Gareth McNamara
I’m sick to the teeth of online petitions. “Stop the Republicans from defunding Obamacare!” “Overturn Roe v. Wade!” “Tell the President that Corporations Aren’t People!” You know the sort, left and right. Worse still are ones of the generalized, feel-good “sign your name to support free food for starving orphans this holiday season” variety.
The number of links to these I see a day and the number of “signatures” in the form of glorified Facebook comments added to them demonstrates a widespread delusion of how the world works. We click an “Add my name” button, the internet equivalent of cheering while throwing glitter and blowing into a vuvuzela as your team enters the field, then with a few more clicks invite 700 of our friends to do the same with some trite message about how important this cause is — so important, we spent less than a minute of our day on it. Not only are these things misguided and annoying, they are the definition of lip service.
We all prefer things to be easy, and talking has always been easier than doing. To an extent, the liberal arts system encourages a certain amount of talk over action. Talk is educational, a learning process. Nobody’s “wrong” in a class discussion; they’re just getting to grips with the material, or looking at it in a different way. This kind of talk leaves room to develop, to improve, to flourish and avoids swift judgement.
Action isn’t given this kind of free pass. If you act on talk, act on thoughts, and you’re wrong, we’ll be sure to let you know about it. Maybe that’s why we’re so reluctant to do anything but so content to chat.
Now before we misunderstand each other, let me make two things clear. Firstly, talk is valuable. Don’t mistake me for saying otherwise. I recognize the value of the verb, the might of the metaphor and the oddly compelling tone alliteration lends to my sentences. I write opinion pieces for Christ’s sake, I know talk can be powerful.
Secondly, don’t confuse what I’m saying for Generation Y bashing. I’ve read the poorly argued blog posts, littered with pseudo-graphs and condescending MS Paint renderings of unicorns vomiting rainbows. I’ve even scrolled through the comments sections of said posts, scanning the seemingly endless parade of 50-year-olds, delighted to finally have found something they can “like” through the Facebook. I’ve tried to give generous consideration to the arguments of the technologically born-again Baby Boomers who seem to be there purely to try out this “trolling” thing they’ve heard so much about, cringing all the while like its the first season of “The Office” again.
The fact is, they suck. I will concede: I know a lot of Gen Y-ers with entitlement issues, with a Cs-get-degrees outlook, with a PBR in one hand and Mammy’s checkbook in the other. But claiming that the unemployment rate, the debt level, the mass birthright trips back to parents’ basements amongst Millennials is purely the result of an attitude problem is stupid and wilfully ignores pertinent facts. Like the political, social and economic conditions we’ve inherited. Who played a hand in creating them? I wouldn’t know, I was too busy being an entitled fetus at the time.
The attitude problem amongst Gen Y-ers is out there, but it’s not the root of all inertia. I don’t see Gen Y over-represented in Washington, and yet again it appears we’ll be grinding to a standstill over another exploitative attempt to appeal a law that, like it or not, is not going to go away. These people are elected on the premise that they represent our best interests, not squabble with and undermine each other at our expense. Why aren’t we doing something about it? Is it because we’re lazy Gen Y-ers? Is it because we’re too comfortable in the sheltered ivory tower of liberal academia?
In some cases, it might be a bit of both. In the overwhelming majority, though, it’s neither. As the generation that has grown up most saturated in new technologies, we, time and time again, mistake the “action” we take online for action in the real world. Mass media and public discourse encourages this. Didn’t you hear how Twitter caused the revolution in the Middle East?
I would love it if I could sign a petition online and see it make a positive change to the world. The fact is it’s not that easy. If it was, problems wouldn’t exist. Petitions, unless they take some official form recognized as binding by the powers that be, are nothing more than you looking at an issue and declaring “I don’t like this.” Online action is illusory; it’s really only talk. Despite how Gen Y is often painted, we’re not this naive. Let’s start showing it.
Gareth McNamara is a Staff Writer for the Voice and can be reached for comment at GMcNamara14@wooster.edu