Americans are not completely in favor of the pending war. Last weekend several thousand people gathered in Washington, D.C., some evoking the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., others parading the FBI headquarters, all making their voices ring clear: We do not want to rush into another war.
Unlike protestors during the Vietnam War, today's demonstrators are well-organized thanks to ad campaigns and the Internet. They're more diverse as well, ranging from points all along the socio-economic spectrum.
Through much intense calculation, however, I believe I have figured out why everyone is so unhappy-this whole war thing just is not entertaining anymore. There was the same problem in Vietnam. After a while, all the snazzy pictures and cool footage ran out and people lost interest.
Desert Storm - now that quickly gained the people's favor. It was entertaining with interactive media coverage laced with special effects. Someone just sitting at home watching CNN could turn off his lights, use his imagination, and suddenly be in on the action. They even put out Desert Storm trading cards - you could not ask for more than that.
Using entertainment is a great way to make a sour pill go down easier. Like trying to feed a baby some carrots ("come on, open the hangar, here comes the airplane!") consider yesterday's Super Bowl. In this game there are physical and emotional pains closely likened to those in war, but millions of people who abhor such violence watch anyway.
This is not because of some masochistic desire, but for the highly innovative and ultimately entertaining commercials for which the Super Bowl is known and loved. USA Today writes that 14 percent of all viewers watched only for the commercials. They had baboons, for crying out loud: the epitome of entertainment.
So maybe that is what our coming war with Iraq needs - some zest. I know the media must be weary of placing too much information on television, being that even our political enemies have cable, but surely Bush can work in a little fun.
Perhaps what we really need is a wartime reality show; those are always popular. I can hear it now: "No, Dillon, I won't clean your weapon again. You've got to start taking some [expletive deleted] responsibilities around here." If they made this whole war on terror idea more dramatic and less work to figure out, I'm sure there would be far fewer protests.
It would take nothing to convert the students, too. Like at Brandeis University in Maine, where only a dozen students signed up for the weekend march on Washington, but over 400 students were more than willing to hold a walk-out. Now that is dedication.
Bottom line: Most people do not know why they're protesting, but to oppose something unpopular with most of the world is an easy and well-accepted default setting. So few are presenting viable alternatives and are simply agreeing. If popular opinion wore shirts reading, "I am a lobster taco," I bet Rubio's would be swamped with requests for them. I am truly ecstatic to see people using their freedom of assembly - since you could easily be killed for such an ideal in Iraq - but when people oppose our nation's actions only to skip class for a day or seem sympathetic to everyone else, they fool only themselves.
Protesting an idea takes dedication, but presenting an idea of your own demands far more. What will you do?
Darren Todd is an English Literature Senior. Reach him at lawrence.todd@asu.edu.
