The fascists over at the NRA have already used graphic fraud to show us how they roll. Of course that young woman did not tear up the Constitution, but the fascists hope you get roped by their killer app dope.
1
This historian's (if that's what he is) dependence on cliches betrays a lack of deep familiarity with the actual phenomena being described. 19th century politics evoked with images of spittoons and cracked skulls? How much more cartoonish can you get? It's childish stuff -- but I guess that's the point. All power to the children and their philistine adult enablers!
How does the Times ever keep up in the journalistic race to degrade their own profession and public opinion? Enjoy the downward spiral, Phil.
1
Save America from what? The Second Amendment? As usual in the course of history, gullible youths are being used as cannon fodder ( this time only symbolically) by cynical politicians. Those kids didn't make those T shirts and caps or set up the bus rides. Anyone who really believes that it is wise to follow the advice of sixteen year olds should turn his paycheck over to his teenage son.
Lets just hope these youngsters 1) finish grand school, 2) enter and finish college, and 3) get a job. Only after doing so will the majority of them develop into rational adults that can think for themselves.
Crying, screaming and carrying on has never affected change.....
Of course teens can save America. And they eventually will, for the teens of today are the adults of tomorrow, so make way old timers.
Teens literally are the future, staring us old folks in the face. Right now, they're asking us to change our ways, reform our attitudes. Tomorrow they'll be telling us. They possess the most valuable of all persuasive strategies, time. They can and will wait us out, They will and can bide their time. Time is to their advantage. The longer we dig in our heels they more they grow in power.
Their message is clear: make compromises now, while we still have a modicum of leverage; or don't, and be made to accede to their dictates in the future. Paraphrasing an old Stones tune, "Time Is On Their Side". Yes it is.
DD
Manhattan
If, as you say.....
If anyone should be choosing the issues in politics, it should be the young, for they “have a longer future to provide for.”
Why aren't young people out protesting against spending and the national debt?
Sure, what planet does the man live on??????
Allowing oneself to become a tool of the Democratic Party and Hollywood is not "saving America." Destroying U.S. Constitutional rights in order to "protect us" is not "saving America." These are the youth that will never, ever have to actually serve in our military, defend the country, or defend our U.S. Constitution. The moral of the 60's, "...youth never was a class."
Photo for this story looks like something that was transmitted out of Cuba in 1959. Seems only Castro and Guevara are missing?
1
Can teenagers save America from gun violence? Hmmmm....the uncomfortable fact is that America has already been saved from gun violence--by prisons. Gun violence has decreased by 70% in the US since we finally got smart and started locking up dangerous criminals in prison cells.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf
And gun possession is also now at the lowest rate ever recorded in the modern US.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/29/american-gun-owne...
So now the narrative has shifted to "mass shootings." These are anecdotal events that tell us nothing about overall violence, but make good headlines. US homicide rates are now within the range of homicide rates of EU countries. But that's the type of good news that is always kept our of the papers.
When Muslims shot to death 130 people in the middle of Paris you didn't see headlines in the NYT about how France was a sick and deranged nation. In fact, media outlets like the Times tripped all over themselves defending and rationalizing the defects of the Muslim community there. But here in America, when this sort of thing happens, the media seems to take glee in portraying us as a depraved nation.
Perhaps in World War II. Otherwise, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
With apologies to the columnist, this may be the least well-educated, least well-informed and apparently, least-mature generation this nation has ever seen. Because their K-12 education has left them under-prepared, colleges routinely put freshmen into remedial classes before allowing them into core curricula. Polls and surveys routinely report that teens get most of their news and information from comedians such as John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and self-selected social media. Today’s youth are living extended adolescence well into their 20s, exhibited by demands for safe spaces and idea avoidance.
Despite what facts and data prove, they blame the NRA for gun violence. They believe there is an epidemic of school shootings when in fact shooting incidents involving students have declined since the 1990s and that when it comes to gun violence, schools easily are the safest places for kids.
As we’ve seen since the Parkwood atrocity, many teens have mastered (or have been well-coached in) the art of the soundbite but read the posterboards from last Saturday’s marches. Many were nonsensical. Furthermore, their proposed solutions are one-dimensional. They sound easy, but easy-sounding solutions tend not to be solutions at all. If they were, they’d already be in place.
Finally, before buying into claims of a grassroots movement, adopt the advice of Woodward and Bernstein: Follow the money.
Issues pertaining to firearms, school safety, etc. are meaningful ones, but I hope the young adults in high school, college, etc. also strive for economic literacy and securing a society based on freedom broadly speaking. Free speech, free choice, economic freedom, etc.
1
Odds are that almost all those past "young people" mentioned in the column knew how to use and owned a firearm. At the least the author having researched the issue and informed the readership would have been useful in comparing the past and present "young people" regarding the gun issue. Similarly, a comparison of the relative maturity of the young people of 1831 with today's youth would help to evaluate how much of a help are today's young. While the article tries to focus on "teenagers"--a concept I doubt existed in 1831, the idea of "youth" is now very broad. Today, our "youth" wants to be on its parents' health insurance until age 28. In 1831, the "young" at age 28 were likely having trouble keeping track of a houseful of their own "kids."
This doesn't mean young people can't have great political ideas even before they are teenagers. But that doesn't mean they know it all despite the fact I know I did at that age LOL.
well funded and coached kids, hardly grass roots- and fine to bring up safe schools, but complex problems don't have simple solutions. Something 17 year olds haven't learned yet.
These teenagers are proving that the very foundation of the NRA's argument is deeply flawed. Guns are NOT the bulwark against tyranny: civil disobedience is. Walkouts and protests showcase the power of voters in large numbers.
The United States, no matter how much we gripe about it, has a legitimate form of government.Those systems have been strained lately with the Russian interference in our elections and the Trump family's attempt to personally profit from the presidency. We still have inequality in terms of gender pay disparity and among the numbers of people of color who are arrested and incarcerated versus the numbers of white people. We have a long way to go. But a lot of the corruption gets investigated and exposed. We have a free press and we have to right to speak our minds without fear of arrest.
Our government does not fear its people because 40% of its people are armed (with 3% owning most of the guns). Government officials do not do their jobs in fear of being murdered by the people. Government officials do their jobs in the hopes that they will not be voted out. The gov't IS the people.
The idea of needing to rise up against our government with military style weaponry is outdated and bizarre. If you don't like an official, vote against them, campaign against them, or run against them.
These teens know the power of their protests and of the vote. Sadly, they also know the power of guns. But their optimism shows they have more faith in the vote.
2
When you are 50 what's another two years, not much. When you are 18 another two years is 10 percent of your life and you're growing up quick. Here's to a new generation of organizers, activists and leaders. God Bless them.
4
This was a parade that only Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety could truly appreciate–well, perhaps Lenin, too.
The Neo-Marxists in full force--organizers and counterparts in media--using the young as mob to achieve their ends–namely, the continuing erosion and the postmodern dismantling of “The Bill of Rights”, their immutable source of insufferable constraint.
For them what is most evil about American citizenship is the constitutional protection of individual sovereignty--why the “right” to abort the unborn is so important to them--“The Bill of Rights” and national sovereignty--the wall. What they know is that there is no hope of a global order of one world as long as both exist.
Thus, these cultural Marxist parades will continue and the public-schooled Maoist-conditioned youth will be their greatest source of energy. QED
Jon Grinspan, it seems, enjoys that Che Guevara view of history--postmodern nauseam uber alles.
Yeah, Jon, you're onto something unique to world history: "After all, they’re just kids." Mao said same in 1973--fruition of indoctrination of children.
A Ph.D. candidate by any Neo-Marxist measure.
1
Listening to these well-informed, clear-thinking, articulate young people, and then to Trump's clumsy, ignorant jabber being cheered on by the mindless bleating of his flock, I wonder if the true divide is not Left/Right of GOP/Democrat, but rather stupid/intelligent. No wonder Trumpists think education is a bad thing.
3
Always with you guys--hours before my stuff sees the light of day, if at all. Do like that multicultural photo for the story--digital photo-editor has an eye for Neo-Marxist propaganda. Once again backstage censors:
This was a parade that only Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety could truly appreciate–well, perhaps Lenin, too.
The Neo-Marxists in full force--organizers and counterparts in media--using the young as mob to achieve their ends–namely, the continuing erosion and the postmodern dismantling of “The Bill of Rights”, their immutable source of insufferable constraint.
For them what is most evil about American citizenship is the constitutional protection of individual sovereignty--why the “right” to abort the unborn is so important to them--“The Bill of Rights” and national sovereignty--the wall. What they know is that there is no hope of a global order of "one world" as long as both exist.
