The media's portrayal of war is often of far-away uncivilized people, so even when war is shown, its sincerity is questioned. They have never known anything else but corporate commercialization of their lives and the world around them. It is corporations that provide us with jobs and the material goods we need, and make decisions that affect our personal lives, the environment and our social well-being. Yet corporations have no political responsibility to anyone but their shareholders. If there is an issue for youth to rally around, it is corporate rule.
War is seen as the issue of the past generation.
Check Your Head , a Vancouver based youth group, encourages young people to act as citizens, rather than consumers. There is potential for the peace movement to join in this effort, but it must do so strategically. For example, environmentalists have had some great successes in the schools. The idea of recycling is imprinted in youth today and everyone wants to 'protect the earth,' but often environmentalism ends with simplistic apolitical messages. We need to know how to save the planet from corporate control.