The College Voter

I want to offer an apology for my neglecting The College Voter with an absence of fresh new voices and material. After a tumultuous spring of finals, celebrating the graduation of friends, and moving to New York to take up an internship, this college student has been swamped with other priorities and many, many distractions. Don’t worry… in the coming few days, weeks, and months The College Voter will be back in full swing, ready to stand out and yelp our opinions about the Obama/McCain. I will be adding fresh voices to the masthead, as well as reconceptualizing our editorial intent. Hopefully, if it all works out, we’ll even have a brand new logo, as the old one has failed to keep my attention span. If you’re spending your summer waiting tables, experiencing corporate slave labor (READ: unpaid internship), bumming on the beach, pounding your head against the wall because of summer classes, or just sitting in the A/C watching Showtime reruns…. All I can say is, cheers! Hitting the quad, autumn, football tailgates, Natty-Light Friday nights and a full class schedule aren’t that far away.

In the meantime, back to the State of the Union… Earlier this evening I wandered through Manhattan’s Union Square, sitting in on a free speech rally. There was little focus to the rally, as the entire purpose was to voice out about governmental and societal affairs. The man with the microphone was shirtless, practically naked, and raving passionately about WTO injustices. As I stood watching the spectacle, a passerby mentioned, “God Bless the Freaks.” As if on cue, her friend replied with an “Amen.” It was as if we were attending the First Church of American Freakdom, as the man continued to rant about apathy and lack of engagement.

But I was struck by the audience’s lack of response.

From what I could tell, he was right. No one else had the conviction to stand up and make their voice heard. If a person daring to tear off his shirt on a hot summer night in a very public Manhattan park has the gumption to condemn us of negligence, more power to him. It made me wonder who exactly is the voice of our generation. Where is the leadership from other twenty-somethings? Or, is everyone too busy worrying about job security or the latest Amy Winehouse drug-binge story to grace the entertainment glossies? Where is the leadership for our generation in media, literature, art, music, politics, science? I highly doubt college students lack conviction, a generalization of which many have pointed fingers. Yet, where is the iconoclastic voice we so desperately need to give our generation then substance for prolonged sustainability. When I reflect about this, people like the shirtless man raving in Union Square on a Sunday night are why I love the city and - more importantly - why I love this country.

It takes a bold type of individualism to truly inspire and reassess a generation’s position. Speaking out, lending a voice, and standing for something brazenly embodies the rugged framework of the American Dream than any Ford truck or real-estate fantasy.

There is bravery in voice.

God Bless the Freaks.