Thus, these cultural Marxist parades will continue and the public-schooled, Maoist-conditioned youth will be their greatest source of energy. QED
2
That picture looks like a scene from "Lord of the Flies."
1
School boys trapped on an island with a conch shell and wild boar? I see several empowered bespectacled kids in this picture - no Piggy's here. They have not devolved into lawlessness and cruelty. They are fighting against it.
Maybe what you meant to say was "That picture looks like the kids have been well-educated in schools that among other things offered English classes that taught the book 'Lord of the Flies,' and they learned the power of a civilized society."
2
"This is the key to understanding youth politics. Young people cannot be truly selfish, because they cannot be permanently young. "
This statement is right up there with "Young kids can't lie because they don't know what a lie is." and "Black people cannot be racist because they have no economic power.".
Please stop with the grand pronouncements that are non-sense.
1
The author is very vague about what, exactly, young people did in the late 19th century. He provides no concrete basis for the claim that they somehow “saved America.”
Also vague about what they actually accomplished - other than somehow contributing to the development of Progressivism. (And Progressivism has had some effects that have been greatly pernicious.)
A small boy once piped up when all the adults in the town had lost their collective minds and said—"But he has no clothes on!" . . .
1
If all you have is tired old troupe about 19th century socialist fantasy you need a new generation of brainwashed to carry it over the goal line. This has been a pathetic orchestrated theater of oldsters manipulating what they can for the same old same old.
Less then 10% of the March were youth and most were likely with their has-been 60's day dreaming parents most of whom are related to tax payer funding or inherited wealth of others.
Interviewed on the street as the "March for our Lives" was concluding, young person after young person was unable to define what they were attempting to ban, the much hated "assault rifle". Most likely because in the civilian world there is no such thing.
Three weeks past, lawmakers were pushing to have legislation for the control of TIDE PODS because children, 16 or 17 and 18 were eating them. Now American adults are expected to listen to uneducated children demanding the end of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution in our "Bill of Rights".
If Americans can't recognise the ridiculousness of having a gun ban being enforced by authorities with guns, then they have demonstrated their total ignorance of why the Founding Fathers created it in the first place.
Amending the "Bill of Rights" and thusly the US Constitution is a difficult process. It was designed to be difficult by the Framers of the Constitution to protect certain "Inalienable Rights" from the passions of a simple majority. A 2/3 vote by the entire House of Representatives followed by a 2/3 vote of the entire Senate is required before a vote of approval by 3/4 of all the 50 states of this Republic.
An interesting historical tour, conspicuous, however, for the absence of any clear examples of "youth politics" actually accomplishing change and reform.
While past failures should of course suggest present caution, circumspection, and farsighted planning, they need not be grounds for pessimism, cynicism or apathy. Indeed, it is precisely the lack of prior precedence which lends potential strength, innovation and promise to the "enough is enough" youth movement for common sense gun regulation.
It will be important, however, that young leaders, and their sympathizers, remain true to their vision, and steadfast in pursuing it with vigor: ridding Congress this November of its many slaves to the NRA armaments lobby, and pressing explicitly for tangible substantive replacement of the NRA legislative horrors of recent years by solid laws on assault weapons, background registries, permitting, ammunition restriction, etc., and an end to the madness of concealed weaponry and quick draw cowboy teachers. The new youth-led gun control movement needs to be vigilant against the inevitable coming temptations to let it be turned into a typical fake-progressive corporatized, clickavist feel-good exercise at achieving nothing tangible.
1
Let us not forget that the effectiveness of young voices in our country's history was related to the expansion of rights--not the restriction and elimination of rights noted within our Constitution.
2
Despite being Italian I feel a sense of affection for all this young people. I’m 18, so I understand what it means to be an adolescent now, in an unpredictable world caused by the rise of populism and wickedness of your President. I have proudly to admit that if I had been in Washington D.C., I would have decided to march alongside my peers. I’m really proud of them, of Emma Gonzalez and all the other students, of all the speeches I’ve listened to, of all the posters that I saw during the March. The change is possible: for me this brave youngsters can defeat and beat N.R.A, thanks to the power of free speech, of words and non violent action, because actions speak louder than words and words weight more than actions. We have built a democratic and global world using words not guns. We have torn down a wall with a powerful speech from Reagan, we have almost reached race equality thanks to the words of one of the smartest people I’ve ever known, Martin Luther King. I really believe that we can definitely defeat fanatics of guns by exploiting the force and energy of these remarkable students. Our non violent revolution starts now. We are Generation Z.
5
Yes, they can without doubts.
Thanks for providing historical backgrounds to support the younger generation, they are the dreamers and the future of this country and this world.
When both parties are corrupted working for the rich, only the young have selfless desires to right the wrong.
It may send both parties to ashes, or one will resurrect after learning from the young. They are acting as those in the seventies anti-Vietnam war. They will send NRA to ashes for sure.
What the young school children are demanding is safe and secure life and future- the basic human entitlement in the rule governed civilised society; what the failed political class is looking for is small crumbs and little favours from the merchants of death and destruction. The scales are really tilted on the side of the Gen-Next, as to be exemplified by history of change. The last Saturday's countrywide student protests in America and in many parts of the world against the gun violence were a clarion call for changing the rules of political game that could be ignored only at the cost of losing the game by the selfish and hypocritic political class currently in power.
2
They have no money, no political clout and some can't even vote.
This is a fun idea to indulge in, but DC is not listening. Some of the most vocal of this group have proven to be media chasers and hungry for attention alone.
Once the parents get tired of hearing this and them missing school etc, this will be over. Protest is fine. Getting back in school, calming down, accepting there is bad in the world and getting on worth life is necessary.
@There
"This is a fun idea to indulge in . . . " ????? Fun???
How tragic for you and others who scoff at these brave, eloquent, intelligent young men and women that you have no idea of what it means to be a citizen, no concept of civic duty, nor any spirit in your heart or soul that could make you see the narrow, cynical dead end in your conclusion that "accepting there is bad in the world and getting on worth (with?) life is necessary"
Bravo to the young people leading us into a better future.
2
I share the admiration for the brave teenagers who inspired and led the marches last weekend. Their willingness to endure the slanders of the nra and other critics, without responding in kind, reveals a maturity remarkable in people so young. Their adversaries, if they retain the capacity to change, could learn a lot from them.
That said, it remains the case that young people tend to vote in smaller numbers than do other age groups. Often unaware of how government actions affect their lives, many twenty-somethings ignore politics. Those who do care attract a lot of media attention during presidential campaigns, but they do not necessarily represent members of their age contingent who don't volunteer to work for candidates.
Perhaps the gun issue, along with the character and behavior of the man who sits in the Oval Office (when he's not golfing), will inspire more young Americans to vote. I hope so, because it will require a large turnout to end Republican control of the House. Voters in their twenties have far more to lose from the current political balance of power than do those of us in our sixties and seventies, because they will have to live much longer with the consequences of decisions made today than we will.
2
While some teenagers are quite thoughtful (and I know many of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are sincere in their beliefs), all of us, no matter what our political ideology, must at least acknowledge that many (all?) teenagers are little more than products of their parents, either in agreement with (seeking approval from), or in rebellion against (seeking to provoke emotional reaction from). These two defining teen behavioral traits appear to be a natural progression in transitioning from being a teen to being an adult. There is also an overwhelming need in many teens to find some type of life mission, to view the world in overly emotional, even Apocalyptic terms, and to change the focus of those terms on an almost daily basis. As a result, it's hard for me to take the views of any teenager as little more than practice for adulthood, as trying on different roles and seeing how they fit, but not really in a deeply thought-out, and definitely with the rather superficial goal of getting some grand approval from adults they admire. Understandable, but not the basis for a rational discussion about any issue facing America. How can anyone view such codependency as having the ability to "save America" anymore than they can view Trump's regressive, childish narcissistic codependency as having the ability to "save America?" It's beyond me.
This article does not mention Vietnam. I was there. We organized, we protested, we worked. But most of all the country was united because parents didn't want their kids sent to be killed.
See the similarity? Republicans got rid of the draft and the air went out of the movement, but with military grade killing machines and NRA using fear to sell more and more guns, the threat of death is one thing that unifies us.
I am so impressed with these students, they are remarkable. There are at least two I'd be happy to see as president today. I hope they will go on to leadership roles, with the rock-solid integrity and sense of public service they've grown into.
They, and the #metoo movement, give me hope in a dark time. I will support them as well as I can, but I'm happy to be led by such wonderful, inclusive people.
