Gonzo Pro Bono

WE LIVE in exciting, if unstable and often frightening times. The past two years has seen a major shift in the world’s power dynamics - a factor prompted in part by the global economic crisis that began, especially at home, with a characteristic ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ mentality.

Yet, over the past year this typically apathetic attitude has seen a transformation into popular political action. From the mass protests against severe austerity measure’s witnessed in Greece in May 2010 to our own student led protests against cuts at home, to what is turning into mass revolution in the Middle East, it seems the tables are turning.

As one university professor recently commented to me, we are living in one of the defining political moments of our age. This is of course both a galvanising and intimidating statement. While it is unquestionable that we are the generation that will reap what is sown by the world’s governments over the next few years, are we ready, or indeed willing to?

During the recent student union elections at Queen Mary University, one candidate criticised the union’s student newspaper for focussing too much on political issues. While stating that she felt students should be interested in politics, in a poignant observation, she said “the fact of the matter is some people aren’t, and Queen Mary has typically been seen as apathetic […] don’t just ignore the student reality here.”

This struck me as a potentially acute summary of the political situation in Britain, and indeed much of the Western world today. While some are rising up against what they see as injustice and discrimination, others are content to stay at home and flick the TV over to the latest ‘reality’ show or check out their friend’s latest wall posts.

Without wishing to get into a debate over the pro’s and con’s of each activity, I think that it is important assess how far escapism from politics can really get us and indeed, considering what is happening all over the world, whether it is in-fact escapable at all.

Turning to the latter example, facebook, it is possible to see how unavoidable politics is truly becoming, even for the most hardened escapist. Originally designed to be a platform from which to find out about the hottest parties, facebook has become the launch pad of revolutions, as seen in Tunisia, Egypt and well, watch this space.

Modern media and technology, fuelled by the internet, is making news and politics an ever increasing part of our daily lives. But the question is, how important should that be to a generation brought up in a fiercely individualistic world in which the most important concerns have been, until now, our own.

If the reality is truly one of apathy should we just accept that, should we just ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ or should we, like the Egyptian people whose revolution was an unorganised popular one, start to take an interest in our future and work to change it?

Certainly, many have already started to as indicated by the mass protest against government cuts set to take place in London on Saturday. Organised by the TUC and supported by students and other groups from across the country, it is estimated that around one million people will be marching. Definitely, it will be one to watch.