We live in a troubled time: Media consolidation erodes the relevance of our press, ‘patriotic’ legislation summarily dismisses even basic claims to post-medieval civil rights, ruinously expensive and immoral wars are fought in the Third World on pretenses that are patently hollow, income inequality surpasses anything acceptable in a non-feudal society, more Americans are unable to afford health insurance than live in the entire nation of Canada, our ridiculous adherence to suicidal free trade policies throttles the American blue-collar worker, our comatose labor movement is being euthanized, our educational system increasingly opts for credentialing rather than education…

But what’s this? Is the student body, the heart of social activism for generations, stirring to life? Hooray! There’s hope, after all, for the civic participation of the next generation of voters. The student body has literally rallied in support of its sports mascot against the totalitarian encroachments of our historically Native-American-dominated power structure. It also has plans to practice civil disobedience in favor of a holiday dreamed up to prevent an opportunity to binge drink from being wasted by spring break.

Three cheers for the legendary American ability to organize spontaneously for civil welfare so thrilling to de Tocqueville! I guess our democracy isn’t moribund after all.

Scott Weaver

graduate student