Yesterday, I watched one of them meet with Rev. Barber and Wensler Nosie, Apache leader and I watched them sharing and learning about environmental injustice. All these issues are connected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-5zYjx5zFY
9
I’m hopeful for this generation of young people - those of you who criticize them can go all the way back to the ancient Greeks and read the same criticisms. In 30 years, these young people will be living in whatever the world brings, so they are invested in making things better. God bless them!
4
Yes, we can save America, and we will save it for the better.
My generation will make this country safer. We will fight laws that only remain in place because "that's how it's always been." We will hasten change where change is necessary because we are not ones to stick to tradition. We will keep protesting and speaking and writing and voting because we love this country. And we want this country to be worth loving.
10
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
Young people should organize and participate fully in the democratic process afforded to the likes of NRA( National Rifle Association). The march (For our lives) in Washington and major cities in the country was an incredible example of raw power; they should extend their unifying prowess to start an organization that would advocate for issues important to them, such as student loans, gun legislation, free higher education, health insurance, summer and apprentice jobs, scholarships, etc, etc.
4
If you feel passionate about an issue, be it to do with the environment, nature, animals, social justice, prison reform, gun violence.....whatever.... if you want change, then you should work for change. If you do nothing, then you are part of the problem.
While gun violence mainly affects our youth, does not mean for one minute that only the youth and/or their parents should be speaking out. Just because this most recent gun control movement was initiated by youth, does not mean that it only applies to them, or that we should sit back and let them do all the work.
When I think of the few particular social issues in the past that I marched for, in all instances I was not a member of the 'target audience'. Rather, I marched because I was so angered by a particular gross and unquestionable injustice. And so it was with the March for Our Lives, for which I travelled to DC on my own. (No one I knew volunteered to join me...) I'd been asking for years... 'WHERE is the outrage?!...WHY has there been no march in D.C.?!' (and by that I meant, a march by a wide swathe of the populace...and not simply a small group of affected parents marching....) Once I understood such a march was finally going to occur, I immediately made plans to be in D.C.
No one reading this should be saying they want gun reform, and then not be actively working to attain that.
6
I reject your premise. A progressive policy agenda is not what will save America!
(Explained: Your logic. A progressive policy agenda will save America. The rising generation will usher in an era of progressive policy. Therefore, the rising generation will save America.)
We also need Evangelical teenagers to join forces with the liberal ones. They must be convinced not only that Trump is deeply immoral, but also that it is necessary to support women's rights and to push for public education that separates science (evolution, climate change) from religion (spiritual behavior, faith in God to solve world problems.)
Nineteenth century "teenagers" as major social movement actors? Sorry, this doesn't add up. For one, the "teenager" is twentieth century construct. The work and family lines of authority back then didn't allow for the kind of activism celebrated by high school-age children circa 2018. The historical record on social change achievements of those younger than the "age of majority"--which was 21 until the early 1970s--is pretty thin.
4
The best way to "tap" into the honesty, energy, and integrity of America's students is to scrap ALL of the computer voting machines immediately and have the top high school students nationwide COUNT THE PAPER BALLOTS. The voting machines are proprietary and potentially criminal devices. They can be and are hacked by both citizens and foreign powers. High school students are the least likely to be subject to political corruption. This effort will be bitterly fought by the computer vote machine makers, and probably the media which will claim "it will take too long" to get the vote, as if speed and not accuracy and honesty is the most import factor. But that should not stop students and other citizens. If the vote is honest, so is likely to be the government.
5
The voice of idealism has somehow been lost in the political swamp and the shining city is tarnished by the grime of big money interests distorting the political debate through Fox News, Facebook and Breitbart.
Despite the many challenges heaped upon their families, hopefully many young people will join civic society with their idealism unsullied and their spirits willing to challenge the status quo.
Gun control; climate change; trade imbalances; rampant globalisation; consolidation of manufacturing jobs into communist China; antibiotic resistance; rabid religious ideologies driving terrorism; artificial intelligence.
There are plenty of issues for civic society to be taking an interest in.
4
As an old 60s radical I look back my generation with mixed feelings. I think of my peers in leadership positions, many of them from privileged backgrounds, almost all of them young men, and what I see how is a kind of narcissism that comes from comfort. And I see our romanticizing of our drug use as something that has made America worse. And I look, read, listen to these young people who are stepping forward today, with grounded maturity, a range of backgrounds, a realistic sense of the intersection between individual and collective - and I am moved to tears of gratitude and hope.
30
“Grounded maturity”? Have you listened to the over-the-top rants of, for instance, Hogg?
It's the same old privileged arrogance as it was during the French or Russian Revolution.
"Animal Farm" should be compulsory in middle school from here on. The Times devout are on the wrong side of history even if they win in the shorter term.
Their articulate expression of poignant yet profound feelings should serve as inspiration to the rest of to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done ...come to the aid of our country.
6
"If anyone should be choosing the issues in politics, it should be the young, for they “have a longer future to provide for.”....Perhaps that is true. But I went to a rally on Saturday to show support, and if there were any teenagers in attendance I did not see them. In fact anyone under 50 was notable for their absence. I hope you are right, but I am not convinced.
1
Don't know where your march was, Faywood is not a population center. But in Albuquerque there were a lot of young people. Here's a picture from the Albuquerque Journal: https://www.abqjournal.com/1150127/hundreds-come-to-old-town-plaza-for-a...
3
It's been so long since I've felt hope for the future of our country that I forgot how it feels until these kids stood up.
Passion for a righteous cause greater than one's self feeds one soul and can inspire one and all to believe they we can move mountains. Yes we can!
Love you kids. Each and everyone!
14
My early teens were marked by a summer of riots (1967) that left over 150 Americans dead in cities like Cincinnati, Newark, and Detroit. A year later, actually less, an assassin took Martin Luther King's life. Barely two months later, at Coney Island (in Cincinnati), I was with my 8th grade class and we learned Robert Kennedy was killed by assassin.
In 1968 there were newspapers (we got 2 at our house every day), network news (ABC, CBS! Or NBC!), and various print magazines. I am not judging, merely noting that news was different.
This all influenced me, I have NEVER missed a vote. So, the young Americans in this article give me hope. A new generation of voters, some will never miss a vote.
Vote with me, vote against me, but vote. Then we will be ok, pick a decade or two, the troubles seem insurmountable, but they aren't. VOTE! Get your neighbors to vote. Voting is what makes us US.
36
As a historian, Dr. Grinspan should be aware of the dangers of parallellomania. Teenagers in the 19 th century were adults, had adult responsibility and were expected to work and act like adults. Today?
The problem though seems to be more in the title of this column than in content. I would hope that the title is not Dr. Grinspan's.
4
My Generation, still emersed in the huge tragedy of the Viet Nam war has failed to do what needed to be done with regard to the banning of assault weapons. Particular shame goes to those Senators, Congressmen,. Governors and and several Presidents who were too busy sucking on the teat of the NRA.
14
Lets not forget the Hippy contribution that was also mostly young people. The times they were a changin" just as they are now. I believe in the students as much as i believed in our causes which were civil right's, the women's movement, ending the draft, an ending a horrid war. WE DID IT AND SO CAN THEY!!!!!
Go teen's!!! Most aging flower children have got your back.
Hey hey, Ho ho, the NRA has got to go! They are such loathsome bully's, just like Trumpit.
19
"ending the draft,"
I grew up in Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s. We had some idealists but soon they fled to safer environments like Ann Arbor - similar to Bernie fleeing to 95% white Vermont. Forget that "back to to land" garbage.
Your glorious movement did get you some more personal freedom but did nothing for the working class slugs left behind in the cities.
When my family was finally able to move out of Detroit there were very few white liberals in my old neighborhood - not sure if you lived there. But I am grateful for one thing, I saw that a ghetto becomes a ghetto due to the actions of its residents. Rampant crime committed by residents against other residents - talk about loathsome bullies.
I am a confirmed liberal, yet I believe the late Justice Scalia was correct in that he believed the framers’ language determines all; it is not for us to interpret intent—our founding fathers carefully chose the language used in any amendment.
In that light, I’d like to point out that “well regulated”, as used in the second amendment (and I’d have spelled it “well-regulated”), meant at the time (the late eighteenth century) “well-practiced” or “capable”, rather than “regulated by law” or by statute.
An assault-weapons ban has zero chance of passing (there is no such thing as an assault weapon; any weapon is an assault weapon)—there are assault rifles—the StG 44 or M16, and there are semi-automatic weapons; the Ruger Mini 14, the AR15, etc.
