2008 Woodie Awards
Change begins with us
Generation Y, where are you?
BRIANNA RUSSELL
Opinion Writer
Issue date: 3/12/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
The question remains as to where generation Y - the young, hip, gangster, lazy, empathetic, broke college students working at a dead-end job, trying to find what makes us happy, alcoholic youths are hiding?
According to the periodical “American Demographics,” they typically use those born in 1976 - 1990s to demarcate the start of Generation Y.
Have we been too silenced and intimidated to not be heard?
Or have we become glued to watching television’s latest reality shows rather than joining in on our world’s harsh realities?
Eleanor Roosevelt said it best, “If you aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.”
So which are we?
We are the wide-eyed passengers in the back seat of Uncle Sam’s car, along for the ride.
What does it mean to make a difference? Making a difference in the world, in the United States, in another person’s life, in your life is where it all begins.
The vicious cycle never stops or begins with one end. It’s like the chicken or the egg, which came first? It depends on who you ask.
Who’s to blame and for what?
Does it start with public schools, tobacco smokers, oil companies, government officials, gangster killers, the health care system, assault weapons, sexual diseases, Christian conservatives, exploitation, predetermined dispositions or alienation?
Rap artist Atmosphere, said that, in regard to identifying the scapegoat in our society, “The list goes on and on ...” Whether the goal is to change how uptight people are, how insecure we can be, or how our basic rights for survival should be more important than the bottom line, we can make a difference and that begins with you.
In order to feel like you’ve made a contribution to society, the worst thing you can do is to whine and moan about the government and the decisions they are making, or to feel intimidated, silenced or left only with excuses.
This article is in no way persuading you to run out and join the military, or vote just because MTV told you to.
I’m telling you to use your brain, find that balance in your life and inspire others. Become a building block that holds the base structure of society - a positive model that makes everyone proud to be an American.
How can we make a difference? Granted we are only slightly further up in the food chain, we are busy with our very responsible lives, we don’t have a ton of money saved to travel the world, we’re underpaid and stressed out.
But here’s what we can do - we can become more aware as consumers and humanitarians, we can learn to “live and let live” so that everyone has a chance with their lives.
When I asked some college students what issues they felt needed to be addressed and worked out, they mentioned healthcare for everyone, foreign policy strictness, government hypocrisy, education, propaganda, war, youth’s self-esteem and insecurities and authoritarian intimidation whether its from the government, your parents, your boss or your peers.
These are some very influential issues in our lives.
Each aspect affects us directly or indirectly,, whether we know it or not.
Empathy and manipulation are not the answer - logic and humanity are. So educate yourself and others around you.
Don’t fall victim to the mass media’s manipulation or marketing’s deception of the meaning of materialism.
According to the periodical “American Demographics,” they typically use those born in 1976 - 1990s to demarcate the start of Generation Y.
Have we been too silenced and intimidated to not be heard?
Or have we become glued to watching television’s latest reality shows rather than joining in on our world’s harsh realities?
Eleanor Roosevelt said it best, “If you aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.”
So which are we?
We are the wide-eyed passengers in the back seat of Uncle Sam’s car, along for the ride.
What does it mean to make a difference? Making a difference in the world, in the United States, in another person’s life, in your life is where it all begins.
The vicious cycle never stops or begins with one end. It’s like the chicken or the egg, which came first? It depends on who you ask.
Who’s to blame and for what?
Does it start with public schools, tobacco smokers, oil companies, government officials, gangster killers, the health care system, assault weapons, sexual diseases, Christian conservatives, exploitation, predetermined dispositions or alienation?
Rap artist Atmosphere, said that, in regard to identifying the scapegoat in our society, “The list goes on and on ...” Whether the goal is to change how uptight people are, how insecure we can be, or how our basic rights for survival should be more important than the bottom line, we can make a difference and that begins with you.
In order to feel like you’ve made a contribution to society, the worst thing you can do is to whine and moan about the government and the decisions they are making, or to feel intimidated, silenced or left only with excuses.
This article is in no way persuading you to run out and join the military, or vote just because MTV told you to.
I’m telling you to use your brain, find that balance in your life and inspire others. Become a building block that holds the base structure of society - a positive model that makes everyone proud to be an American.
How can we make a difference? Granted we are only slightly further up in the food chain, we are busy with our very responsible lives, we don’t have a ton of money saved to travel the world, we’re underpaid and stressed out.
But here’s what we can do - we can become more aware as consumers and humanitarians, we can learn to “live and let live” so that everyone has a chance with their lives.
When I asked some college students what issues they felt needed to be addressed and worked out, they mentioned healthcare for everyone, foreign policy strictness, government hypocrisy, education, propaganda, war, youth’s self-esteem and insecurities and authoritarian intimidation whether its from the government, your parents, your boss or your peers.
These are some very influential issues in our lives.
Each aspect affects us directly or indirectly,, whether we know it or not.
Empathy and manipulation are not the answer - logic and humanity are. So educate yourself and others around you.
Don’t fall victim to the mass media’s manipulation or marketing’s deception of the meaning of materialism.
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