When Ignorance Became the New ‘Cool

It seems as if we have an epidemic in America. No, this is not some H1N1 flu, and it isn’t a sudden outbreak of the bubonic plague. We have a new pandemic sweeping across the United States that is far more deadly to the well being of this great country. It’s something that’s progressively gotten worse, and something that HAS to stop in order to save this Union. What is this “pandemic” you may be wondering? It’s the pure ignorance of current events. Instead of commemorating a act that changed the world (referring to September 11^th, 2001), we talk about the Kardashians latest party. Instead of talking about regulations being passed that cripple job creation and innovation, we talk about Lindsey Lohan’s latest DUI. Not only is this pure absurdity; this is the very act that will lead to the demise of the United States of America.

Recently, I put out a tweet talking about the ignorance of people in today’s society and how damaging it is to our future. There were no responses. I got to thinking, “Hmmm. How about I post something about it being ‘National Fortune Cookie Day’, and let’s see how my fellow teens react to that.” So, I posted the tweet. Low and behold I got 5 (positive) responses. I was absolutely dumbfounded by that. Then, I got to thinking, that isn’t so shocking at all.

You see, teenagers these days see no initiative in taking on large and time consuming tasks. Why do that when you have a mom and dad to do that, twitter responses to get to, a call of duty date with “tha homies”, or have to watch the latest football game. Now, first of all… I’m not against any of these things! After all, these are direct fruits of free market capitalism! But, this issue doesn’t lie within the act; it lies in the minds of those doing the acts.

I have yet to see on teenager stand up and say “you know what? I love this country. This country was not made by a bunch of immature procrastinators. This country was built by people who loved their country, and didn’t take what they had for granted.” I would be OVERJOYED to see that happen! But it won’t ever happen. Why? We don’t want to tackle “the tough issues”. We as teenagers have been instituted a thought into our brain by society. That thought being the one of “mediocrity is the best policy”. We are told NOT to take on controversial issues, we’re told to TOLERATE the views of others, even if they want to destroy this very country! We are told that in order for America to succeed, we need to be ‘book smart’ and leave the big business up to our ‘beloved’ politicians and law makers. This is EXTREMELY dangerous. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked.

v  It cripples any drive to become anything more than a burger flipper at your local Burger King.

v  It takes out individual responsibility and innovation, and replaces it with individual mediocrity and ‘leave it for the next guy in line’ mentality

v  It destroys our countries patriotism.

v  It redefines what this country is made of.

v  And lastly: It is nothing short of a slap to the face of our founding fathers.

If there is anything that will destroy our country, it is the obsession with non meaningful events, and the ignoring of world changing events.

I’ve often wondered if we spent as much time as we do looking up Facebook statuses, or checking out the latest Lady Gaga sexuality story, or watching a music video demoralizing women and promoting creation above creator, and put our time and attention into the events facing our country and the world, what would it be like?  The country, as a whole, would be much better. Politicians wouldn’t be getting away with what they do. And our greatest asset to this nation would be the knowledge of its people. If we honestly took action and became involved in our countries trials and challenges, not only would our country be stronger: we would be living about with even more individual freedoms.

This is America’s greatest challenge facing us today. It needs to be addressed… It needs to be confronted… It needs to be stopped. The second we become totally abstract to reality, reality will soon become abstract to us. We can not afford a generation of Americans who have no clue why their country is great. We must get informed. We must get active. We must save this blessed country that we live in.

                                    *Shalom*