Distemper of Youth

"Enthusiasm: a distemper of youth curable by small doses of repentance in connection with outward applications of experience"~ Ambrose Bierce

A bulletin today caught my eye today, because it presented an issue of activism that, I think, is rarely considered, especially by students.

I go to a small American liberal arts university, and they aren't hiding the fact that we are being trained to save the world. Convocation addresses fall in to two much related categories:  either "the human race is destroying the earth" and/or "you are going to save the world." And a lot of people have embraced that spirit. Thank goodness, because someone has to do it, and I doubt it is going to be me.

But this poster raised an important question: "Does student activism actually do any good (read: do senators actually read/ consider the letters written by nineteen year olds), or are we just rationalizing to make ourselves feel better?"

It is my humble opinion that although we are teenagers (or very recently teenagers) we are still human; we rationalize. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. The genocide in Darfur,  or issues of sexual violence in the Congo are  issues on a scale that we can not even imagine, never mind solve, but we have been raised to believe "that to those much is given much is expected." We know we've had life handed to us on a silver platter, and we want to do something in return. Even if letter to the Minnesota legislature will do nothing for rape victims in central Africa, it is a worthy spirit to foster.

It should not be discounted that many major revolutions (and Woodstock) in recent history have been driven by students. We have a unique perspective fostered by unquenchable optimism and homework to procrastinate (I should be studying for a French preposition test, as we speak) are capable of getting things done. If three students can get thirty-five couples to waltz spontaneously in a dinning hall because they sat down late one Sunday night, and propelled by a musing, said "wouldn't it be cool if...", imagine what they could do with a that same spirit, a little more direction, and some grant money. We are of an age, and live in a time, in which "ifs" can become "thens" more readily than we expect. 

But we also we are young. Many of us have seen more of the world than our grandparents at this same age, and as a result understand an incredible amount of international complexity. But we ought to be cautious before we impose on the world those ideals held with a force known only to twenty-something; the world is ours to shape but that does not exempt the possibility of screwing the whole thing up. The world is not our chemistry kit to experiment on with acknowledging the consequences on those we aim to aid. But we should not deprive the world of our vision and enthusiasm, when perhaps it needs it most, for fear of collapsing the international infrastructure or apocalypse.

I remain,
Georgie