We can, however, ban bump stocks and trigger cranks (and why no mention in the media of trigger cranks, aka “gat cranks”? A skilled shooter with a bipod and a trigger crank can obtain both a higher rate of fire and more accuracy with a trigger crank than with a bump stock).
While the ATF lacks the power (as Trump claimed) to ban these aftermarket parts, section 8 of the law that authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission has full authority to do so. I urge all consumers to contact them and file a complaint.
https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws--Standards/Statutes
5
For 10 years there was an assault weapons ban in the U.S. - of particular kinds of semi automatic and automatic weapons - from 1994 to 2004. And it was a perfectly legal law. (It was written with a 2004 expiration date.) Check this History of U.S. gun laws: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91942478
3
Current generation of teenagers are submerged in drug, alcohol, sex and arrogance. Smart phones, caustic video games and social networking ruined their reading habits. It’s debatable how much ideology, spirituality and conscience are imbibed in this lot of humans to take a pure stand against guns. They are the most corrupted minds of America, manufactured by corporate America by means of social reengineering.
3
"Young people" are notorious pawns of Left wing politicians because they garner sympathy and they believe the Left's lies that government will take care of them - as they are used to be taken care of by their parents and they fear self-sufficiency. Fortunately, these youngsters wise up once they reach adulthood, and gain self-sufficiency, and learn that the government has very little to offer them, in the way of support or protection.
2
@Joseph
Middle aged hypocrites who watch too much Fox News and have too little aptitude for critical thinking are "notorious pawns of Right wing politicians because they believe the lies that their government representatives offer - (as "coal is coming back" and "we are going to build a wall") and they are incapable of understanding that SOME things actually need to be under the aegis of government (like prisons, and public schools), and not private entrepreneurs, generally chosen for the size of their campaign contributions.
1
It's really great to see what these young people are doing, and hopefully they can help vote out all the old white rich guys who are destroying this country. But can they effect meaningful change while the old white rich guys remain on the SC, while the loathsome old moustache John Bolton is readying us for destructive war, and while the country does nothing about climate change that becomes more likely irreversible with each passing day?
8
It's curious that the NYT censors would not post my previous comment about demonstrations and protests in Washington DC on another article.
Demonstrations are next to useless in getting anything done. They provide people with an excuse to get out and socialize and yell in public and block traffic.
I doesn't take courage to march and chant with a mob. It's the easiest thing to do in the world. Demonstrations are a dime a dozen in Washington DC and whether there are 200 thousand or one million is of little significance because the country has over 320 million people. Government representatives represent their constituents, the people who voted for them in the election in their state or district. A mob is what they avoid and why we have elections and a system of government.
These kids, and adults, are advocating mob rule.
5
"Dismissed as “inexperienced, hasty, immature” by their elders, young black Philadelphians published newspaper statements directed at the city’s black elite, announcing “we will not be put down.”"
I wish to stand with young black people as they march daily in the major urban slums of our country chanting against the daily gun violence which claims the lives of mostly young black people, while the "elites" worry about "stop & frisk."
Power to the young black people who will bring that parkland enthusiasm into Baltimore, the south side of Chicago, Detroit, Bed-Sty and the South Bronx!
So far, not one gun control demonstrator has dared to hold an amplified podium in the middle of urban housing projects, but I just know the the day is coming, and that the Times will be there to urge them on.
7
To Jubilee133: Your discussed gun violence against young Black people, correctly noting the daily gun violence which claims the lives of young Black people, while "the [white] 'elites' worry about "stop & frisk."
But that's not entirely fair. This is a complicated issue.
As a criminal defense attorney, I represent Black men treated unfairly by law enforcement agents. It's not entirely a white "elite" concern! OTOH I understand your point, that violence in the Black community is on a different scale, even counting the mass shootings.
If I were Black, would I be more concerned about police who are too eager to stop and frisk me and my friends (and sometimes write us up on bogus charges)? Or about white "elites" who (supposedly) try to prevent police from protecting me (by respecting the rights of my fellow Black men not to be abused!)? I don't have an easy answer.
We all have some things in common: America has too much of a gun culture, in which firepower is overly glorified; there are too many guns out there, big and small, legally and illegally owned; assault weapons have no place in any civilized society; gun control laws aren't the whole answer, but they almost certainly will help.
The gun issue is VERY susceptible to being manipulated by Trump, the NRA, etc, precisely because they will seek ways to play the Black and white communities against each other. I pray that the young people who are taking leadership will find ways to keep this from happening.
3
If you read Krugman's columns, he claims that crime is not a problem in the urban areas. You should talk to him first.
BTW, you sure are a firebrand speaking from a 98+ % white town.
The Times will be there to report on it.
Oh no, an article didn't mention the baby boomers, god forbid it isn't all about them. Trump is a baby boomer. Why don't you own that in the comment section.
These students are American heroes. Their voices are POWERFUL. Their movement is awakening a sleeping giant. Namely, tens of millions of Americans who are opposed to the radical and dangerous positions of the NRA.
I was very proud to join thousands of other local/concerned citizens in central California during last weekend's March for Our Lives protests.
When I was Emma Gonzalez's age, I was marching against the Vietnam War. Those protests grew into a powerful movement that changed American foreign policy. These protests are real and growing. We WILL make significant changes to gun laws. Changes that are LONG OVERDUE.
Go Emma! Go Parkland students!
14
SalinasPhil said, "When I was Emma Gonzalez's age, I was marching against the Vietnam War..."
I was, too. And for Civ Rts. And I knocked on doors for Gene McCarthy. And was arrested a couple of times in anti-Contra war demonstrations in the '80's.
I'm age 70 now, but I NEVER have seen anything like the Parkland kids. They are an inspiration and more. I pray they receive all the support they deserve. And that they somehow manage to hold themselves together, under so much scrutiny (and unbelievable abuse by the Right!) at such a young age.
9
Until registered voters of any age get into the ballot box at numbers consistently above 60% we are going to be stalled in political gridlock. Corporate and Soecial Interest grip on the election process, the kicking of the can on issues like immigration, the Federal Budget, Trade, and Military spending, will continue to be in the hands of those who look to line their pockets will dollars at the expense of what’s best for the future of the country.
6
We should sponsor all students who attended schools that suffered mass shootings to spend as much time going door to door in Speaker Ryan and Senator McConnel's districts so they can personally tell voters there that their Congressman and Senator are trying to kill them by not allowing the assault weapons ban bills to come up for a vote. I know I'd give all I could to make that happen!
6
Fed up with both parties? Demanding progressive reforms? Withholding votes? Led by women?
Gee, that does sound familiar. Democrats are still complaining that we threw the election for them, not realizing that it's the other way around.
1
I've been thinking about the way forward.
All the problems that face us… in our personal lives, our families, our neighborhoods, towns, cities… that face us as a nation…
I swear they all have solutions.
I swear there are ways we can talk to each other.
With respect.
I swear there is a way to let down our armor.
Here's how:
Ideas, common sense, discussion…
Negotiation and…
Compromise.
Everybody gives a bit.
And, everybody devotes themselves to solutions.
I thirst for solutions.
Not accusations.
Not recrimination.
Not being stuck on what has already transpired.
Not constant restatement of the problems.
Constant, constant, restatement.
For hours and hours on cable TV, day and night.
There is a time for understanding a problem. Of course.
And a time for solutions.
And, at long last, there is a time for imagination. For creativity. For ideas that spark our common purpose, our common destiny…
Our common, decent humanity.
Practical solutions.
And compromise.
This is true:
97% of us want tougher background checks.
90% of us want to get big money out of politics.
Everyone has a cell phone.
An app could transmit our shared demands to our representatives virtually simultaneously. That's never been possible before. Overwhelming them.
"Now do our will or we will vote you out!"
A "Mass Viral Demand" (MVD) -
"We want money out of politics."
"We want strict background checks."
Ideas, compromise, solutions.
There is a way forward.
8
Love this. My 18 year-old daughter can't wait to step into a voting booth. But it will take a tidal wave of her like-minded peers to advance a progressive agenda by election. Some is not enough. Consider the anti-war and civil rights movements in 1968 and all the support that youth threw behind that. In the election that year, 18-24 year-olds turned out to vote at a rate of 50%. A rate 20-25% less than older age groups. The President elected in that iconic year of protest and social upheaval? Richard Nixon.
3
To Jonathan Rodgers of Westchester: I pray that this generation, if they suffer a defeat like my generation did in '68, goes on to persevere. Please tell your daughter never to back down and quit.
Half a century ago, my generation said they were going to create a better world. They just gave us President Trump. Please do something to motivate your daughter to do better.
