The thought of speaking out against the actions of a government that may have you killed or imprisoned without trial is petrifying. The war on terror that has defined our previous decade as a nation has wreaked havoc on our civil liberties, further destroyed our global reputation, and deceived a once respected political system.
The loudest bandwagon carrying us into the current decade came to town chanting hypnotic newspeak by convincing naive activists that they were a member of the 99 percent. The term is branded on buttons and t-shirts, though most cannot conceptualize its implications: very powerful propaganda. Some members of the left do not understand the danger in the growing animosity between America’s social classes. It’s a frightening reality when individuals prefer to debate their economic entitlement as opposed to current American war crimes. What happened to the demonstrations we saw in the early 2000s focused on the actions of our government? What happened to personal accountability and independence that defined American work ethic? What’s happening to the left?
Back in 2011, the same month protesters began to gather on Wall street, the United States government secretly ordered the assassination of three American citizens without their constitutionally protected right to a trial: a New Mexico man, his son and a naturalized American citizen that once lived in Queens, New York.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that an estimated 1,126 civilians lost their lives to U.S. drone bombing, which spans a total of three undeclared wars: Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. The media is too distracted by the recent events at home, while those that truly influence our legislators are finding ways to circumvent our Constitution. Just like the pilots of these unmanned military drones, the anti-war left is nowhere to be seen.
Terrorism is an ideology. Our government has been at war with this frame of mind for well over thirteen years and what kind of progress have we made? How does a country defeat an enemy that exists in the minds of men who live in a state governed with no borders? To fight war on ideologies with bombs is like fighting climate change with blogs.
With that said, we have absorbed a delusional sense of constitutional justice and bent our own priorities with a pair of pliers purchased from Walmart. These past few years our liberal friends have preferred to spend their time contrasting America’s economic social classes as opposed to condemning the violent actions of the Democrats they elected into office. Instead of accusing lawmakers for America’s disarray, we point the finger at the neighbor with the political bumper sticker, become angry with a man that makes chicken sandwiches because he is not comfortable with gay marriage and tweet our latest complaint about corporate America on our new iPhone 5.
Traditionally speaking, America could always count on the voice of the left to speak up about questionable military action and civil liberties, but the new generation has chosen instead to focus on redefining their concept of personal accountability. The anti-Vietnam war movement kept the media busy in their scrutiny of Democratic President Lyndon Johnson and his agenda--a great example to set for their children and the following generations. What was the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement? Are political demonstrations effective anymore or are we just hypnotized by our deluded sense of civil responsibility?
The politics of America’s current generation consist of Twitter hashtags barking about individual entitlements while megaphones and peace flags handed down from our parents remain in storage. Pessimism will tell us that Democracy seems to work only when everyone can agree on whom and what to demonize, but instead of blaming the wealthy producers of this country for our economic turmoil maybe we should peek under the veil of our own government.
The founding fathers wrote the story of America’s future and the protagonist was intended to be Uncle Sam. The students of the Age of Enlightenment had a keen sense of foresight, but throughout America’s successive generations our dissonance has brought us face-to-face with a dismal future. The writing is on the Facebook wall. We are living in a divided country uncertain of who to blame and our ever-growing government has developed an agenda with a life of its own. In the past, the left has helped to correct this country onto the proper course. It’s a frightening reality when witnessing out-of-control spending, confusing foreign affairs and media headlines saturated with gun control rhetoric. What will we do when we find ourselves as citizens unarmed and cornered? It takes years to build a reputation, but only moments to destroy it. I’m concerned for our friends on the left; we can’t effectively move forward without them.
Michael is a senior majoring in economics. Do you feel like your political beliefs are adequately represented by the media? Do you feel that our generation has reached a new level of complacency? Tell us what you think! Please send feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com, and visit dailycardinal.com for more content!
