As of the last fifty years—and especially the past ten—the United States has seemed like a fearsome thing, and having been born in the belly of the beast, I am well aware of all of the faults.
And plenty would be an understatement.
But I am going to tell you why we shouldn’t tremble in the face of and run from the bad, one-star-out-of-five reality show that America has become.
I am only a sophomore in college, and have all of the interest in politics that I would in a piece of dirt. But about which I do know, I am very decided. And while I don’t understand the inner workings of the government (simply because I’m torn between believing that there aren’t any and that everything is at face value or that what the public is hearing is all a sham), I know that most of the upcoming presidential candidates have less suitability for the office than my pet fish does.
A massive wall built along the border, as if the immigrants or the citizens born in America are trapped, stupid monkeys that let it go up.
And Kanye West, a self-proclaimed god lowering himself to the position of
watching over millions upon millions of peasants? I’ll remind you of the reality show, or on the worst days, a soap opera.
But there are ways to feel positive about this circus—one that’s being torn to bits by stampeding elephants—of a country. And these ways don’t include being positive about moving. As college students and professors, we are a minority in a generally uneducated world. We have a gift, which involves having ready access to news about our advantages and privileges. Some of us will even become the voice that broadcasts this news and others the ability to be the news.
We have the capability to be progressive, to move this country out of its seemingly permanent slump. And yet the majority of us waste this opportunity, instead choosing to complain about our parents (who just need to get off our backs already, right?), smoking any newly legalized drug or drinking at frat parties. Rather than curse ourselves to lives of indolent pleasure, we should be spending these short four years gaining experience so that we, the knowledgeable people who put blood and sweat into our degrees, can put a stop to people like Kanye West, who did nothing to receive an honorary degree.
Go to class and pay attention to your professors. Even the most unlikable ones have something of importance to tell you. Volunteer, work on campus, travel abroad and bring some of the ways of successful cultures back to America, get an internship—the options are endless. Be the future that you want for America. We can only go up from here.
Respond to Abbey at