6
The constitutional amendment allowing persons under the age of 21 to vote was not ratified until 1971, which means your 1968 stats don’t include anyone who was 18, 19 or 20. Voting was new yo person’s under age 22 in 1972... not saying your point is wrong, but your stats are not correct.
2
If you really want to harness the political energy of the youth of this country it’s really very easy. Restore the draft. Men and women. No education deferments. 2 years service. Keep the numbers low, but enough to demonstrate that anyone could go at any time. See what they start protesting then.
7
"If you really want to harness the political energy of the youth.... Restore the draft..."
Correct, but only a small part of any solution. The draftees who went to 'Nam' are now just as defensive about the war as the enlistees, for the most part. It's normal human behavior: Justify what you did.
Oh yeah, and lets start a war to keep them busy.
1
Interesting that there’s no mention of the boomers and the cultural revolution of the 60’s. Not historically significant? I realize that most participants were out of high school, but they did reject the society’s expectations of maturity and the values at the time, for better AND worse.
4
And lets not forget the 1963 Children's March in Birmingham which may have been the key turning point in how our country chose to address Civil Rights. The future is theirs and they will be involved.
9
Our society is dependent on "youthquakes" for change. In my lifetime alone, I have watched the youth of this country stop the military draft, end an unpopular war, invent/adopt new tech at incredible rates, revolutionize the family, redefine marriage - the list goes on and on. To be fair, these changes involve others as well, but the impetus for change comes from our teens: our dreamers, homegrown and imported. Their energy, enthusiasm, and refusal to give up is our biggest asset.
I love them for it and support them all the way.
15
Whenever I hear older people complain about younger people protesting, I wonder at how short their memories are--each of us was a young person once. Many of us marched in the streets and took action for what mattered to us, whether it was reported or not, whether it was emphasized in cultural narratives.
Young people of the '80s are remembered as the "me generation" but I circulated "jobs for peace" petitions on my campus in the '80s and actively worked in the anti-nuclear movement that contributed to the end of the cold war. I march in the streets for Central American solidarity, even as commentators said "no one cares about Iran/Contra. It's too hard to understand."
In the run up to the Iraq war, the largest aggregate street protests around the world happened. But these were hardly acknowledged-- "everyone's in favor of the Iraq war" was often repeated and protesters written off. But when sentiment turned against the war, the new narrative was "wow, but who could have imagined this?" I'll tell you who--the millions of people who took to the streets on every continent (there was even a small anti-Iraq-war protest at the antarctic McMurdo Research station).
Some say that Occupy Wall St. accomplished nothing. I wonder if they remember ever hearing about "inequality" before Occupy. Concern about inequality was a fringe issue; Occupy changed the cultural conversation and brought this concern to national attention.
Now the young people are leading again. I say: you go kids!
19
If we want to know if young people can save this country we don't have to go as far back as the Progressive Movement.
I can remember going door to door to register voters when I was 15. And eventually we stopped the Vietnam War, something no one believed we could do.
The young people of the March for Our Lives Movement have exactly the same potential, and I plan to support them in every way possible.
17
I live in a very "white conservative" city in Western Michigan and was thrilled to see 5,000 of my fellow citizens who braved the cold to attend the #Marchforourlives gun protest. It was only the second time I marched, the first being in 1972 when I traveled by bus from Ann Arbor to Washington DC to protest against the Vietnam war.
The students and teachers did a great job speaking from their hearts about their hope that we can create a world where children don;t live in fear of being shot in school.
The only negative was that our local paper (GR Press) didn't cover the event and buried the story on Sunday covering only the National protest nothing about what took place in our town.
I'm convinced that at this time, these kids are going to change history...for the better. God love them, they've given me hope in what has been a very dour year.
19
Union, 80; Hope, 84; Colorado Law 86, here -- I am so happy to read that W. MI even had protests! These kids have alteady changed the world, just by speaking out when the powers that be most vehemently disagree. In my MI years, I doubt the GR papers would even notice the national protests. (Because they pertained to other, poorly-behaved, antisocial people, after all ... Radicals and rabble rousers. That seemed to be the efitorial line then!)
By the 1970's most of the white liberals had moved out of our near-east side Detroit neighborhood. Only us white conservatives left to live the liberal dream. You should have been there, you'd have loved it or maybe not.
If the youth broaden their grievances to economic issues, and given the millennial's unemployment rate of twice the national average, scandalously high college tuition etc. it is reasonable to expect that they will, I have to wonder if the economically centrist NY Times will still be so effusive in their praise of the recent actions of the youth?
1
“Rotten old hulks who monopolize the offices and dwell upon the past”. That pretty much summarizes how I feel about both major Parties. Dubious, tho, that a generation of social media snowflakes will have the tools. It seems to me that many confuse power with democracy. The founding fathers understood the difference, but even they are being relegated to the dustbin of history, to paraphrase that awful man, excuse me, person.
2
These children who have recently been shot at -- and some recovering from gunshot wounds, like Samantha, who threw up on stage in DC, and then continued her speech -- you are calling them "snowflakes"?
Why are you parroting rightwing pejoratives? And haven't you ever noticed that if you put a lot of snowflakes together, they become an avalanche?
But really -- why the relentless negativity in the face of these children's courage?
11
"Because they [women] could not vote, they were less corrupted by partisanship" - is this Mr. Grinspan's recommendation for an improved American political life???? I'd recommend a bit of rethinking here.
1
Bravo youth!
13
My 17-y-o gandaughter led a delegation from Minnesota to DC and one of her proudest moments, besides being interviewed by NBC, was that SHE REGISTERED TO VOTE!
21
Of course young people can force change in a system, in America. It is young people who are shooting up the schools.
Did you get the significance of that? Their own classmates want to murder them, and they do it. These kids protesting, screaming and yelling in Washington DC about the nefarious, elusive, NRA are just barking up the wrong tree.
No. The shooters ARE young, but no one should be given automatic weapons when at an age when emotional lability is extreme, and the ability to understand consequnces and to control impulsive action has not yet fully developed in the cerebral cortex. For males, this tends to be in the early- to mid-twenties. For females, it tends to occur a few years earlier. (This could explain why school shooters are male in every instance I've found.) Disarming in the USA, especially outlawing possession/use of all assault weapons, would be a great big step in the right direction.
7
Right. Tell the military.
I was given two guns by my grandfather when I was in jr high school. Lots of teens are. Where did you see that often repeated stuff about teenager’s brains anyway? They can handle responsibility. Driving a car is more complex than shooting a gun, or not shooting.
We already tried banning assault weapons. It didn’t work, nor did prohibition.
But it is evident they are being manipulated and get this extreme disregard for human life from somewhere.
I say it is the military. That is where such evil is cultivated and praised. That’s their job, killing.
@E: "No. The shooters ARE young, but no one should be given automatic weapons when at an age when emotional lability is extreme,"
Well you got your wish. The weapons were not automatic. Now, how'd all that work out?
Did you forget theVietnam anti-war and Civil Rights movements/
6
it is about time someone wrote on how youth transformed America and this young group who protest against gun violence will do the same. Too often our public schools, and our public school books ignore the ugliness of America or trivialize it. Today, we see many arguing against these young Americans who are fighting for the right to be safe in a school environment by having more stringent gun control requirements. As a teacher, I am incredibly proud of these students and know that they will get what they want, and they will change America for the better.
9
While it's easy from the non historical context to blame the 60's generation for leaving more to do in all of today's issues, it's important to learn or remember just how horribly our society had been functioning. In fact we also need to continue looking back at the terrible sacrifices of the FDR generation, those of Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln's before that and so forth. This country has always had to depend on it's young people who time after time gave their lives to push the Sisyphean Boulder up the same Hill for all eternity. Yet progress happens and we continue to be better off at each cycle.
6
Good point. We have a great country built on the work (labor) of children. 'Teens' as a social group didn't really exist until after the Great War (WW1). Now that teens habe the "luxury" of a childhood and efucation through grade twelve in the US, they have time to think, participate, and even demonstrate in numbets that eclipse what would have been possible before childhood was a respected period of humsn development.
1
Excellent piece. Learned a lot.
Thank you: to the author and to the youth who are shaking our politics.
7
The inspired and inspiring marches and demonstrations over the past weekend should not be cast as a battle between generations, least of all harking back to anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and '70s and firing off a debate about who is better or more righteous.
The "kids movement" of 2018 is a wonderful development all around. Forget any jealousy or competition. People who care about their nation and their future and want to do something about it in a lively, democratic society represent a positive force. In addition, as of now this is a multi-generational effort with the high school students getting the front row seats and participation because they are the immediate source of energy and passionate conviction.
