The days of old are new again

The thing that struck me most about the documentary "This is What Deomcracy Looks Like" is how many people were involved in the Battle of Seattle. Upwards of 30,000 men, women, and children coming together to fight for something they believe in, esepcially something that is a radical stance for this country.

I feel like the US has gotten increasingly less political over the years, particularly in the 90s and early 2000s. After the rough 60s and 70s that were spent fighting for equal rights, people seem to have lost touch with what was important. We no longer were willing to work for what we deserved but were happy to sit by and be spoon-fed by media conglomerates and slowly, subtly oppressed by our "democratic" government.

I wish I had paid more attention to news as a kid, but I really didn't get started until after 9/11 (like so many of my own and my parents' generation). I vaguely remember talk of the WTO protest, but I never really knew anything about it. I am so impressed by the turnout they had and the willingness of the protesters to contend with physical injury and imprisonment in exchange for spreading their message. I frequently hear about people in other countries staging protests and riots, but until about 2006 that hadn't really happened in the US during my lifetime. I think people are finally starting to behave more like those WTO protesters and actually standing up and fighting for what they believe in.

At least, I hope they are.