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Politics of the Past

Issues rise and fall throughout the decades, but stay fundamentally the same

By Beverly Jenkins and Mallory St. Claire
<bjenkins@hilite.org, mstclaire@hilite.org>

“Issues swing left and right. It’s human nature,” U.S. History teacher Karen Taff said. “Americans tend to be a forward-looking people — instead of re-living the past, we always think we are inventing ‘new’ and that we will invariably ‘get it right’ the next time. That is what makes it fun to watch.

With the advent of the Internet and youth engagement in the recent presidential election, young people across the nation are getting involved at national and local levels. With politically inclined groups such as the Students for Barack Obama club and activism clubs like Amnesty International, LifeLines and The Healthy Environment Club, many students here are up to date and impassioned on many of the current issues in the world today.

Clubs such as Amnesty International deal with human rights issues that are more timeless. Other clubs, such as The Healthy Environment (T.H.E.) Club, have been formed in response to more current issues.

“There has been a lot more attention than ever before about environmental causes,” Rachel Johnson, T.H.E. Club co-president and senior, said.

Johnson said that she believes that the club’s relatively recent creation is related to the fact that people are beginning to see the effects of global warming and what happens when the planet isn’t properly taken care of.

On the contrary, Taff highlighted that the environment was still an important issue back when she was a student here, albeit for very different reasons. “The first Earth Day (was in) 1973,” she said. Taff also mentioned that she remembers at the time the idea was more about anti-pollution than current issues the population faces such as global warming and recycling.

Taff also cited other issues as being timeless and always of importance to students here as well. “Immigration is not a new issue and there was an energy crisis in the ’70s,” she said. Taff also cited topics such as the economic and energy crises.

While the issues may not fade out completely, students’ interest in them might, which could explain the recent resurrection of environmental awareness. Some issues, however, will never fade away.

Members of Amnesty International, such as senior Kevin Wang, feel that raising the awareness of human suffering has always been an issue.

“The beliefs in the unalienable rights of all people was a key factor in the founding of the U.S., and these beliefs have stood the test of time. It is these beliefs in the unalienable rights of all people that have been the driving factor behind Amnesty International throughout its nearly 50 years of existence,” Wang said.

While issues earning global attention change throughout the years, the core root of the subject seems to remain the same.

“Interest in the environment should not be just a fad,” Johnson said. “Over time, interest grows and people get more involved with a topic.”

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