Everything seemed normal to me as a changed into my regular clothes following an early morning basketball practice before class started. I hustled over to my freshman introduction to health class to meet a few early arrival students gaping at the television. I was worn out from practice and not the least bit interested in whatever movie or show was holding their attention. I took my seat and prepared myself to take advantage of my spare two minuted by closing my eyes and resting while absorbing the noises of the television. First I noted the urgency in the voices, realizing that this was not staged. When I heard that it was a news report on some horribly tragic occurrence, not some movie or show, I opened my eyes to see what it was about. I anticipated a reporting location in Israel, or London, but I too joined the gaping students when I first witnessed the unreal images of what became of New York City.
The September 11th terrorist attacks prompted George W. Bush to declare a “War on Terror” which fueled strong opposition comparable to opposition against the Vietnam War. Demonstrations of this opposition were not comparable. The majority of the United States does not support the War on Terror/ Iraq, yet protests do not measure up to protests against the Vietnam War in effort or effectiveness. Not only is my generation failing to express an adamant resistance to war, we are not making any of our political platforms and perspectives clear to our government officials and to the rest of the community. I absolutely will not argue that we are apathetic or uninvolved in protests, but times have changed and our methods of protest have as well and are losing efficiency. I will use this blog to demonstrate protests of today compared to protests of the sixties during my parents’ generation and investigate why protests are losing value and power.
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