02 May 2007

Where have all the cowboys gone?

I saw Linkin Park's new video on MTV whilst on the treadmill this morning. I frequently watch MTV or VH1 with no sound, and so my impressions of the videos tend to differ from what they end up being like with sound. The song is "What I've Done," and the vid (on the link) shows environmental disasters of epic proportions. Towards the end, there are some shots of Mother Theresa, JFK, and Ghandi, and watching that, I was struck that I don't know who the environmental leaders of the day are. Or the voices of my generation. Who are our heroes?

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was a wake-up call to many, but I'm sorry, Mr. Gore, I just don't see you as a great leader of our day. It goes almost without saying that I hardly see W as a leader either. If we're going to stay in the political arena, I'll mention the fact that I worked for the Kerry campaign in 2004 because I saw him as the much lesser of two evils, not because I greatly admired him. I haven't yet made up my mind who to vote for in the Democratic primary, nearly a year from now, but that certainly isn't for lack of exposure to the candidates. They're EVERYWHERE.

I greatly admired Madeline Allbright, as Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration, but she's not in the public eye right now. Kim Gandy, current head of NOW is someone I admire. I think she's very courageous, but she isn't going to stand for election any time soon.

Maybe it is because I'm so terribly depressed, in fact, it is highly likely that it is exactly because I'm depressed, that I can't see a leader, man or woman, who is going to help America clean up its environmental mess, its economic mess, or who speaks for my generation. Sports stars, musicians, and actors get far more attention than say, Greenpeace or Amnesty International, or the World Wildlife Fund, for that matter. I can hardly claim to be exempt from or immune to that celebrity hype, being as addicted as I am to The Superficial and Go Fug Yourself, not to mention my teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy, little, insignificant crush on Jensen Ackles.

And now I've made myself laugh, so that's at least a more positive outlook for the day.

But, really. Seriously, dude. Who are the young leaders? Who do you admire?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have also opined and whined about this very thing.

There are no inspirational leaders these days, unfortunately. I would love to find one, but they've all been purchased already.

~mm

Lucy Arin said...

So it isn't just me. That's a bit of a relief.

And LOL, purchased. Ain't that the truth?

*This message brought to you by XYZ Inc.*