George Graham

Power to the Kids!

 

When I saw those TV scenes of schoolchildren protesting against gun violence in America and listened to their leaders being interviewed, I dared to hope that democracy might survive after all.

Even if you do not believe, as I do, that the sale of military grade weapons should  be regulated much more strictly, you must have felt encouraged by these kids.

They were informed, organized and articulate. And they were passionate.

I would not say the same about the generation of Americans that precedes them.

A pervasive and debilitating lethargy seems to have infected America’s 20-somethings. Many are too listless to even vote. Don’t they care? Or have they lost faith in the democratic process? I suspect both might be true.

And I have to admit it’s easy to become cynical when you consider the corruption and hypocrisy in politics. It’s easy to shrug your shoulders and dismiss democracy as a sham. “We the people” can seem so ill informed, so self serving so unworthy of governing ourselves that abrogation of our right to self rule might seem tempting.

But – to me anyway – the student protests signal a revival of faith in the system and a commitment to participate in it.

These kids are going to vote. They are going to run for office. They are going to get involved in issues.

And that could save American democracy.

You will probably laugh at me, call me naïve, dismiss me as delusional, but let’s hear it one more time:

Power to the people!

More on the protests

The walkout in pictures

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com