To the Editor:
I am troubled by Mr. Ahmad's July 15 editorial for more reasons than those expressed in Ms. Mallonee's response (The Dartmouth, 7/20). Her observation of his political naivete is point on. The exchange, however, points to what I feel is a growing and dangerous split in our generation.
On the one hand, there is the perpetual optimism and trust of youth; Ms. Mallonee believes that John Kerry has the potential to save our nation from four years of betrayal and irresponsible expenditures of the capital of friendship.
It may be that Kerry has what it would take to reverse the damage done to our position in the world. I doubt it. The legacy of Bush 43 is large, and dark. It will take a lot to clean it up, and make America shine as an ethical leader again.
On the other hand, Mr. Ahmad is alarmingly cynical. I think this is the more frightening trend; American youth have always been idealistic, thank God. Exposure to politics, as far as I can tell, can only bring people down. When one starts as low as Mr. Ahmad in terms of respect and regard for the ideals of government and nation, the future is bleak for America. Let's not be a generation of doubters and believers in force over trust. Sometimes I'm afraid that we are breeding a generation of leaders who believe they know more than they do. This, as far as I can tell, is Mr. Ahmad's major fault. He presumes to know the minds of other people, and to understand the intricacies of foreign policy.
I am not suggesting, by my criticism of Mr. Ahmad or Ms. Mallonee that I know the solution to any problem. What I know is that President Bush's actions and policies have done a tremendous amount of harm to the position of America in the world, as well as to the American character. The cynicism and machismo that says sticking out a bad policy is better than "giving in" to terrorists is ridiculous, and bound to fail. We are not winning anything at present; continuing on our present course shows no signs of succeeding.
Changing our course? Well, I don't know. I'm not sure I believe that Kerry can restore American credibility, but I'm willing to give it a shot. It's better to take the optimistic chance than condemn our nation and our generation to a life of fear and aggression. The youth of America, and let's not forget that's who we are, should remember the ideals our nation was built on -- they are the ideals of a young nation and a young people, and to forego them is to give up on human potential. Please, Mr. Ahmad, for the sake of America's future and your own, have hope, not fear. It's your right, and as far as I'm concerned, your obligation.
