The Arab street has erupted over the last month, ejecting a Tunisian despot, toppling the government in Beirut and filling front pages with pictures from Egyptian protests, the outcome of which remains undetermined. Some worry about destabilization in the Middle East while others cheer in fervor of revolution.

In Tahrir Square, students not much different from those at Syracuse University put themselves in the path of paid thugs this weekend, showing extraordinary restraint and courage in the face of provocateurs. As we watch the revolt in Egypt, we have to wonder whether the American street has the same power and if it could awaken. Our street seems awfully mum, and it could be the case that Americans just don’t have enough to complain about.

Given a superficial familiarity with recent American history, the last time any movement of a remotely comparable scale happened was the antiwar movement against Vietnam that culminated in the early 1970s. Today we look upon the period with nostalgia — American youth culture was electrified, stood up against a horribly misguided regime and ultimately found some success with the war’s end. On our campus, plenty of students long to take part in something like the struggles of our parents. Protests are like rock concerts with a point — it’s perfectly natural to want the experience.

Professors and lefty parents blame us. Your generation has been co-opted by the bourgeoisie; your brains are melted into Facebook; you care more for the ‘Jersey Shore’ than the injustice that still infests the American political system. For some students, they’re right. Look at Euclid Avenue any weekend. But Euclid probably looked the same in the ‘70s — there’s no way today’s youth could be so different from just a generation before.

Or maybe the State Machine has become too dominant that the street has no chance. State-sponsored mass media placates us; the police state is hopelessly oppressive; our political discourse is a red vs. blue charade. These conspiracy theories offer tempting narratives, but again the evidence boils down to circumstance.

Revolution, however sexy, does not catch on without widespread injustice ugly enough to anger a popular movement much greater than any rock concert. Injustice on this scale simply doesn’t exist in today’s America. We are at war, but the soldiers in Afghanistan signed up for the job. Our financial system is a mess and our schools broken, but we have the freedom to report freely and complain. Presidents step down after their terms are up — compared to other ‘democracies.’ This fact of our 250-year history is amazing. Our streets are empty and our students quiet because there isn’t enough to complain about, and we have robust systems to make things better.

While we watch Egyptians agitate for political freedom, we should appreciate the political system our parents’ generation fought and, in some cases, defeated. We will not share in the excitement of a revolution in our time. But we can look on Egypt, stand in solidarity with the revolutionary movement and appreciate how great America is — and that’s coming from a reluctant patriot.

Scott Collison is a senior philosophy and physics major. His columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at smcollis@syr.edu. 

Published on February 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm