Responsibility, What's Your Policy?

I started writing this post two weeks ago (when this was actually a current event!) and then got overwhelmed with other life stuff that is less fun but more imminent than blogging. But I figured it was still relevant, so why not post? 

Image courtesy of Agence France Presse/Getty Images via the Wall Street Journal. Available here.

I was very moved by coverage of the recent events in Egypt, moreso than other world events have effected me recently. I think it was something about witnessing the passion with which the citizens of Egpyt, especially the young citizens, demonstrated with such integrity their values and ideals. What I observed in them, though the words and images I was able to access, was the tangible sense of responsibility they felt for the future and well-being of their nation. What brought it all home for me were actually not images from the protests themselves, but images of the days after, in which thousands of Egyptians, young and old, men and women, Chritians and Mulsim, many of who had turned out en force to call for the end of the regime, made their way back to Tahrir Square bearing not arms or signs, but brooms and trash bags.  That the protestors returned to the site of their victory to clean it up indicates something very subtle, yet very important about the nature of that community: a serious sense of corporate responsibility, a palpable demonstration of ownership. Almost to say, "Yes, of course, it matters who is in power, and to care for your country is to dedicate oneself to that process.  But that dedication would be meaningless if we did not also care enough to be good stewards of what we are fighting for."

I often worry that my generation of Americans doesn't feel that way about anything. I look at the movements of my parents' generation: the Women's Rights movement, the Civil Rights movement, the Anti-Vietnam protests, etc. and I see something that I find inspiring but that (in all honesty) I cannot really identify with. Of course I feel strongly about many things and am dedicated to them, but not in that same public, self-sacrificial, passionate way. Current studies of trends in this generation suggest that we are more committed to local, organic movements. We're more likely to commit small, local acts of volunteerism related to things we care about and to which we are personally connected. It's not that we're doing less, some will say, it's that we're doing it differently. But I still worry something might be missing.

And so I want to thank our Egyptian brothers and sisters for really motivating me to think about this and to considering taking more responsibility for my own community and our political process. I hope we here in the states can live up to your great example of what it means to pursue democracy.