Looking backward for a moment, the anti-war protests of the so called baby boom generation were not actually led by boomers, but by people four to five years older (an up). The students of those days were not given a voice at the front because it was occupied by an older set, often the old left, who had been waiting years for a chance to pound the established order.
What we learn as we age is the false wisdom that things can't be changed or not changed much. We become sophisticated in absorbing disappointment and defeat, cynical. Three cheers and three cheers more for energized students who believe in themselves and haven't learned the hard, bad lessons of maturity. They have even now made a huge different, with more to follow.
12
March for Our Lives was organized not by high school students but largely by Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun lobbying organization funded by folks like Mike Bloomberg and other lefties. EGS has an annual budget of about $40 million, rather more than the combined allowances and after-school earnings of the Florida high school students. EGS has a lobbying (501(c)(4) division plus a non-profit 501(c)(3) division that receives low ratings for transparency and disclosure.
EGS prepared a very detailed "toolkit" to guide those participating in the DC and "sibling" marches; it is impossible that high school students could have developed these materials (see
https://everytown.org/documents/2018/03/march-for-our-lives-toolkit.pdf ).
The adult liaison to the Douglas high school students is Debbie Wasserman Shultz, current Democratic Representative (FL) and past head of the Democratic National Committee.
The students who appear on TV have been carefully selected and prepared; they are not chosen at random and they do not simply walk into a TV studio and start talking ad lib. Their appearances and presentations are part of a well-funded and extensive anti-gun effort.
I am not an NRA member and I believe in regulating the possession of guns. I also believe that those who oppose guns have the right to march in protest. But please don't believe that a nation-wide protest movement is being organized by a handful of high school students, however bright and inspiring they may be.
4
Politicians receive donations all the time - knowing others provided financial support does nothing to take away from what these kids have accomplished.
Do you have a teenager? I think not. If you did, you'd know there is no getting them to do what they don't want to, or say what they don't believe in.
They took the lead when no one else did. This is why they matter. This is why they will be in the history books.
15
Regardless of who aided and assisted the teenage protests, their cause is correct.
7
I see NO problem with these kids being helped by media savvy adults. After all, they are taking on a gun lobby that spends BILLIONS of dollars to skew viewpoints in the opposite direction - and these kids are smart enough to know that. Does it bother you thay your Congress members take big donations from gun makers and PACs that support unrestricted arms for everyone?
4
Youth can feel very passionate because while they can see what is good and bad, they have too little experience to appreciate the significance of consequences beyond the obvious results of enjoying the good and of avoiding the bad. It's why 14 year olds who can very well understand most current events and can have strong feelings about them judgments are still not considered to be good enough to let them vote.
2
Since Parkland I've noticed this one core group of late born Baby Boomers who must have still been on their tricycles in the late 60s/early 70s when the Vietnam War protestes were going on. These boomers now feel incredibly threatened by the voices of the Parkland teenagers. However, it was their generation of boomers that similarly were the most vocal about anti-war and Vietnam. Every generation has their voice. As a boomer, ours did and so will this one. Get used to it.
12
This boomer was in DC, weeping and cheering for Emma, Samantha,and David.
2
"Can Teenagers Save America?"
No one else has, so why not? They can't do worse than what everyone else has done and they have already done better.
27
I hope they can save us baby boomers from ourselves and save their future from our very imperfect efforts - I'm feeling much more inspired by them than anyone in my age group at the moment.
The 11 year old Naiomi, with her wild hair and cool delivery slayed me like I haven't been since Obama's first campaign- if she wrote the text she's a truly exceptional prodigy but even if she got a lot of help it was a spellbinding performance. Others were great too.
Whatever they accomplish in the next few year they certainly make me hopeful that they will tailor a much better future for themselves than what we've created for them.
29
Among the many heartening things that have been shown by these young people, one of the ones that has struck me is how those who live in different areas, who have different lives, see the commonality between them. Children of well off white suburbanites share the possibility and grotesque unfairness of random death by gun with poor black and brown kids in cities.
If they can maintain the respect for each other that that engenders then there really might be a revolution where they come together and see each other as fellow citizens, unlike their parents and the current 'leaders'.
I hope the leaders from both these groups will maintain and strengthen their ties over all the issues that have put citizens last for so long.
22
The furor of youth over the violent status quo is well deserved, as we adults have failed them over and over again. The young have a huge advantage over us adults; they are fearless, independent, not yet complacent as we adults are, within a society that does require us to make a living, hence, mum. 'Rocking the boat' to discomfort is youngster's specialty. Young folks are completely open to a change they can believe in, breaking the dogma (not subject to discussion) of despondency and cowardice, and the 'looking the other way'. Entering politics is the wisest, the art of the possible, hopefully based on facts and the truth, and holding demagogues and charlatans at bay. In fact, had they had the chance to contribute for the last couple of years, crooked lying Trump would have never had a chance to assault the presidency...and abuse it at will, with the complicity of the cowardly power-hungry G.O.P. As it stands, gun violence seems the unifying factor. And walking the talk with staged protests, perhaps we shall see real changes for the better (strict universal background checks, raising the legal age to buy a gun and the outlawing of assault rifles, i.e. AR-15).
11
They can protest all they want to, and I commend them for doing it, and encourage their actions. But the end result will be, very little, if anything, will change in their favor. The powers in control are extremely powerful and they, and only they, will make changes if and when they desire.
5
Activist Bill:
So defeatist--you must know that people laughed when a rag-tag group of colonies demanded freedom from the greatest Empire in the world back in 1776; when women demanded the vote; when abolitionists demanded the end of slavery; when gays demanded the right to marry.
It may take a long time, but we get there.
29
That is exactly the feeling that the NRA hopes for and feeds.
2
And you call yourself an activist? For shame. You don't believe change is possible: how does being an activist square with that cynicism?
4
Participation is a positive and this is great. However it needs to be put in perspective. When you do, it amounts to far less than what family and friends of these people claim. I look forward to new rallies by youth, but on drugs, which pose a danger to them many times more serious than guns.
1. Young people are and have been notoriously absent from voting for a very long time. If they pick it up now they simply deserve being told, "It's about time." They don't deserve gold stars on their foreheads for participation.
2. This does nothing at all to diminish the gun ownership. Gun fans remain as powerful as ever, the NRA will demand, and will get, more donations this cycle. Campaign money is where the life blood of elections.
3. Probably the most insidious effect: Neoliberals will twist this movement for their own illiberal purpose, specifically to demean Bernie Sanders because he stands for proper gun rights in his very rural home state of Vermont.
4. Gun rights people could, if they were not adults with mortgages who generally have to be at work, show up in a crowd of twenty-five million or more.
I neither own nor like guns but I do vote including for Clinton last time against my own disappointment. I will be interested to see how this movement handles disappointment, which it will no doubt see come election time.
1
Thank you for a beautiful essay.
7
As a former teenager who marched in many different protests for civil rights, for women's rights, against the Vietnam war, etc. I am so glad to see this current generation rise up and take to the streets.
I never stopped marching, never got "co-opted" as we used to say, have always resisted the conservative right wing agenda, so to me, these kids are just joining the good fight I've been fighting ever since I was a teen. Welcome! We need your energy and persistence... I hope the 2018 and 2020 elections show the results...
55
I'd be more convinced of the capacity of young people for independent thought if the leaders of the current gun control push weren't all photographed in a green and blue uniform of ripped jeans and sweatshirts. If the clothes make the person, they appear to be cut from one cloth, which is a shame. And no I'm not being trivial - it's very telling when a group of people dresses the same way.
3
2 Successful Protests:
Under British rule, Indians were prohibited from collecting or selling salt—Britain had a monopoly on that staple product, and taxed it heavily. Gandhi assembled his supporters in 1930 to march 240 mi. from his ashram to the Arabian Sea to collect salt from the ocean. The crowd snowballed along the way; more than 60,000 Indians were arrested for breaking the salt law. The protest continued until Gandhi was granted bargaining rights at a negotiation in London. India didn’t see freedom until 1947, but the salt satyagraha (his brand of civil disobedience) established Gandhi as a force to be reckoned with and set a powerful precedent for future nonviolent protestors, including Martin Luther King Jr.
They all wore white linen.
As a nascent union, the United Auto Workers, formed in 1935, had a lot to fight for. During the Depression, General Motors executives started shifting work loads to plants with non-union members, crippling the UAW. So in December 1936, workers held a sit-in at the Fisher Body Plant in Flint, Michigan. Within two weeks, about 135,000 men were striking in 35 cities across the nation. Although the sit-ins were followed by riots, the images of bands playing on assembly lines and men sleeping near shuttered machines recall the serene strength behind the movement that solidified one of North America's largest unions.
