Since the Sept. 11 attacks there has been confusion and discomfort among Americans. For the first time Americans are adjusting to a life that could be subject to deadly force at any moment.
It is quite possible that this confusion and discomfort are signs of a people finally coming to terms with the problems of the world.
We are now faced with the very real possibility of death. Wise people have said that only when you have faced death can you truly live. This is an opportunity for us to face death and grow from it.
As we become acquainted with death we may realize what people mean when they say that death is the great equalizer. We all eventually die. With this in mind, racial, sexual and economic inequality have been with America since its beginning. Only when these things die can everyone thrive. This is an opportunity for America to die and be reborn, to finally grow up.
Some say the unexamined life is not worth living. You could also say that the unexamined world is not worth living in. Examining our world and our place in it, involves pain and difficulty, but the sooner people start, the less suffering there will be.
As we examine society, including American, we see that there are fundamental elements that benefit from and cause war, poverty, suffering and inequality of all forms. These elements cannot function without the support of powerful and elite institutions like the government, the military and big business. It is our duty as humans to replace these institutions with structures immune to corruption, creating a society that values human life over the almighty dollar.
History is full of movements that sought fundamental social change, all of which we can, and must, learn from. The 1960’s civil rights and anti-war movements, the radical labor movement of the early 1900’s, and the numerous social revolutions in places like Cuba, Russia and Mexico should all be studied with an open mind.
It is because of the mistakes and failures of these movements that we are still in a world fundamentally unchanged. It is our duty to figure out why most of these movements died instead of thriving.
What kept them from being confrontational in a way that would create inspirational victories on a consistent basis? When most people look at the movements of the past or the scenes, groups and struggles that could make up the movement of tomorrow they may come across their own criticism or negative feelings about them.
Too many let this hold them back. What you may not realize is that these feelings of criticism can manifest into action to improve the direction of our potential movement.
As students we are in a position of historical duty. Students have always provided the spark for large movements for social change. Without this spark all people will continue to live in a world where the fundamental problems remain largely untouched, only to manifest into the horrors of the next century. Horrors which could be even worse than what we witnessed on Sept. 11.
