November 3, 2002 - Seacoastonline: Young people offer hope for our political salvation

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2002: 11 November 2002 Peace Corps Headlines: November 3, 2002 - Seacoastonline: Young people offer hope for our political salvation

By Admin1 (admin) on Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 4:56 pm: Edit Post

Young people offer hope for our political salvation





Read and comment on this op-ed piece from Seacoastonline in a plea against cynicism that says that they are our children and, thanks to their idealism, it appears our political system will survive all the lies and half-truths, all the distorted images and voting records, and all the special interest money that has been so evident this year.
When you see a candidate endorsed by a large group of knowledgeable young people, you can be assured that there is something more to that candidate than simply rhetoric. In contrast, when youth involvement is low in a campaign, chances are that candidate is little more than veneer.

It is no fluke that George McGovern, the ’60s presidential peace candidate, was constantly surrounded by a huge cadre of young people, or that the marches on Washington for an end to the Vietnam War, and equal rights and opportunities for African-Americans were made up mostly of young people. It is no surprise that the message of John F. Kennedy resonated with young people to the point that thousands signed up to spend two years in some of the poorest and most forsaken places on this Earth as part of the newly created Peace Corps.

We who lived through the turbulent ’60s and ’70s, who witnessed the deaths of some of our greatest and best-loved political leaders, who lost friends to a war waged for purely political purposes, have, in many cases, opted out of the political process, considering it a sham where the winners are often determined by political inside-the-Beltway leaders and affluent special interests.

But we still remember when we believed we could make a difference, when we stopped a war purely on the strength of our convictions, when we believed we could change the world. These children, with their signs and placards, rekindle the light, urge us to take our tarnished idealism out of our inner closets and make us believe there is hope for us and our country to live up to the ideals we and our Founding Fathers professed all those years ago.
Read the op-ed at:

Young people offer hope for our political salvation*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Young people offer hope for our political salvation

You see them at almost every campaign rally and debate. They’re carrying signs, shouting slogans and handing out literature. Often dressed in T-shirts with their candidates’ names on them, they are passionate and committed as much to the ideal of free and open elections as to the people they support.

They are our children and, thanks to their idealism, it appears our political system will survive all the lies and half-truths, all the distorted images and voting records, and all the special interest money that has been so evident this year.

Many of these young people are, themselves, too young to vote. But they understand that their very presence and passion can sway the votes of their often politically jaded and disillusioned adult contacts. They are acutely aware that they can make a difference in how - and whether - this country will continue as a world leader in the 21st century.

Of course, not all youngsters are politically engaged. Some are more interested in the latest Green Day CD or whether to have their navels pierced.

That is the nature of youth: idealistic, yet self-centered; sophisticated, yet cloistered; aware of the adult world, but still operating on the edges of it.

But there is one aspect of youth that it would behoove adults to emulate, and it is not how they dress or how soft their skin is. Young people have a keen eye and little tolerance for hypocrisy.

Whereas adults have become accustomed to - and tolerant of - political distortions, often just chalking them up to the nature of the system, young people do not. That makes them the litmus test - the canaries in the coal mines, if you will - for the false messiahs of the U.S. political system.

When you see a candidate endorsed by a large group of knowledgeable young people, you can be assured that there is something more to that candidate than simply rhetoric. In contrast, when youth involvement is low in a campaign, chances are that candidate is little more than veneer.

It is no fluke that George McGovern, the ’60s presidentia* peace candidate," was constantly surrounded by a huge cadre of young people, or that the marches on Washington for an end to the Vietnam War, and equal rights and opportunities for African-Americans were made up mostly of young people. It is no surprise that the message of John F. Kennedy resonated with young people to the point that thousands signed up to spend two years in some of the poorest and most forsaken places on this Earth as part of the newly created Peace Corps.

And this year in New Hampshire, in elections that could very well determine control of both the U.S. House and Senate, young people are again out supporting the candidates whose messages touch them.

They are not only working for specific candidates, but they are also working to get those who society often casts aside involved in a political process that offers them perhaps their only hope of salvation. A group of Portsmouth High School students, for example, went out to register voters at Cross Roads House, a transitional shelter for the homeless in the city.

Students at Exeter High School coordinated and chaired a debate between candidates running for the state Senate in their district, and at Winnacunnet High School students debated the issues and dissected the political advertising of each candidate looking for the truth - and the lies - behind the 30-second messages.

We who lived through the turbulent ’60s and ’70s, who witnessed the deaths of some of our greatest and best-loved political leaders, who lost friends to a war waged for purely political purposes, have, in many cases, opted out of the political process, considering it a sham where the winners are often determined by political inside-the-Beltway leaders and affluent special interests.

But we still remember when we believed we could make a difference, when we stopped a war purely on the strength of our convictions, when we believed we could change the world. These children, with their signs and placards, rekindle the light, urge us to take our tarnished idealism out of our inner closets and make us believe there is hope for us and our country to live up to the ideals we and our Founding Fathers professed all those years ago.

Poet William Wordsworth said, "The child is father of the man" and, in the waning days of this difficult election season, our children are tangibly expressing the truth of that statement.

- Seacoast Newspapers



Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Dodd's Amended Bill passes in SenateElection 2002:  RPCVs run for office
Peace Corps Volunteers Safe in Ivory CoastA Profile of Gaddi Vasquez
Sargent Shriver and the Politics of Life911:  A Different America
USA Freedom Corps - "paved with good intentions"PCV hostage rescued from terrorists
GAO reports on Volunteer Safety and SecurityPeace Corps out of Russia?
Help the New Peace Corps Bill pass CongressUSA Freedom Cops TIPS Program


Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Senior Staff Appointments at Peace Corps HeadquartersFor the Peace Corps Fallen
Senator Dodd holds Hearings on New Peace Corps LegislationThe Debate over the Peace Corps Fund
Why the Peace Corps needs a Fourth GoalThe Peace Corps 40th plus one
The Case for Peace Corps IndependenceThe Controversy over Lariam
The Peace Corps and Homeland SecurityDirector Vasquez meets with RPCVs
RPCV Congressmen support Peace Corps' autonomyPeace Corps Expansion:  The Numbers Game?
When should the Peace Corps return to Afghanistan?Peace Corps Cartoons



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Speaking Out

PCOL1383
14

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: