Culture & Apathy

Robin G.D. Kelly quotes cultural critic Henry Giroux in his essay, Finding the Strength to Love and Dream, wherein he describes today's youth as growing up in a “culture of cynicism.” Looking around today, one can easily pinpoint where Kelly is coming from. Much of today’s youth hold what can either be described as an uninformed view, or an apathetic view, towards the political landscape. This is a serious problem if you, much like Kelly, believe that revolutionary dreams—and by extension social change—erupt out of political engagement. But how can we fix this? If someone is uninformed, they can simply educate themselves from (hopefully) quality sources. However, if someone is apathetic, they may very well be informed, but they refuse to get involved in social and political movements because of a lack of caring about social and political issues. And you cannot force someone to care. But why the lack of care in the first place? It seems like the majority of young people today have had their dreams sideswiped by the consumer culture that envelopes American society. Prosperity and the ability to purchase “stuff” constantly impedes the minds of the masses and acts as a kind of driving force in their motives for engaging in most any activity. Today’s youth view the current situation as the best anyone can do in terms of moving towards “freedom” and “equality.” Perhaps the apathetic masses have settled to believe this illusion of progress and social change is the limit of what we are able to accomplish, but there are some that don’t see that limit—the activists, visionaries, and dreamers. It’s always easier to identify what people are fighting against than what they're fighting for, and this essay seems to be a direct address to those “still bold enough to dream.”