PASSIVITY OF THE AMERICAN MIND

At a small school in the Democracy has called the Anderson Union School ticket of the American populous District, deep within the many times before, and each time heart of Northern California, a they have risen to the task to preyoung man walks through the front serve not just the Union, but also doors. The lobby that normally each other. Recently, this “American would greet him with the sound of Unity” that has been the envy of students chattering away was silent. the world for generations has been He looks around at everyone’s faces up against its biggest threat yet, the and without a word, he simply people. understands. Some were still puffy The American government eyed, some hadn’t slept, but all of is set up with a system of checks them hurt. The date is Nov. 9, 2016. and balances. The most widely They all were wondering what the known are the three branches of next four government: judicial, executive, years would and legislative. It was set look like. As high schoolers, only a “I DON’T THINK THE COUNTRY up this way to protect from corruption and injustice. From couple of the seniors could vote, but SURVIVES IF TRUMP GETS varying term lengths to appointed positions needing confirmation every single one of them knew just how ANOTHER FOUR YEARS” from another branch, it was made very hard to corrupt all three much it would impact branches. Unless, of them. As the day progressed, course, you corrupt students began to talk more and the most important piece to demore and as they did a recurring mocracy; the people. The passivity theme appeared—fear. Being a of the American mind has allowed small school with a relatively large foreign influences to inject lies and LGBTQ+ community, many who conspiracy theories into American had just become comfortable society through social media and enough to express themselves freely fake news sites. As if that wasn’t bad feared for their safety. For those not enough, the sitting U.S. President already out, they feared they might at the time, Donald Trump, has never be able to actually be them- shared and expressed support for so selves. Many students who relied on many conspiracy theories that there free meals from school as their only is actually a Wikipedia page dedmeal for the day, feared that they icated to listing all of them. These might have to go hungry if the free conspiracy theories range from meal program was cut. Pizzagate to claiming that Osama James Keenan, a young Bin Laden was never actually killed. adult who lost his job due to the The best example is the QANON ongoing pandemic, was one of theory, which alleges that the Unitthose students. Four years later, that ed States government is just a front fear is stronger than ever before. and society is actually controlled “I don’t think the country by a deep state cult ring of liberal, survives if Trump gets another four cannibalistic, pedophiles. years,” Keenan said. That should sound asinine, but support for the theory has been growing rapidly since it first popped up around 2017. It all centers around Donald Trump, who the theory says is the primary enemy of this deep state cabal. Allegedly, Trump is fighting back and plans to arrest thousands of these deep state members in a day of reckoning referred to as “The Storm.” It is a story so outlandish that no author should have to take it seriously. Yet in August, Facebook released an internal

investigation showing that pages for the theory had millions of followers. Twitter came to a similar conclusion and they both took action to slow the spread further. Facebook has since banned all pages relating to QANON. Since this theory all revolves around Donald Trump, it would be easy for him to dismiss it. Considering the theory has been proven to be completely baseless and the FBI determined that it has serious potential for domestic terrorism, it would greatly benefit the American people to dismiss the theory. Yet, Trump himself refuses to dismiss it because the theory holds him as a savior. When pressed on the issue he simply told reporters, “I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate.” Keenan connects it to the war tactic of “dehumanizing the enemy [to make it] easier to do or say horrible things about them.” It is a shining example of just how important and how different the 2020 election has been. It is a time where voting seems more important than ever and the push for voting has never been stronger. The generation of 18 to 21-year-olds that are voting for the first time are more passionate than ever before. Nolan Stratton, who is studying to become a teacher at Shasta College, is going to be voting for the first time in this election. He recalls what made him so passionate about voting. “The 2016 election was so infuriating, I knew then and there I had to vote this year,” Stratton said.

BANNERS PLACED ON THE BACK OF A VEHICLE IN A PROTEST WITHIN THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES.

