Change for the greater good

What are young people in the United States standing up for, walking out of school for, and raising their hearts, heads and voices for? Can we over-30-year-olds hear America singing — chanting and protesting? Do we know deep down what is driving, moving, shaking this generation, their teachers, counselors, parents and allies? Or are we just taken aback, somewhat amazed, amused, befuddled — lost in our own thoughts, dreams, schemes, travel, business, et cetera?

I hear young America singing loud and clear. Their plea is simple, direct and united — enough complacency. Enough political timidity and divisiveness. Enough is enough when you feel your life and the life of your friends, peers and teachers is on the line.

Many young people of this generation feel insecure about their future. Their future also happens to be our future. I remember a speech by Nobel Prize winner and Harvard biology professor George Wald. Wald asserted that my generation was afraid it had no future. That was 1968. We believed the Johnson administration’s war in Vietnam was politically misguided and morally wrong. We were disaffected from the social mainstream, to say the least, and alienated from traditional politics. We rose up and protested. At times, however naively, we thought “the whole world was watching.” The Vietnam War ended formally seven years later at a cost of thousands of lives, Vietnamese and American.

Currently a sense of fear and uncertainty pervades the nation. There also is a rising tide of hope, resistance and solidarity spurred primarily by the reaction of survivors and youth at large to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

So what do we over-30-year-olds do? How shall we answer the call of young America?

At a walkout, rally and remembrance for the lives taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a Santa Fe high school student spoke of “change for the greater good.”

What does “change for the greater good” mean, not only for “our country’s leaders” but also for people’s common defense and wellness?

Resolution No. 1: “Change for the greater good” does not equal military assault weapons in civilians’ hands. It is a recipe for disaster. We must resist unreasonable gun ownership. Guns do not make a community safer — unless they are used by law enforcement in the line of duty. Hunting is a separate category.

Resolution No. 2: The winds of change blow below 18, 16, even 14 years of age. Youth transitioning to adulthood seek their own place at the political table and in halls of power. Youth are stakeholders in the future. Youth are frequently more articulate, transparent, direct and motivated than elected officials. Young America struggles to represent and be represented.

Resolution No. 3: It is time to give peace and the philosophy of nonviolence a chance. We can look no further than the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change or to the writings and political witness of Mahatma Gandhi. There are important mentors of nonviolence in our own midst, for example, Thich Nhat Hanh.

So where do we go from here? We must explore the idea of the beloved community, seek “the power of love in solving social problems,” and “think, speak, and create actions of nonviolence to change our world” for the “greater good.”