And he can’t even speak English,” one pointed out to a lot of nodding.
“Exactly,” her friend concurred. “I can never understand a word he says! I don’t feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.”
Things haven’t changed much, I remember thinking.
Not even in an election year – while the country remains embroiled in a war gone awry; while civilian casualties mount; while the federal government grapples with runaway bills; while state governments turn their backs on higher education; while tuition tabs tug relentlessly at purse strings – do young Americans have much to talk about other than the usual. There’s the sex talk and the complaints about school. Nothing else matters, or so it seems.
The apathy baffles me.
You see, where I come from, ordinary citizens cannot afford to take anything for granted. Politics, economics, the state of education – everything adds up to determine the quality of life.
When resources for better living are scarce, not keeping a watchful eye on the state of affairs could mean the difference between success and miserable failure. An election year isn’t just a time of high drama; it’s a year of soul-searching and informed decision making – even at the college level.
Consider the southern Indian state of Karnataka, which registered 700,000 new voters between 18 and 30 this year. Some enthusiastic youngsters told the Deccan Herald, a regional newspaper, that they couldn’t wait to cast ballots.
“The politicians are a selfish lot. They work only to remain in power. The promise of bridging the urban-rural divide remains unfulfilled. Further, there is an unequal distribution of wealth among the people,” one right-minded 18-year-old told the paper.
This is heartening stuff. And what’s more, it’s lunch table conversation.
That’s a participatory democracy at work.
Why, I wonder, can we not emulate the Indian example in this great citadel of the free world? Why can’t the youth of this country be enthused to think about things like government and the political process? Could it be that most young Americans have no clue about what it actually means to be American?
Would, for instance, the gals at the Junction bicker less about the professor with the accent if they understood that kids in some parts of the world, like war-torn Burundi in Central Africa, have a lot more than accents to worry about as they brave machete-bearing mobs and torches to get an education?
Would they better appreciate their opportunity to learn in a free country if they had a sense of what life was like elsewhere in the world? And would that learning then lead to more active involvement in the affairs du jour ?
In the end, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is not a guarantee – it’s an ongoing goal that demands great dedication and focus. As presidential hopeful Ralph Nader once noted: “There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.”
America’s youth ought to take a hint.
Leon D’Souza is a senior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to leon@cc.usu.edu.