They all wore jeans.
Lets remain focused on the real issues.
42
Oh please. Seriously? Take a look at the suits in Congress.
15
Well you are being trivial. Consider a stage full of Abbie Hoffman et al in 1967. Everyone with long hair, and everyone in army navy store military jackets and blue jeans.
5
If you look at every movement that has had a significant impact on our country in the last century they have always been driven by young people. They aren't content to live with the status quo and life hasn't had a chance to harden them against possiblity. We wouldn't have ended the Vietnam war or gained traction on civil rights, women's rights, and LGBT rights without our young people who were willing to challenge the system and push for more inclusion.
For those who say that these young people are being naive by demanding an end to gun violence, keep in mind that we never had to worry about the possibility of a mass shooting interrupting our school day. For them this is personal and if the GOP is too arrogant to realize that, they will lose the next generation.
We can respect gun rights and still ensure public safety. We've done it before, the problem is that the NRA has been allowed to stifle compromise. Adding assault style weapons to the national firearms act, banning bump stocks, lowering the amount of bullets in clips, requiring background checks on all gun sales, requiring guns owners to keep their weapons locked up, and raising the age of gun ownership to 21 are all reasonable requests.
Our politicians need to take this seriously. They may be young but that doesn't mean their wrong. Even the rest of the world agrees with these kids on American gun violence.
91
You can design and sell a wooden rifle that shoots just like an AR15 and is just as dangerous, you can carry multiple clips instead of one big one, that's actually more reliable. You cannot tell a person how to store his gun in his home any more than how to store his kitchen knives. And you cannot deny a citizen his weapon based on age as the 2cd amendment is pretty clear, and we have soldiers who are 17. What "the rest of the world" thinks means nothing to me to say nothing of any gun owner, which I am not.
2
We need to make civics classes widely available, to remind everyone that voting is a civic responsibility, and help all people fulfill that responsibility by making voting easier, faster and much harder for the Republicans to steal.
30
To be young is to have Hope. To be old without Hope, is slow death.
" Hope is the thing with feathers ". Soar, kids, Soar.
96
Hope can be noble inspiration.
Or it can be harmful delusion.
1
A well regulated militia composed of a body of the people, being the best security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, no one religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to render military service in person.
I am a 70 year old Canadian who loves the 2nd amendment. It is not about guns it is the core of democracy, it is about accepting and protecting those whose ethics, morals and political philosophy are not the same as yours.
In 1964 the GOP became the party of "Moderation in the protection of liberty is no virtue; extremism in the pursuit of justice is no vice ." It was a declaration of war on the 2nd amendment.
In 1968 the Supreme Court heard The USA vs Mohammad Ali and committed the great legal sin of not using the 2nd which was the fundamental argument and used the 1st to adjudicate the case.
I remember 1968 and the polarities around Mohammad Ali but instead of using the 2nd amendment which was about peace, love and tolerance the Supreme court used the 1st amendment to decide the case.
I have little faith that America can heal but seeing events play out on Saturday and having American grandchildren who look talk and behave like those I saw Saturday afternoon I see a glimmer of hope. The 2nd is about love and respect not guns. Maybe today's teenagers will learn of Johnson's dictionary and understand what the 2nd amendment really means.
Scalia and GOP and NRA lawyers hate the enlightenment and the country it spawned.
7
Boomers failed their young. We must face the fact that we have consumed way more than our share of the worlds resources and lost our moral way. We must then gracefully hand over the reins while thanking the lord for our blessed lives lived in blessed times built on the backs of older generations.
11
Yeah, my generation started the civil rights and peace movements back in the 60s, but as we got older far too many got frightened and conservative. We are still fighting the culture wars that we discussed and protested half century ago! Our claim to fame is buying homes too large, borrowing and spending on shiny and expensive Apple products, and long hair on men and boys. I think it might be worth one possible explanation of our backtracking is three assassinations of our leaders: JFK, RFK and MLK.
16
It’s the yuppie boomers that are the worst, because they were busy voting with their pocketbooks. And medicating their kids to “perform” at school while relishing their own lives of unfettered consumerism like fine wine. You now see them patting young people on the back for having a spine. Little do they know that this is just the beginning of what the kids will deal with themselves.
1
Yes, far too many lost the passion needed for social change. But then this is normal and probably was also the case with the youth activists described in the article. What is important is that the idealism of the youth in the 60s led to real change. We need similar changes today, tomorrow and ongoing. There are far too many career politicians about, some of whom are 70+ in age. Hopefully the March for Our Lives will turn out to be much more than guns, as important as that issue is.
2
Teenagers have the two characteristics, which give them a decisive advantage:
1. The necessary greenness to fight an opponent such as the NRA.
2. Pure passion.
42
Interesting and worthwhile history. Thank you.
I keep noticing, however, how people go out of their way not to mention the 1960s. Yet, somehow, what remains and has nearly everyone's respect: the social justice movements and the repudiation of the war in Vietnam, is referenced as though they sprang up from the pavement on their own. Because baby-boomers are still around--and because they failed to solidify the enormous ground gained on behalf of progressive causes and allowed it to wash away with the Reagan tide--the cool thing is to revile that generation or act as though it really was only a set of (mostly dreadfully inaccurate) media cliches. Of course generation X had to repudiate their parents no matter what, but can't we get beyond that, at this point, and tell the real stories? The cliches don't even present the failures and mistakes accurately, much less the triumphs that occurred all over the country, not just Columbia and Berkeley.
25
It is tragic that we have to ask our children to break an impasse made by us. I have worked in peace education for years and all too familiar with the mantra that educating small children in peacemaking is the way forward because adults are too ignorant, bigoted and stubborn to change their ways. What an awful burden to put on our children.
11
Please don't marginalize the old more than they already are by concluding this otherwise lovely article with your grenade of ageist invidiousness: "If anyone should be choosing the issues in politics, it should be the young, for they 'have a longer future to provide for.' "
13
It’s not about you. It’s about young people.
5
That sentence does nothing to marginalize anyone.
8
I was at the march in Tucson and I was struck by how the "old", the 50+ contingent, turned out for the young and how inspired we were by the leadership of the young, how it rejuvenated us. There were seniors with walkers and canes, even wheelchairs and they were ON FIRE. It was inspiring and comical at the same time. It's just life.
64
"...and these children that you spit on, as they try to change their world, are immune to your consultations; they're quite aware of what they're going through." - David Bowie
20
"Progressives" have shoved the US into every war since the Spanish-American war.
2
Eh? No, the people who have shoved the US into wars are the people who profit from wars. That's got nothing to do with "progressives." Progressives typically advance social causes – you know, caring about other people.
40
Does George W Bush know that?
5
Guess you forgot bush’s Iraq war. Broad brushes don’t work.
6
The young generation of the 1960's was arguably the most coddled, rebellious and spoiled in American history, and yet they did seem to advance civil rights, and also an end to the Vietnam War. By the way, I don't agree that that generation refused to go to Vietnam because they had lost the moral will to fight for their country. If North Vietnam had attacked the US like imperial Japan I think they would have been willing to go just like the WW2 generation.
19
The young have hopes and dreams for their nascent lives; the old want to keep what they’ve attained in theirs. I just wish age didn’t so often make people so jaded against the ideals of their own younger selves.
8
The young people should absolutely be choosing the issues in politics.They bravely go off to war for the United States ,often before they have had a chance to vote.During the Vietnam War they did find their voice in protests along with thousands of other voices.Youth have been reluctant to buy into the political process.Social media has taught them how to make their concerns known and magnified.Great, their 18 year old vote is just as important as my 80 hear old vote and is for a future that will be theirs.
30
Who knows, and I bet many won't be swayed by marching, speeches, and these sorts of things. I greatly support increased use of a system to not sell guns to anybody who we even suspect should not get them. Fix the database first, police and schools do your jobs, parents too. Then we can have improvement especially in criminal use of weapons which is much more dangerous than these mass shootings. Criminals steal to get their weapons, not buy them.
2
"Criminals steal to get their weapons, not buy them."
They also buy them "off the books" from gun runners who buy them in large batches legally in some red states and then bringing them across the border of a more careful state.
see, e.g. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/guns-n-y-crimes-bought-states-a...
2
I don't believe enough Americans are aware of, or concerned about, the assault on their democracy by their own government. The ideals embraced by 19th century leaders reflect a greater understanding of the spirit of the country's constitution; a spirit that is sneered upon by the current president. Dark times ahead.
