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I’ve been watching videos about college campus protests and reading avidly about them for weeks now. And I am trying desperately to collect my thoughts. But I am nowhere near where I want to be. I am confused. Hurt. Angry. And curious how this all comes to an end.
I have spent three years of my life living on campuses in America, two as a student, one as an employee. I saw a lot of interesting things during my time. Heard plenty of stories of things that happened before my arrival. But I have never seen anything remotely similar to what I’m hearing about now.
This is next level insanity.
Inane Youth
My first thoughts are about the inane nature of the modern youth participating in these protests. Who are these kids and where are the adults who could have and should have been better influences on their lives? They behave like there are no consequences. As if trespassing can’t result in removal. As if standing up before the world espousing a position without knowledge in 2024 cannot result in ridicule.
They make insane demands for “humanitarian aid” and condemn people for actions not yet committed.
And yes, I watch the videos and laugh at them. Just like everyone else around me.
But it’s an uncomfortable laughter.
College: Young, Dumb, and Special
Why? Because that was me at some point not outside my memory. Young and dumb. Too ignorant to realize that my arguments were weak and unsupported by any data I possessed. With my strings being pulled by others around me with agendas and the need for a crowd. And, of course, thinking of myself on the right side of history. Looking toward a future where people will look at me like society now looks at the Civil Rights Movement, a hero who sacrificed everything because he knew he was fighting the good fight. Knew he was making a difference. Knew the world would be a better place if those around him would finally see the truth as well.
College is a distinctive and special time in life.
I don’t think this is unique, but I feel like I’m a product of decisions I made during that period in my life. When you’re in your twenties, you have the potential to soak up influences around you. And instead of questioning and resisting, you dive in head first, and next thing you know you’re fanatically connected to something you never knew imaginable.
But then you hit your thirties.
You have a spouse, maybe a couple of kids. A job. Bills to pay.
You can’t afford to uproot your life from where you are, so the driving force of everything you do is inertia. You just exist, no longer pulled toward anything new. You’re just flowing with whatever insane creation resulted from decisions when you were young.
So I look upon these students with a hefty amount of mixed emotions, everything from envy to angst. They’re letting some level of ignorant fervor out of their system while they’re young enough that there will likely be few or even no consequences to their words or actions. That’s when you’re supposed to make terrible decisions.
Fighting the Good Fight?
But that leads me to my next point: Are they actually fighting the good fight? And if not, what’s the root of their misguided lunacy?
I’d like to believe that it’s not antisemitism. It might be for some. But I don’t think they’re wandering around with hate in their hearts for the Jews. In fact, my guess is a large percentage of them actually are Jews.
I do think they have a tendency to latch themselves on to various causes, and then they throw their weight behind those causes, even if they don’t fully understand what they’re fighting for. If I were a betting man, I’d say there’s probably a huge crossover between these protesters and people who would fight for a transgender woman to be able to wrestle or swim alongside biological women.
And to an extent, there’s a connection.
They’re fighting for who they perceive to be the underdog. They’re fighting for the rights of the oppressed, logic be damned. It’s not about a strict evaluation of every cause, or really thinking things through to their logical conclusion. They’re fighting for those they’re told are being damaged by elements of society stronger than they.
But that doesn’t explain the intensity.
Why the Intensity?
These students aren’t flooding campuses fighting for Ukraine. They’re not disrupting classes and risking arrest fighting for women’s rights in Iran. They’re not even taking to the streets to yell catchy slogans when the Unites States spends two decades in foreign nations attempting to deal with those who committed the heinous acts of September 11, 2001.
Surely the perpetrators (the “underdogs”) are thoroughly chastised by now. And certainly America is the more powerful entity, capable of reducing Afghanistan to ashes in hours.
But these are either not causes this population has chosen to stand behind. Or they’re causes they believe in, but their responses are more measured. There’s no protests. There’s no flooding social media. And there’s certainly no mass attempts to take over college campuses and act aggressively toward students who share views or ethnicities with those they feel are in the wrong.
So why here?
Two Possible Reasons
Only two answers come to mind, although I’d love to hear other theories.
The first is that there are people pulling their strings. Amping them up. A thoroughly well-funded machine is manipulating young, energetic college students, whipping them up into a frenzy using buzzwords incorrectly like “genocide” and “apartheid”, until they’re ready to wildly do anything to fight for this cause they just started caring about yesterday.
The other reason?
They’re just straight-up antisemitic.
I don’t like saying this. I feel like I’m making a cop out explanation for things I don’t understand when I ultimately point to this.
But I’m baffled, and it’s the only explanation that makes sense to me.
Do I believe there exist some sincere college students out there, truly bothered by what’s happening in Israel? There may be a few. There may even be some with a shred of knowledge here and there.
But they are the exception to the rule.
Puppets or Haters?
My guess is a whole lot of them innately don’t like Jews. Inexplicably. They would never say it outright. But they relish in opportunities to criticize Jews and Israel while masking it under a guise of supporting Palestinians. But it’s one big lie. They couldn’t care less about Palestinians. They didn’t yesterday, and they won’t tomorrow. But it’s a convenient way to express their anger and frustration at something else they passionately dislike.
And the rest? They’re puppets. Someone else who hates Israel knows how to push all the right buttons to manipulate young, easily influenced children to stand in the middle of a campus and shout slogans. They don’t hate the Jews or Israel. They have no real thoughts or opinions on the matter. They just repeat crap others tell them to believe.
They’re just pawns in someone else’s battle, with no minds of their own.
