For many current college students, it is hard to remember a time before 9/11. However, the majority of us can easily remember the surge of patriotism and American spirit which was not broken that day. Unfortunately, it was that same spirit that justified a long, costly and deadly war. According to www.militarytimes.com, about 6,200 American soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to tens of thousands who have been wounded.
While we tend to highlight American losses, we make a terrible error in ignoring the cost civilians have paid in the conflict. While it is against policy for U.S. troops to take body counts**, the more conservative estimates tend to be as low as 100,000*** civilian deaths while others estimate around 1,000,000.****It is certain that we are a generation that knows no peace, which may be why our perspective for the future of America is somewhat cynical.
According to a Gallup poll taken in April, only 44 percent of Americans believe the current youth of America will have better lives than their parents. This figure is the lowest since 1983, which indicates a new age of pessimism. For many Americans, this is a war that began to seek justice, but along with our financial troubles it has diminished our hope. I feel that I’m not alone in perceiving that American values are constantly being compromised, ranging from higher taxes in the name of easing our massive debt to being subjected to machines designed to see through one’s clothing at airports in the name of security.
While it is tempting to shy away from politics and the constant feed of pessimistic news, our civic duty has called us to be informed and active in our turbulent, uncertain political situation. With politics finally having obvious and immediate effects on our lives, we should have an urgency to learn. I study historical European wrestling and fencing. My teacher taught me a valuable lesson when he would pin me in difficult wrestling situations. At age 16, when I was new to the martial art, he put me in a full mount (Essentially sitting on my chest) with a wooden training knife in his hand poised to attack. My first instinct was to give in and reset, but he insisted “You’ve gotta do something.” I have never forgotten that lesson, and I apply it to every aspect of my life when times are tough.
While we have a debt that seems unresolvable, wars without achievable objectives and we find ourselves in a position where our liberties are constantly threatened by outrageous legislation, we’ve “gotta do something.”
Good things in life do not remain in the hands of those who are unwilling to work and suffer for them. It’s no longer good enough simply to form your opinion and vote. We’re now in a position where politics has to become important enough to become an everyday conversation in our lives. Do not make the mistake of believing that challenging a friend’s political view is wrong. Politics reveals an intimate look at how a person views the world. When there is a “clash” of opinion, we discover and appreciate our friends in ways that we never would have been able. In addition, we make each other sharper and better citizens when we share opposing views or reaffirm pre-existing ones.
It is our ability to reason and make decisions that provides for our best interest. We are mistaken when we vote for a president who promises that he himself will provide hope by controlling and socializing our nation. Leaders who say that they can determine our best interest for us while we rely on their wisdom, rather than our own, are never our friends. A republic is founded upon the virtues of its citizens to make wise and charitable decisions with the money that they themselves earn and their wisdom to make good life choices. When we forfeit our faith in our own virtues to our government, we can never expect to profit from it because a government will always look to its own re-election rather than the long term benefits of the citizenry of its nation.
It’s time that all citizens familiarize themselves with an academic understanding of civics and economics and try to draw connections when reading the news. Every generation prior to ours has faced their own unique set of challenges, whether the revolutionary war against the greatest power in the world or a nuclear threat from a communist country that sought to assert its dominance. If an 18 year-old could pick up a rifle in the 1940s, I know that we can pick up books and beginning voting with an informed purpose in mind. We are a generation that knows no peace, so let us be a generation that is willing to fight to secure our past principles and future prosperity.
*http://www.thenation.com/article/we-count-they-dont
**http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/iraq
***http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/14/3839
****http://www.gallup.com/poll/147350/optimism-future-youth-reaches-time-low.aspx
