Not Your Parents Problem

Okay, I know you all remember when cartoons were cartoons. I mean for us, nothing could be better than the cartoons from the eighties like Thundercats, the Smurfs, etc. Two of my favorite cartoons were linked because the main characters were brother and sister. That's right. I am referencing He-Man and She-Ra. He was the modern day Hercules with superhuman strength and a wicked sword. He would run around yelling, "I have the power!" She-Ra was the Princess of Power. Nothing else needed to be said.

And yet, I am a little disappointed with those of us who got up early to watch these cartoons. I don't think we really took those lessons to heart. We, as twentysomethings, have power that goes untapped. We have the power to be heard and to lead. We haven't done much of that lately and I don' know why not. Our parents left us with ample examples of both powers.

The 1960's and '70's were filled with activists movements led by young men and women everywhere on anything from civil rights to Vietnam to the right for women to make the same amount of money at a job as a man. They were passionate about their causes, their beliefs and they made sure everyone else knew about their displeasure. They stopped traffic, schooling, and businesses. They endured water hoses, dogs, tear gas, and sometimes-even death. And things were changed. They didn't just simply sit back and live the lives that their parents built for them. And neither do we have to.

While we aren't standing toe to toe with the KKK today (well I had a couple of years ago, but that's another editorial), there are still a lot of battles to be fought. AIDS is spreading globally in epidemic proportions. Women are still having a hard time getting paid the same as men. You have to take a loan out to gas up your car in an economy that makes it hard for college graduates to get a job. And there's certain military activity going on in a far away country that bears a distinct resemblance to a war led by the US some thirty to forty years ago. That's nothing to say of the myriad of issues before our elected officials, and you're telling me that there's no issue out there that's important enough for you to peel yourself away from the new season of Real World?

If you're looking for the next Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Gloria Steinem to conduct the next big movement, you better look in the mirror. We twentysomethings have the same energy and passion that our parents had in the 60s and 70s. Research an issue that really pushes your buttons then act. Start a group. Write letters to your elected officials or to the editor of a newspaper. Set up peaceful protests. Vote. Vote. Vote. Please vote. We cannot rely on our parents to take care of our needs. They're busy taking care of their own and since we are different generations, they are not familiar with what it is that we need and want. Who better to represent your interests than you? And remember the words of a cartoon character from the early nineties: "The power is yours!"