Throughout the world, regardless of race, creed, or culture, it always seems to be the youth, the students, who come out and protest when change needs to occur. They are the ones who march on Selma, who stand in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square, who rise up in Tahrir Square.
Oh yes, we adults are there, too, but for sheer numbers, strength, energy and presence, you can’t beat the youth of the world. And it’s ironic, because every generation seems to belittle that same group. We often say they have no purpose, no ambition, no drive. They’re lazy and unproductive, have no opinions and make nothing of themselves.
I say just give them a good cause and see what happens to that laziness.
Is it because they are younger, stronger and healthier that they are willing to sleep in the open to prove their points? Is it because they have the time? Do they have less to lose? It is certainly much easier to walk away from a job to join a picket line when you don’t have a mortgage, a car payment, and children to feed.
Or is it what I fear deep down: that the older you get, the more apt you are to be covered in an ever-thickening blanket of cynicism? I can only speak for myself, but I know that when I was younger, I was much more idealistic. I was much more apt to believe that change could actually occur. I really did think that my voice, when added to others, could be heard and acted upon.
Oh, I still speak out. I still sign petitions, write blogs and letters and newspaper articles, express my opinion, and I will march, even if only for a day. But the fact is, I’m tired. I’m tired, I’m disillusioned, and on my darkest days I’m bitter. I guess I’m just not as young as I used to be.
So I want to thank the youth of the world. Keep up the good work. It’s important.
(Unfortunately, more and more, I find myself carrying on.)
The View from a Drawbridge 
I don’t think you have lost your essence. I think you are right in many ways…. The lack of time, energy, and the lack of motivation during times of struggle does play a huge role in all of it. As a college graduate, I reminisce on times where I would speak out in rallies and represent the student body during student government meetings. I miss those times and now I am left to deal with “real life”.
But Martine, knowing you as I do, I have no doubt that you are going to have a positive, major impact on the world. Just think of what you’ve done for Haiti! You’re amazing!
Okay, here is the thing about protesting and revolutions…
The problem with young protesters is that it is always the crazy looking ones that get put on the news. And this ruins their message with many of the people who might agree with them.
The problem with revolutions is, that in the whole history of this planet, only a handful of them had left the people better off than they were. Mostly, they just change which assholes are in charge.
Wow. Cynical, aren’t we? If no one spoke out, we’d still have child labor, 70 hour work weeks, only white males who owned land could vote, this country would still be a British colony, we’d still be fighting the Viet Nam War, Apartheid would still exist in South Africa, slavery would still be officially sanctioned…some good does happen, Art. Maybe not as much as we’d like, but some. And yes, assholes will probably always be in charge, but sometimes we can force them to do the right thing. Sometimes.
Protests used to work. Sometimes they still do, I guess. But less so all the time. And they can easily turn into bloody messes. Or revolutions, which is rarely a good thing. Yes, we need to speak out. As long as we remember who has the drones, tanks, listening devices, etc. I grew up in Berkeley back when protests were going on all the time. I can’t really believe how I have changed either. But I also study history.
Yes, bloody messes are not good. I think another thing that changes the flavor of today’s protests, however, is social media. Yes, they have the tanks, etc., but when they use them, it’s now seen on twitter and youtube and facebook, all over the world, in an instant. And that is powerful indeed. The biggest power the bad guys used to have was silence and anonymity. I still say the holocaust couldn’t have thrived in the age of twitter. I think the world is going to get pretty interesting in the years to come.
In my books, I point out that war and terrorism have to end on this planet because every time people gather to commit violence, aliens show up to watch, and that just makes it embarrassing.
Well, see? There you go! Everyone needs to read your books!
That’s what I say.