When I was in Air Force Boot Camp, there were some things that were seriously messed up with how us trainees were treated. And I'm not talking about being made to do exercises or getting yelled at- that was all good and made me a better person. I'm talking about seriously shady stuff, like a sergeant shortening how long I could spend with my family when they flew in on graduation week, and warning me I'd be held back if I reported him for it. Things only got shadier at tech school, where newly minted, powerless Airmen were exploited all to hell.
On one of my last days at tech school, in my dorm room at Keesler Air Force Base, I started writing down feedback on a feedback form. Some of it was suggestions for how things could be done more efficiently, and some was biting criticism. When I finished writing it, I ended up eventually throwing the form away, never submitting it.
The reason shady people get away with shady things is because activism goes away at graduation. When people finally escape a bad situation, they just want to forget about it, the last thing they want is to go fight on behalf of their juniors who are still suffering.
The labyrinthine mazes of military training are just one example. Schools, classrooms, jobs, abusive relationships, rental apartments... the list goes on and on. We suffer somewhere, and then when we move on to a position where we could make more of a difference, we decide to just wash our hands of the matter.
I won't say that this is necessarily bad or wrong. Probably a lot of people just aren't strong enough emotionally or mentally to face confrontations and old demons. With me, though, I feel like I've become much stronger in every way- and still am becoming stronger- and as they say in Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. I'm starting to feel a closer kinship to everyone around me, and with that, a desire to do whatever I can to make the world better and more just and fair.
I'm not even sure what I can do. One thing I can do, is write. In time, I'm becoming a better writer, and my voice carries to more ears, and I hope that my writings will have an uplifting effect on those who find them. For my own part, I can move past my own fear, and when I myself move on from a situation, no longer will I wash my hands of it. It's easy to look at my juniors, and say, "it's not my problem any more." I think that's what most people would do, and that's fine for most people. But if mankind as a whole is going to move on to better things, if the injustices and exploitations of this world are to see a sunrise, the few with the courage to act must speak up and raise their voices.
Here are some other things I wrote. I feel as if writing these articles somehow bolsters my courage to speak up for people who need it.
Words May Break My Bones, But Sticks And Stones Will Never Hurt Me
The Higher Infinite
How To Be A Better Teacher
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: A Man Of Courage, Passion, And Freedom
On one of my last days at tech school, in my dorm room at Keesler Air Force Base, I started writing down feedback on a feedback form. Some of it was suggestions for how things could be done more efficiently, and some was biting criticism. When I finished writing it, I ended up eventually throwing the form away, never submitting it.
The reason shady people get away with shady things is because activism goes away at graduation. When people finally escape a bad situation, they just want to forget about it, the last thing they want is to go fight on behalf of their juniors who are still suffering.
The labyrinthine mazes of military training are just one example. Schools, classrooms, jobs, abusive relationships, rental apartments... the list goes on and on. We suffer somewhere, and then when we move on to a position where we could make more of a difference, we decide to just wash our hands of the matter.
I won't say that this is necessarily bad or wrong. Probably a lot of people just aren't strong enough emotionally or mentally to face confrontations and old demons. With me, though, I feel like I've become much stronger in every way- and still am becoming stronger- and as they say in Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. I'm starting to feel a closer kinship to everyone around me, and with that, a desire to do whatever I can to make the world better and more just and fair.
I'm not even sure what I can do. One thing I can do, is write. In time, I'm becoming a better writer, and my voice carries to more ears, and I hope that my writings will have an uplifting effect on those who find them. For my own part, I can move past my own fear, and when I myself move on from a situation, no longer will I wash my hands of it. It's easy to look at my juniors, and say, "it's not my problem any more." I think that's what most people would do, and that's fine for most people. But if mankind as a whole is going to move on to better things, if the injustices and exploitations of this world are to see a sunrise, the few with the courage to act must speak up and raise their voices.
Here are some other things I wrote. I feel as if writing these articles somehow bolsters my courage to speak up for people who need it.
Words May Break My Bones, But Sticks And Stones Will Never Hurt Me
The Higher Infinite
How To Be A Better Teacher
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: A Man Of Courage, Passion, And Freedom
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4 comments:
Actually, I think with most older people I have talked to about this subject say that they became MORE of activists after graduation and were proud of it. Then they continue to say that that activism slowly went away after about 5 years or so though they wish it had not.
That's very interesting. I wonder whether it has to do with a certain wisdom which comes with growing older. How can we get young people (myself included) to speak up more after they've moved on from an unjust situation?
I think it has more to do with the fact that these people end up getting married, starting families and/or moving up in their career and do not nessecarily have the time or energy for activism.
I totally agree with you here. Nothing to add.
I went myself through this experience (as I was in the military too, not to mention military prison..). It's great I've stumbled upon this article now. Thank you.
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