By Claire Parsons
A strange hypocrisy
For months, it has been rumored and debated, and it is finally here. The ominous war with Iraq seems to finally be actualized, rather than being just another thing to complain about regarding President Bush. Liberals and conservatives have been berating each other over this issue for quite a while now, eradicating the pretensions of “bipartisanship” that permeated Washington D.C. following September 11. Now, despite political sentiment or former opposition to the war, our whole country is headed for war with Iraq. All United States citizens will be affected by this occurrence, but I wonder how many of us really care.
I oppose President Bush’s plan to attack Iraq. It is a foolish attempt to control an area that cannot be controlled. President Bush’s motives are dubious, as are his actual plans for Iraq during the conflict, as well as following it. Despite all of this, I am not all that concerned with what is going on. Is it extreme apathy or extreme cynicism that I am plagued with? It is difficult to get worked up about a war thousands of miles away, even though I know innocent people are going to die. I know kids my age are going to be sent to Iraq to die in the pursuit of lower oil prices for Americans. However, I’m doing nothing about it, and neither are most people.
This article is the extent of my actions regarding the war. Is that wrong, or is that normal? In a way, I feel like I am turning my head and ignoring a very visible injustice by doing nothing about war in Iraq. On the other hand, I have full knowledge that as a college student, I have very little influence in this area. As a columnist, I suppose I could have been more vocal about the issue, but it seemed to have been staked out pretty thoroughly by my fellow writers. The idea of following the government blindly despite moral apprehensions is deplorable, but in this case it’s almost as if we have no choice. A vast majority opposes the war, but we are going to war nonetheless. Perhaps this is because those opposed to the war are taking the lazy route, just as I am.
Where are the protests? Where are the vast legions of angry demonstrators? This is college. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing? Perhaps not; perhaps that is just an idealized view of young people left over from the sixties. Americans have changed in a fundamental way since that point in history. We are apathetic and self-absorbed. We assume our government is not listening, and as a consequence, we don’t demand that it listen to us. While I know it is true that the government is not responsive to us as citizens, I still struggle with the idea of giving up on our duty to make our government our own.
I am a victim of a strange hypocrisy. While on one hand, I know that I should be active and interested in the policies of my government, on the other hand, I don’t really want to do anything about it. It is much easier to discuss a cool episode of South Park with my friends, and it is much more entertaining to read The Onion rather than CNN.com. I suppose it is normal to not be emotively attached to every facet of my government, but it can be a hard pill to swallow. We’d all like to think of ourselves as in control of our lives. However, when one can be so easily distracted from a thing as large as an international war by the trivial events of our own lives, the extent of our control seems limited. I am not pointing fingers. I am blaming neither the right nor the left, because all sides deserve the censure for what is about to occur. Our country is going to war; people are going to die, and we are all responsible.