14
The gun issue could very well spell the end of Republican majorities. I say that because guns everywhere is a foundation of GOP politics. The one age bracket that has had the lowest voter participation has been the 18 to 24 year olds. These are the people that are closest to the mass shootings in our schools. Just as the Vietnam war galvanized this age group years ago, these teens and soon to be college age people don't want their lives cut short.
They are mobilizing to get their peers registered. This will generate a wave of Democratic votes because Republicans will not relinquish the hold they let the NRA have over them.
You see, the NRA has power because politicians let them have that power. If all politicians would stand up to the NRA tomorrow, their influence would vanish overnight.
Gun violence cuts across all racial, ethnic and economic designations. The AR-15 does not discriminate. All will be drawn together in opposition.
Teenagers, the Republicans will do the following to squash your power.
They will try to supress your vote.
Republicans will do what they can to keep you from voting when you are away at school. They will challenge your residency. They will not accept your school I.D. Be on guard! This will be their next move.
You must keep informed of these attacks that will occur in the state legislatures and circumvent them. The Republican voter suppression assault against the school age voter will happen.
115
Are you a Republican? Do you know any? I don't own any guns, but want the constitution upheld. Gun changes are far down the list of things I want the federal government to do.
3
Let us guess your age by the broad generalizations and staccatto statements you made.
2
March for Our Lives was organized not by high school students but largely by Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun lobbying organization funded by folks like Mike Bloomberg and other lefties. EGS has an annual budget of about $40 million, rather more than the combined allowances and after-school earnings of the Florida high school students. EGS has a lobbying (501(c)(4) division plus a non-profit 501(c)(3) division that receives low ratings for transparency and disclosure.
EGS prepared a very detailed "toolkit" to guide those participating in the DC and "sibling" marches; it is impossible that high school students could have developed these materials (see
https://everytown.org/documents/2018/03/march-for-our-lives-toolkit.pdf ).
The adult liaison to the Douglas high school students is Debbie Wasserman Shultz, current Democratic Representative (FL) and past head of the Democratic National Committee.
The students who appear on TV have been carefully selected and prepared; they are not chosen at random and they do not simply walk into a TV studio and start talking ad lib. Their appearances and presentations are part of a well-funded and extensive anti-gun effort.
I am not an NRA member and I believe in regulating the possession of guns. I also believe that those who oppose guns have the right to march in protest. But please don't believe that a nation-wide protest movement is being organized by a handful of high school students, however bright and inspiring they may be.
1
Congress has failed us. The Supreme Court has failed us. The Electoral College has failed us by giving us a self-serving fool and a bankrupt for a President.
33
No, the mistake was limiting the number of House seats in 1910 or thereabouts. Increase the number of seats and the EC is not the problem. Congress and the Courts would fix themselves if the House seat issue was corrected.
6
As a child of the 60’s I’ve always believed in the power of the young. I’m glad they are once again finding their voice.
56
Yes, despite a checked out generation of boomers trying to lead them into a life of medicated consumerism, they are WOKE.
6
As has already been pointed out, the “Greatest Generation”, aka WWII, were mostly in there teens when they went off to war to settle what the “adults” in the room had failed at. This generation is now on the move in the same direction. The NRA-GOP will not survive for long.
18
How long? Years? Decades? Longer?
1
Probably less than three
1
Can teenagers Save America?
Dear God, I hope so. We seniors haven’t accomplished much recently, no matter how much we’ve tried.
59
Maybe the seniors "haven't accomplished much" because ageism is alive and well.
I am so happy to see this young protesters on the street. And I am equally happy to see people of every stripe and every age stand with them. What I cannot countenance is the idea that our generation failed them. Yes, as I child, I marched. But then the internet took over. To protest meant to sign petitions in cyberspace. My generational friends have bemoaned the lack of street action. But it was due to a new form of communication. So don't blame the millennial who never marched before. This is a new common ground of action and distrust of social media.
11
I don't know about past examples, but I can tell you that the Republican Party is in deep, deep trouble.
In the next ten years, the Boomer generation will begin to die out for good. The youngest boomers will be 64+. The oldest boomers will be in their early 80s.
Baby boomers are predominantly white--and they tend to vote Republican and they helped put Trump in the White House. By contrast, millennials and the subsequent Generation Z are egalitarians and rabidly environmental....and they are a huge group.....
Demographics WILL fix this mess. Sooner, rather than later.
69
For the record, Baby Boomers do not "tend to vote Republican." Forty-nine percent are Republicans, and 45 percent are Democrats (Pew Research Center, 2016). You are confusing Boomers with the Silent Generation, which is a predominantly Republican cohort.
17
GWE, Don't write off all BBoomers. As a boomer (white and male), I am saddened to have lived to see the idealism of the late 50s early 60s die over the years with many of my contemporaries. Many have become what we were against - old ideas and stuck in time and space. My heroes are still MLK and Mahatma Ghandi. So don't throw out all the boomers with the bath water. Learn what mistakes they have made but also learn from what they have changed for the better. Keep your dreams and work toward them to make this a better world for all. Each generation has its strengths.
4
Right, egalitarian. It will be good to see them accepting a significant increase in Section 8 housing as well as school desegregation measures like busing.
Look at how well the latter has been received in liberal NYC.
You betcha.
1
Thank you for this breath of historically-based hope.
23
My favorite sign, held by a young girl:
NRA ! WE WILL OUTLIVE YOU!
129
I find the actions of all these kids refreshing and hopeful.
They will make a difference - the jury is out relative to how significant a difference they are able to achieve.
Their anger and refusal to accept the status quo serves as their motivation. Their capacity with social media will be the fuel for their mission - we will all bear witness to its ultimate power to institute change.
6
The electorate must demand real and significant gun law reform and must insist that any person running for political office on any level must stand first and foremost upon that platform. The media has a role to play in keeping the public focused on that goal and in moving public opinion toward that direction. The electorate must not be distracted by the machinations of the powerful influences who feel otherwise. This is the only way for us to effect change and I think if we accomplish this achievable goal many other progressive issues will follow.
22
Really? And tell us, what exactly is that "...real and significant gun law reform?" What gun law would have prevented this or any of other mass shootings short of just getting rid of guns? The young man who killed children at Sandy Hook was in possession of a gun that his mother bought for him and taught him how to use even though he wasn't even in possession of himself, his emotions, or his rightful mind. Everyone else bought their gun legally.
Almost to a person, those doing the shooting were alienated from their families due to mental health/emotional issues, abandoned because a parent died, etc. I suggest that the deliberate destruction of the family and creating government as Big Daddy has been a complete failure for our society.
If this generation of teens follows up their protests with voting then they could be a real force for good. Every vote and every election matters so if they want a better world they must show up, and vote for Democrats.
94
gerrymandering?
1
There’s a solution. Take districting away from Parties. This was done in California. A citizen commission with input from the public sets districts. It works.
6
Not all gerrymandered districts are 100% safe for their incumbents.
If turnout is strong enough, if these young voices are loud enough, then maybe some districts will change. For this Movement's moment, we only need just enough.
3
Your examples are not about high school kids but those who today would be called millennials . My fear is that if they vote [ or fail to vote ] as they did in 2016 the house and senate will not change. Without a veto proof congress trump will continue to do what he is doing and 2020 will be to late to stop this insanity.
9
They may just be kids but some are kids that can vote and others future voters . As one of them put it so succinctly , " you're the adults and you have failed us" , yes their votes do count as will their parents . Only by their getting involved will the deadlock in Congress possibly be broken , that alone gives hope . They are intelligent , articulate and willing . They are the future.
76
And to crib Obama "they are the leadership help they were waiting for" and they know it
10
Historically, they have not voted in substantial numbers. That might change, but there is no proof of this so far. Students often move out of their home district for college, meaning they have to remember to re-register or vote by mail -- a complication that many busy college students forget.
There is also an erroneous assumption here that one march or 100 kids from Parkland (in the aftermath of a scary tragedy) represent 100% of all young people ages 18-23. That is false. The nation is full of conservative young people and those who value their 2nd Amendment freedoms.
1
That very statement, "...your're the adults and you have failed us" says it all. Immature, no grasp of the real failures, here; just more self-righteous indignation. The ones who failed the person trying to steal the shooter's and his brother's inheritance, the government employee social workers who get a check twice a month for being incompetent and indifferent, the local law enforcement who did nothing before or during the shooting, and the F.B.I. who clearly has been living off it's TV show image for the last 50 years. So, it would seem that "trusting in government" is the failure.