You have heard it all by this point. Our generation is comprised of apathetic and uncaring bystanders. My mother's 1986 Corks and Curls yearbook highlighted the myriad of causes students supported during her time at the University, the most poignant being the protests to end the apartheid in South Africa. I was amazed to see the array of causes University students came out to support in mass numbers and lend their voices to. And my mother's time in college pales in comparison to the causes my grandparents supported when they attended their respective universities. According to a CBS article titled "The Apathetic New Generation," teenagers and "young adults are less likely than older adults to value voting or the way the government works." Additionally, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman in 2007 wrote how shocked he was that our generation is not as politically engaged as we need to be. Not only that, but many times I have spoken with student leaders annoyed with University students for not supporting causes they need to support. I do not think we are an apathetic generation; rather, we are a tired generation. Between the evolution of surveillance and the numerous "good causes" to support, our interests are spread thin.
Every day, good causes bombard me with their need for my support. There are the ubiquitous organizations tabling in front of Cocke Hall, their numerous flyers plastered on Lawn room doors, and even more table in front of Thornton and Newcomb Halls. The point? All of the causes are good causes. I like babies for March of Dimes, I think homelessness is a problem and support Sleepout for the Homeless. The problem is I, like many students, do not have the time nor the money to offer much help to these organizations. Even if I did have the time, I would prefer to devote my leisure time to another activity I find important. Student support is spread thin over the myriad of activities on Grounds. As of Oct. 4, there were 896 contracted independent organizations at the University. Although not all CIOs exist to support specific causes, this figure still illustrates that student attention is divided among many interests. This is a problem that student groups are facing, as well. At the University of Virginia Public Service Conference last spring, a panelist commented on the prevalence of misused resources by different CIOs doing similar projects, but whose resources and efforts could be combined to form a more meaningful undertaking.
Likewise, it appears that the era of student protests has passed. In a world of hyper-surveillance and criminal records that follow you until death, why would a student revert to 1960-style demonstration? Schools and jobs, after all, want to see your criminal and arrest records before taking you on as a student or employee. It is, therefore, to a University student's disadvantage to support a cause that will ruin their plans for a future after working hard to get here. The Department of Justice recently published a 200-page report on an investigation of wrongful FBI spying on PETA, Greenpeace and other protest groups. The FBI justified their actions, claiming that they had the right to spy on groups that had the potential to commit a crime. That argument contains a huge flaw since everyone has the potential to commit a crime. The only way to protect to protect yourself, therefore, is to use reasonable judgment when choosing what issues to support. As evidenced by the mass public support for Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity, our generation cares about issues, but our voices have been drowned out by polarizing factions.
The argument in a 2003 CBS article that our generation does not care about politics was demonstrated to be shortsighted when young voters turned out in record numbers to support and elect Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Although our generation cares about issues, there are too many of them for us to support with equal enthusiasm. In addition, our generation has much more to lose with increased police surveillance. In this regard, we are not the apathetic generation, but rather the tired generation.
Liz Ford's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at l.ford@cavalierdaily.com.
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