Being sidelined is a theme that feels common among younger generations on both sides of the political aisle; a trend that will hopefully continue the push for voting. For Rylie Marcuz, who is 17 years old and cannot vote this year, that means “doing everything I can to encourage my peers and young people who can vote, to vote.” “The younger generations have the power to change the course of this election so I continue to spread awareness and promote people to vote in this election as much as I can,” Marcuz said. Marcuz is just one of the many young people that have become invested in today’s politics. The young generations of today spend more time online and are exposed to more information than ever before. This exposure to our youth is why it is important to spread credible information and combat the spread of misinformation. This is where the passivity of the American mind comes in. The invention of T.V. transitioned the processing of information out of the hands of Americans and into the hands of news producers. In 2011, Business Insider reported on the Nixon-era plans to create a news network with the goal of promoting GOP ideas. Stratton stated that he believes “all major news companies have an agenda and are purposely dishonest to benefit their beliefs.” Keenan agrees with that sentiment and goes one step further by stating, “they aren’t interested in anything but ad revenue. Inspiring hysteria and delusions is a great way to do exactly that.” The use of news to spread biased, and potentially wrong information is not new. In fact, many

PROTESTORS WAVE A TATTERED AND BLOODY AMERICAN FLAG IN THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES.

news networks today show inherent bias towards one of the political parties. It is up to the people to interpret the news they receive. This can be done in several ways, but most effectively by gathering information from multiple sources. “Most things you have to fact check an absurd amount—the news is mostly inaccurate, or at least played down or exaggerated to fit their agenda,” Keenan said. Skepticism of the news has been growing in recent years. This reasonable skepticism is pushing people to be more analytical in the news they read and is helping people, such as Keenan and Stratton, in becoming more properly informed. However, if allowed to grow too much, this skepticism can create outlandish conspiracy theories such as the QANON theory mentioned earlier. An example of why it is important to understand the credibility of the information you read. With this push for a more educated society, there is also a nationwide push for voting that is going on in the United States. Marcuz, Stratton and Keenan are just a few names of the millions of people pushing for high voter turnout. This is because the vast majority of people are rational human beings. While there are those who can succumb to conspiracy theories and lies, they can easily be overcome by just pushing for people to take the time out of their day to go and participate in the democratic process. The push for voting is a selfless task. You are not asking for more power, you are not looking to better yourself, you are pushing for a more properly represented society that more accurately reflects the values of the people of this nation. The shattering of early voting records has been exciting and unprecedented. This is a trend that must go further than this past election. Complacency will only bring us downfall. No matter what age you are, what gender you are, what ethnicity you are or what party you support, it is quintessential that you go out and vote every year in every election. “It’s one of the only times that people actually get to participate in politics and see the change they want to see,” Keenan said. If you are unhappy with the people representing you, vote someone in who represents your views better. If you are happy with them, then vote them back in; otherwise someone else may vote them out. At the end of the day, the responsibility is on you.

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE PUSH FOR VOTING IS A SELFLESS TASK.”

Many students come to college looking for more than just a degree. As we enter the workforce, it is important to have learned experience and a variety of skill sets. Such could be volunteerism. Ines Morales, a fifth year environmental studies major at Humboldt State University, is the lead program consultant of the Y.E.S. House. “The Y.E.S. House is our campus student volunteer organization. We are a student led, student run volunteer center on campus, and we offer a variety of different volunteer programs that students can join,” Morales said. “And every program has a different mission, so they focus on different kinds of inequities and social and environmental issues that folks in Humboldt County might be dealing with.” There are nine programs currently active: Art Recreation Theater (ART), Environmental Education (EE), Golden Years (GY), Hand in Hand (HnH), Juvenile Hall Recreation Program (JHRP), Puentes, Queer Mentoring Advocacy Program (QMAP), Study Buddies (SB), and Youth Mentoring Program (YMP). All programs are being run virtually for the time being. There are a total of 83 students involved in Fall of 2020.