Author: Sam Slesinger
A tumbling, breathy growl, slick quick-witted address or plain drawl-it doesn’t matter. Our generation does not have a voice. We have text-message conversations and internet chat clients and away messages for the avatars at our everyday workplaces.
We don’t have Jimi Hendrix.
We don’t have Che Guevara.
We don’t have Malcolm X.
We have quick-sell demi-celebrities like Soulja Boy, and harmless, acoustic guitar-wielding commentators Jack Johnson and John Mayer, and we have quirky, and sexy, and rich and 20 other shades of gray, nestled in the middle of a very broad, but largely ignored political-ideological spectrum.
So I hear that a charming young senator from Illinois is my go-to guy, that his composed and passionate sermon is the physical manifestation of our “hope.” Because for the past eight years, we have all been hoping for something else to happen. We’re tired of the war-or hearing about it. We’re tired of gas prices and the Middle East, and the environment and every other ubiquitous social concept stuck in the head of the 21st-century warm-blooded American.
Yes, we hope that things will change. But we forfeit this role to someone else; someone that can pick up the phone and save Ms. Genovese, with theatrical open arms and a terrific public-speaking voice. Sure, Barack Obama can do it. And so can Hillary (at three in the morning). So can millions of others. But not us. We the people can only hope. We cannot act. We are a massive body of mediocrity. We are 5’6″, balding, out-of-shape and always running late for something.
Marx would say that a fraction of We are running the country. That one or two percent of us determine everything. But we’re all the same. We make mistakes, we change our minds, we cheat, we pretend, we take risks and we die. Do the actions of politicians affect our everyday lives? Yes, but the acts of everyday Americans affect politics just as well.
So what is the result? Does the fate of a nation rest on the smooth shoulders of an articulate man who offers hope and change? Is it reasonable to expect a difference? Or is it reasonable to expect more of the same? The Dems who promised change two years ago have certainly lost the fire of their rhetoric. Will Obama lose his?
Or will history repeat itself, again and again? Fresh off the inauguration of a new American icon, will we return to our largely unaffected everyday routines and revel in our “success”? Will we pat ourselves on the back when Obama signs environmentally friendly legislation and rationalize our pants off when we realize that he can’t bring the troops home. Will we acknowledge that he is one man, fallible and mortal?
Most importantly, if something goes wrong, if the President screws up-as a mortal, this can be expected-will the drumbeat of hope regain momentum? Will an attractive new face rally our support?
There are many questions for an equal amount of variables. Does this mean that our hope is misguided? Not necessarily. Does this mean that apathy is a reasonable reaction? Absolutely-so be wary of denigrating others for their legitimate points of view.
So is our voice really lacking? Or are we inundated with a cross-chatter so loud that no one can make sense of it? I’m certainly having trouble distinguishing a guiding message from the white noise.
We have Britney Spears.
We have Mark Zuckerberg.
Do we have Barack Obama?
Does it matter what we have? Does it make us who we are?
Sam Slesinger is a junior AHVA major. He can be reached at sslesinger@oxy.edu.
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