We are going to war - a war on terror, a war against nature, a war on sickness, poverty and all of human suffering. Besides these ongoing challenges, the aging of the baby boomers presents even more difficulties. It goes without saying that these tremendous responsibilities soon will be bestowed upon our generation. But before rushing the beaches of futurity, we must deal with a pressing, and depressing, issue: Apathy.
Apathy is a silent plague. It is rarely discussed, for afflicted victims are seldom outspoken. The numbers however, including our own student elections' dismal 29 percent turnout, speak on its behalf. It may seem odd to write about indifference, because those who this article is intended for will live up to their namesake. Nevertheless, this arresting subject warrants our immediate attention.
The most common cause of apathy - irrelevance - is also the easiest to dismiss. People who claim that these dilemmas are not important to their own lives are just unaware of the ramifications. From history, we learn that the breaking of a single event can have extensive ripple effects, impacting individuals and societies. Turning away from a coming wave only ensures our drowning.
There is, however, a preventable symptom for the apathetic condition. Alienation is often a precursor to apathy; you first feel foreign to a cause before you feel nothing toward it. Two specific forms of alienation are relevant to apathy.
Alienation, in the theory proposed by Karl Marx, consists of man's estrangement to labor. By capitalist forces he cannot control, the individual is given an unwanted occupation. Thus, the worker feels foreign to his labor. He becomes unmotivated and his potential is not actualized. We face a similar crisis. As we graduate, unemployment limits our opportunities - our ambitions are suffocated by the invisible hand. Due to the diffusion and specialization of knowledge, even those who are fortunate enough to pursue their goals may become expendable. This is seen in the paradox of our efforts: Everywhere there is a shortage, be it of doctors, of teachers, of honest politicians and so on, but everywhere there is an overabundance of worthy candidates who compete for these limited positions. Called to the front lines, we hurry to contribute. But in the race to the top, the best and brightest are often trampled by their peers.
As students attending Mr. Jefferson's University, an institution that was founded to educate passionate leaders, many of us aspire to be prominent figures in our society. But if we happen to funnel into obscurity, our sparks of passion cannot flicker. Therefore, we cannot lose interest in these significant issues. Even in the most remote of occupations, in positions too insignificant to be labeled insignificant, we can make a difference. Just as a biological cycle cannot endure without each life-sustaining breath, so too do politics and economics require every vote and every purchase. Whatever you do is not just a necessary stride to progress our cause. It is essential.
The other kind of alienation is far more devastating. This type, explored by the late J.D. Salinger among others, is the tendency to feel emotionally isolated.
A condition normally labeled as immaturity, this feeling is placed along with "The Catcher in the Rye" in the adolescent category - something to be grown out of, then scoffed at in hindsight. But this is a serious concern. College students especially are torn between nostalgia and forward-looking optimism, unsure of where to call home. Who do we turn to? Our leaders have shown us infidelity and our role models have abandoned us. We are skeptical to trust our elders. We dream and they call us na
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