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interested in news and they have a lot to say. By listening and creating more
youth news outlets, we grow closer to our young citizens.
Political, patriotic and geopolitical narratives
As the decline in our participation shows, Americans are displaying growing
cynicism about the political process. The combination of campaign financ-
ing and negative campaigning support the jaundiced view that a citizen's vote
makeslittledifference.Thedebacleofthelastpresidentialelectionlentcre-
dence to that opinion. Of the cynical Americans, young people have the lowest
voter participation. Although they enjoy the spectacle of films and television,
they are wise to the spectacle of politics. Interestingly, while youth voter par-
ticipation is at an all-time low, volunteerism in the teen demographic is on the
rise. This suggest that teens are indeed engaged in making the world a better
place, but they don't necessarily trust government to do it.
The 9/11 attacks brought on a wave of patriotism. Flags are everywhere,
as are patriotic bumper stickers, and tight-lipped news display the new patri-
otism. “United We Stand” is declared on cars, storefronts, and billboards. But
there is something ominous about this phrase. The unspoken rejoinder is “Di-
vided We Fall.” The hidden message is that a true patriot is unquestioning dur-
ing times of war. To question military policy or to attempt to articulate alterna-
tives to the solution strategies in play is unpatriotic and dangerous. But the lack
of public discourse on policy runs completely counter to the spirit of the origi-
nal United States. The backbone of a democratic republic is the freedom - even
duty - to engage in discourse and disagreement. An amended slogan might be,
“united we stand around; divided we might have a useful conversation.”
In my view, the narrative of patriotism has been over-generalized so that
it interferes with the freedoms that our Constitution set out to guarantee. Cer-
tainly, patriotism is a good thing. Our judges and governmental officers and
military personnel take an oath to “preserve and protect the constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic.” Notice that this is not
the same thing as agreeing to support “my country right or wrong.” Patriotism
is, or should be, a commitment to be an active and responsible citizen, not to
be a passive supporter of the political flavor of the day.
The Civil Rights movement, for example, was intensely patriotic, as it drew
its strength from a Constitutional principle. Institutionalized racial discrimi-
nation grossly undermines the spirit of the American democratic republic. Yet
in the 60s, Civil Rights workers were labeled “unpatriotic” and were pushed
