Spring Break
Facebook sparks concerns over constitutional rights
Anthony Fusco
Issue date: 9/13/06 Section: Opinion
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Although it might have taken something so trivial and stupid as Facebook to showcase this reaction, it couldn't have captivated the audience any other way.
As college students, we are essentially being bred by experts in our respective fields to become the future of America. As such, we all need to take time out to smell the proverbial roses of democracy that we take for granted everyday, and Facebook has given us a great learning opportunity to do just that. It is your duty as an educated adult and our responsibility as a generation to take a bigger interest in government and the policy that shapes not only our lives, but that of our children's children after us.Yes, you joined a group to let Facebook know that you feel your privacy is being trampled, and that is great. However, when was the last time you filled out a petition to allocate more money to schools in your community or voted for someone running for office that you thought would bring about positive change?
This is my exact thesis: Don't stop here. It doesn't matter if you are far right, far left, moderate, or you don't even know what any of those terms mean. All that does matter is that you keep your ear to the ground and exercise your rights in the political spectrum in anyway you see fit.
This doesn't mean you have to start attending City Council meetings or watch CNN for four hours a day (although it helps); it's simply is a call to action. All of us who have voiced our dissatisfaction with the Facebook privacy issue have learned a valuable skill out of the social turbulence caused by our favorite past-time; right behind Baggo and beer, of course.
The brutal reality is that Facebook will not matter to any of us five years after graduation, but government and its policies will. You owe it to yourself, your ancestors who fought for these same rights and to the founders of our nation to keep your eye on the big prize: freedom. In the words of Professor Phyllis Rippey, "the price of democracy is eternal vigilance."
In other words, to cite the motion picture "40-Year-Old Virgin," if you don't use it, you lose it. Don't let that happen, because you truly won't know what you have 'till it's gone.
As college students, we are essentially being bred by experts in our respective fields to become the future of America. As such, we all need to take time out to smell the proverbial roses of democracy that we take for granted everyday, and Facebook has given us a great learning opportunity to do just that. It is your duty as an educated adult and our responsibility as a generation to take a bigger interest in government and the policy that shapes not only our lives, but that of our children's children after us.Yes, you joined a group to let Facebook know that you feel your privacy is being trampled, and that is great. However, when was the last time you filled out a petition to allocate more money to schools in your community or voted for someone running for office that you thought would bring about positive change?
This is my exact thesis: Don't stop here. It doesn't matter if you are far right, far left, moderate, or you don't even know what any of those terms mean. All that does matter is that you keep your ear to the ground and exercise your rights in the political spectrum in anyway you see fit.
This doesn't mean you have to start attending City Council meetings or watch CNN for four hours a day (although it helps); it's simply is a call to action. All of us who have voiced our dissatisfaction with the Facebook privacy issue have learned a valuable skill out of the social turbulence caused by our favorite past-time; right behind Baggo and beer, of course.
The brutal reality is that Facebook will not matter to any of us five years after graduation, but government and its policies will. You owe it to yourself, your ancestors who fought for these same rights and to the founders of our nation to keep your eye on the big prize: freedom. In the words of Professor Phyllis Rippey, "the price of democracy is eternal vigilance."
In other words, to cite the motion picture "40-Year-Old Virgin," if you don't use it, you lose it. Don't let that happen, because you truly won't know what you have 'till it's gone.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jake
posted 9/13/06 @ 8:42 PM EST
good article
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