There is a pervasive cynicism among all people today, not just young people, though it seems particularly tragic among the youth. But the points made above are nevertheless true: many Georgetowners, many college students, and many other individuals are highly involved in important activism today. Members of the corporate media, who form the dominant narrative of our times, don’t spend much time on stories of individual activist movements, so even well-educated professors like Michael Kazin can neglect to understand what’s happening just under their noses.

That said, it saddens me how many well-meaning, kind-hearted fellow Hoyas choose careers in money management or sales. We’ve been given a unique perspective on the world, and obviously been privileged receive such a prestigious education, so don’t we owe it to the world to give back?

But making money off of other people’s labor is easy. Changing the world is hard.

Right now STAND chapters across the globe are planning events for DarfurFast. On December 5, students will forego one luxury item - candy or a cup of coffee - and donate the money they would’ve spent on that item to protect civilian women from being raped in Darfur. Just three dollars - less than the cost of a latte - can contribute to the protection of one woman for one year. Visit http://www.standnow.org/darfurfast for more information.

Don’t stand by, STAND up!

Tim also argues that we are more engaged in the system than our 60s predecessors - but there’s no proof of this. If anything, evidence shows the opposite - we’re less engaged today. In the 60s, voter turnout was above 60% for each of that decades 3 elections. (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/turnout.php).

Even if young people are equally as engaged in the political system as their 60s predecessors, but seek to change policy through lobbying instead of activism, their methods aren’t working. Those who have engaged in radical activism are precisely those that have been most successful. Tim asks, “how important are the noisy trappings of activism—the protests, the fliers, the sit-ins—compared to the actual work of changing policy?” Pretty important, considering the Solidarity Committee, whose members fasted for weeks, as the most successful example. MeCHa’s protest of Minuteman leader Jim Gilchrist stands out as well.

Now, I may not be familiar successful cases of behind-the-scene lobbying. But, on Iraq, at least, such lobbying isn’t working. I am outraged by this war, but I always think that I can’t do anything about it. Tim thinks we see ourselves as “patient, political activists.” I for one am engaged in Washington’s politics, but I don’t think I, nor us students, are going to make a lick of a difference on Iraq if we’re patient. If we are really fed up with the war, young people need to show that they’re outraged - by demonstrating loudly.

However, I disagree with Tim Fernholz’s claim that today’s youth activism is focused on so-called “pragmatic” inside-the-beltway politics. Besides GSC, STAND and the “pragmatic” pre-politicians at Georgetown, Fernholz has left out a lot of powerful activists on campus (I don’t mean to criticize, I just want to show it’s about more the politics): MEChA has constantly educated the campus about issues that affect Latin@s such as immigration, including with the massive protest last semester against the Minutemen; Students for Justice in Palestine tirelessly organize well-attended teach-ins and highly visible actions (e.g., the provocative mock apartheid wall); the Black Student Alliance and Muslim Student Association recently did a powerful day of street theater in Red Square to commemorate Malcolm X’s assassination; H*yas for Choice has fought incredibly hard to give us all access to health information and condoms, facing opposition straight from the Vatican; GU Pride successfully fought for LGBTQ resources on campus; Take Back The Night continues to push sexual assault into the spotlight on a campus where discussion about gendered violence is all but silent.

If Kazin seeks radical activism — meaning activism that actually seeks to overhaul our broken and unjust political-economic-social system — then working for policy change alone doesn’t make the mark, right? But many of our campus groups ARE radical, in exposing and challenging systemic racism, sexism, etc. This type of radical activism is overlooked by Kazin, Fernholz, and many self-indentifying “radicals” and “activists” alike.

Fernholz is right that sometimes you have to be pragmatic and focus on policy, but Kazin is right that pragmatically working within the “establishment” can only be seen as a short-term quick fix. Until we work together to shake off white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia; until workers have the same say over their own jobs as their wealthy bosses; until we create a new system that is truly inclusive and democratic rather than driven by the wealthiest of corporations — until then, no amount of policy work within the “establishment” can ever fully fix the deepest problems of our society. This is why so many groups (certainly not just ANSWER) tie together issues of war, globalization, Palestine… it’s all part of one deeply undemocratic system, and while we need to focus our efforts and strategies, we need to be conscious of fighting an entire system rather than getting lost in squabbling over one bill on the Hill.