We've all been exposed to too many stories like the shooting that recently took place in a Florida high school. There is the access to the weapons that our nation's founders who passed the 2nd Amendment never foresaw which were used to make people who kill people more efficient and productive in committing their atrocities. There is an unresponsive Congress whose members are owned by the NRA and/or various corporate interests. That would make those members of Congress professionals at praying when they send their condolences to the victims of these atrocities. And we have the continually increasing disillusionment with government experienced by more and more of its people. That disillusionment led to the election of Trump who continues the cycle by continuing to fail all of us.
Grieving and enraged high school students are now organizing protests for March 24 (click here for the event's website) and April 20. And in this, they are doing what many of us baby boomers did in the 1960s and that is encouraging. But lest we get too excited, we need to look at today's remaining baby boomers to see where their activism and political priorities are. Are we still as concerned about equality and peace as they were when we were young?
Hopefully the welcomed activism that high school students want to practice becomes a gateway drug to activism for other causes. But if baby boomers provide any indication for the future of these high school students, then their future involvement in causes will dissipate once these high school students become part of the status quo.
And so to these high school students I say this: we not only need your leadership and help in resolving the moral quagmire that is our government's well sponsored stance on the lack of gun control, we need you to show us how to be involved in moral causes and social justice issues even after you become part of the status quo. We need you to do that because we have failed miserably at continuing our activism.
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