Slightly more opinion, slightly less engagement

I was talking with my thesis adviser the other day about more or less random things, and, well, I can't seem to stop thinking about one of the topics we discussed: the generational divide that exists between the Boomers and Gen X-ers and my own generation. It perhaps speaks something of my generation that we are often given a name by other generations or in reference to those generations: Gen Y, the "Me" Generation, and other, perhaps more derogatory, names. So what happens when this generation grows old enough to become completely incomprehensible to its predecessors.

The reason this question came to mind, I would argue, is the seeming political apathy that many from the older generations perceive because college students of today have shown little interest in taking to the streets and starting marches in protest of the War in Iraq and our generally deplorable foreign affairs situation. While this may be the case, it may not actually be that our generation is in fact so apathetic when it comes to politics. In fact, I would purport that today's young people--especially those in college--are infinitely more informed than their predecessors and are acutely aware to a level that is almost unfathomable for older generations of the political climate and international happenings in our lives. This is the generation, lest we forget, that grew up in a world where information was readily accessible and effortlessly available at the click of a mouse. We have never known a library search that required looking through a paper catalog, nor have we ever hand-written (or even type-written) a term paper. The demands upon the academics among us have risen accordingly, and the competition to enter the ever more over-qualified workforce is only growing with time. We are, after all, the most proportionally college-educated generation yet (and, surely, the generation to follow will be even more so, should the trend continue). So we're smart, and that is pretty universally understood. But, why are we not non-violent marchers like our '60s-era counterparts? Why do we not produce the orators like our previous anti-war brethren, why are we not the incendiary rebels who make their nation aware of its flaws and errors?

Well, maybe, my elders, you haven't been paying attention (it's understandable when the medium to watch is a bit less comprehensible than those you know well). The upcoming generation, the newbies, the youth, or whoever we are, communicate in ways that our uniquely our own, just as your generation communicated in its own ways. Except for the minor detail that ours have names like AIM, MSN, Facebook, MySpace, and, yes, blogging. This generation was not raised on the streets, we were raised in front of a computer monitor and a television screen (note: this was, for the most part, a decision made by your generation--in the collective sense). And, forgive us for living outside the world of marches, marijuana and music, but we are only working in the framework that we know best.

So rather than sit back wondering where the marchers and the orators are (and, mind you, they do exist in this generation as well), perhaps it is more worth your while to just sit back and give us time to come into our own. Each generation is different than the last, and we're not here to recreate your idealistic nostalgia. Rather, we will work in the world that we know best: the world that is our own, the world that will soon be your own as well. The nostalgia is good and it has its proper place, but there is also something to be said for change and for a new modus operandi. So, maybe it's more valuable to read the blogs and to watch the Facebook updates--a new politics is brewing, and the generational divide is forcing its way through the mainstream. All it takes is an online ballot or, well, a YouTube debate. The world changes, each generation has its time in the sun. Respectfully, it seems your sun is setting and tomorrow is dawning. Only time will tell what changes will come.