Redlight Crossing

It seems that there is a Civil War beginning to brew in the United States. This Civil War is not one that carries with it rifles, missiles, grenades or even death in the literal sense. This civil war carries with it apathy, action, words of meaning and words of fluff. This is a civil war between two opposing cultural movements: pop culture verses activist culture.

The season in political history that we are facing now is ranking up there with other divisive political eras that we have seen. Partisan politics are demonizing their opposition and creating an ever-growing schism with seemingly little hope of collaboration or compromise. This negative trend that we see occurring in our political theater is also creating problems between lay citizens who also demonize each other for supporting opposing agendas. But despite all these arguments, debates, fights and mudslinging there is a positive battle that is occurring.

Each generation is targeted by popular media and told to consume and buy and you will look cool, be popular and don’t need to do anything else outside of own the right things. Our entertainment is becoming more and more mindless, not challenging people from an artistic perspective but causing them to enter into a vegetative trance while they forget what is going on in their lives. Some may call this a healthy escape but I call it a tragic demise. Our brains are becoming mushy, our logic is becoming flawed and our desires are growing increasingly self-centered. At least that’s what popular culture wanted to happen. That is until people got pissed off. A righteous indignation has stirred among this generation. A desire to have a voice, be heard and change the world. Now not everyone agrees on what is the right side to be on in the political debate but people are rising to combat against the apathetic popular culture that contributes to materialism and consuming. The one thing that we can all agree on is that something has to change.

Finally, we are seeing people who were caught up in the apathy of the American Dream being moved to action. Grassroots organizations are popping up supporting various causes both political and social. People are actively pursuing change in most areas of the political, social, economic and even religious arenas.

I’m encouraged by these actions. I don’t agree with Tea Parties, I have my own political bent, my own religious beliefs, but beyond my personal views I would rather see people acting on their convictions than sitting by and allowing a media culture to tell us to just sit on the couch and watch people who live on the Jersey Shore ruin their lives. The war against the apathetic media is taking place. People are being stirred to action in relevant, meaningful areas rather than focusing on themselves only.

Is this war near an end? Not at all, we still see headlines about Tiger Woods overshadow real world issues. People are still more concerned with Jesse James cheating on Sandra Bullock than they are with the rise of obesity in the United States or the fact that children in Africa are being kidnapped and drugged into becoming child soldiers. The war is not over, the battles have only begun and right now the media and popular culture still have the larger army, more weapons and the overall advantage. But the people are rising, people from all walks of life, from different world views and these people will not settle for a meaningless life anymore. They will stand, they will fight, they will find meaning and leave behind those things that have held them in a personal prison. The Civil War is beginning.