The political climate of the world is, in a word, tense. Anything and everything seems to enrage people—on the left, right, up down, and center. This rage has stirred up higher rates of political activity among young people than ever before.
Everywhere you look, someone our age is making a tangible difference in the world. The trend seems to have shifted from individual activists like Greta Thunberg to entirely youth-centered protests like those at Columbia.
As Gen Z gets older, we seem to be actively recognizing our power in unprecedented ways. Protests at college campuses are certainly nothing new, but the advantages of the internet allow for new, often louder ways to make our voices heard.
So, in this time of strife and action, why does it often feel like Boston College is incapable of taking action? In my experience, students here seem to believe there are many culprits to our problem of indifference—usually those with opposing viewpoints. And both sides point a finger at cancel culture.
Although this phrase is a bit overused today, no other phrase can so accurately characterize the modern college experience. Everyone fears the social consequences of professing an unpopular view on a campus that is fairly diverse in political opinion. This diversity can foster learning opportunities, but it also means there is someone who probably disagrees with you around every corner.
BC is not the only college campus with an equal playing field for political views, so to speak. I would also consider Notre Dame to be a school without an overwhelming majority on one side of the political spectrum. Yet Notre Dame does not seem to suffer from the same lack of protesting as we do. In just the past five months, a large protest occurred on campus, leading to the arrest of several students.
As students at a Jesuit university, we are taught to set the world aflame, so why do we lack passion for political causes? There are too many students who seem to share this feeling of being silenced for their political views.
The culture on a college campus is often hard to define and nearly entirely dependent on the group you surround yourself with. However, it is clear that this college tends to have a culture of complacency. Regardless of your political views, everyone has an issue that they feel so strongly about that they could protest, yet often we do not.
Those who are willing to overcome this complacency are few and far between. The lack of participation seems to only perpetuate the cycle. When those around you aren’t willing to step out, it becomes easier to justify why you shouldn’t either.
Protesting requires you to leave your comfort zone in the dust. It is loud, public, and can even be dangerous. The comfort zone of BC students is incredibly secure. The BC bubble allows us to engage with ideas that make us uncomfortable often only in theory, never in practice.
With that said, students of different races, sexual orientations, and financial situations are often forced into situations with real-world problems, far outside the comfort of the BC bubble
But the bubble does not seem to be anywhere close to popping. This culture of complacency that comes from feeling just a little too comfortable can happen anywhere. But on a small college campus, it feels inescapable.
You don’t have to like or appreciate student protesting to understand why our lack of it may be the symptom of a much larger issue. And the issue of the BC bubble is certainly not an easy fix. But awareness of a problem like complacency is enough to shock some out of it. Maybe then, once we acknowledge the consequences of staying within one’s comfort zone, we can truly begin to set the world aflame.
