Activism and generation Q
Last week I came across an interesting comment on activism in college campuses by Economist Thomas Friedman. Friedman calls this generation of college students the generation Q (for quiet), and it makes an interesting contrast to the instances of successful activism we’ve been reading about — Sinclair Broadcasting being forced to halt their propaganda attack against John Kerry before the 2004 elections, or more recently, and closer home, Virginia Senator George Allen’s infamous “Macaca moment” during the run-up to the 2006 Senate Elections. Allen’s insensitive remarks about a campaign aide of foreign descent, captured and instantly posted on YouTube, unleashed a wave of public outrage, infamously caused Allen to lose the election.
However, Friedman contends that this generation of youth is “too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good.” While online activism has had more than it’s share of success, Friedman says, big change can only be wrought by unplugging the computer and coming face to face with lawmakers in large numbers. This follows in the same vein as Sunstein’s argument that the more time we spend on a customized web, the less we are in touch with life on the “street”. Friedman says that virtual politics is just that - virtual.