Truly I am stunned.
So many of us have forgotten or perhaps never knew, what it's like to be young, self-assured, and determined to grab the world by the balls. And to make the world listen. I haven't.
Yesterday as I watched millions of adults, both young and old, walk the walk and talk the talk, I read on facebook, the words of those who have forgotten what it's like to seize the moment. Words saying these children are not even adults, how dare they tell adults they don't agree with them, How dare they try and tell adults what to do. How dare they think for themselves. Or worse, they are being used by liberals as tools in their agenda. Yes they have forgotten.
They have forgotten that it's the next generation's job to question their elders. It's the next generation's job to change the world they are going to inherit. God knows it's pretty fucked up right now so don't try and argue that they don't have the right to try and make a difference.
No, at their young age, these kids have learned more than just a basic educational curriculum at school. They have learned they can die there. They have seen their friends die there.
Have you?
Until you have, until you have hidden in a classroom while hearing gunshots outside the door, until you have watched your best friend have her face shot off while standing next to you, until you run through hallways filled with blood and dead bodies, until then - get out of the way. There are survivors whose voices and experience count for a whole lot more than yours.
I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I also believe in the freedoms that this country offers. I also believe in the right to go to school unafraid.
These words, written a long time ago, say it in a way I could never hope to achieve.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Life.
These young adults are making their choice. They are making their voices heard. They are more involved in shaping their future than most of us ever were.
When our Congress did nothing after Sandy Hook, we knew it would take something earthshaking for change to take place. It just may have in Parkland, Florida. And to speak directly to The Newly Press, yes there is a paradigm shift. It's called sane reasoning and the clarity of vision to realize the status quo is not acceptable.
A new generation takes up the fight. They have the power of their voices, they have the power of their number, and soon if not already, they have the power of their vote.
As we said back in the time when my generation was the one questioning authority...
"Power to the people, right on."...John Lennon. Killed by gun violence 12/8/80
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