In recent months the debate on gun control has reached an apex. Following the shooting in Parkland, FL rallies, marches, and protests alike have been at the forefront of media coverage. Supporters are speaking out for gun control and demanding a direct legislative response. Among them are victims of gun violence, survivors, family members, friends, celebrities, and legislators just to name a few. What moniker do these brave and enduring souls get to bear for their strength and perseverance? Snowflakes.
Now it’s time for a little science lesson. The creation of a snowflake is extremely similar to the conception of a human being. Much like the way a sperm and egg combine to make you and me the combination of two things also creates a snowflake. When water vapor high in the earths atmosphere come into contact with an extremely small dust or pollen particle a snowflakes development begins. Snowflakes grow from tiny ice crystals way up in the earths atmosphere to the uniquely individual specimens that they are as they fall to earth. Like people it is their journey that shapes them into what they become. In America the older generations and the younger generations have had distinctly different journeys. The older generations were brought up on the post World War II American strength ideals. They were raised by people who had fought and won. They lived through a time when American prosperity was a given as long as you put in the effort. Fast forward to the America the younger generation has grown up in. In the early, most impressionable years of their young lives they already had a different identity as Americans. Most of the young people labeled Snowflakes were born into post 9/11 America. This was a country on the brink of war. It was made extremely clear to them that nothing was as black and white as it once was. Terrorists were no longer visible threats with bombs strapped to their chests. They were people highjacking airplanes, hackers infiltrating firewalls, and people you pass on the street. When our county was facing the unknown parents were raising children in fear. Teaching them to question everything, to be hyper aware and trust absolutely no one. Gone were the days of inviting strangers into your home. The so called Snowflakes didn’t just form by happenstance they were created. Created by growing up in a recession when jobs weren’t guaranteed by hard work. By living in the extreme unrest of a county. Parents wanting better for their children meaning making life easier for them. This lead to some of the most amazing technological advancements. The younger generation grew up with laptops, calculators, cellphones, tablets and more. All inventions created for us so that we might be spared the harsh lives of our parents and grandparents. All things that are now being thrown in the faces of young people because they make them ungrateful, or unable to work for anything. If using the technological advancements afforded to me to better myself makes me have a less desirable work ethic then call me a Snowflake. If being of the mind that people should be kind to one another makes me sensitive then call me a Snowflake. If thinking that there are things about our country that need to change makes me stupid then call me a snowflake. Putting down each other with frivolous terms helps no one. We are not Deplorables. We are not Snowflakes. We are Americans. Patriots, survivors, entrepreneurs we are members of the land of the free and the home of the brave. Wanting something better and fighting for it used to be a good thing here. It gave us our American identity. Now it is something that we use to break each other down. It’s being said that Snowflakes melt because they can’t stand the harshness of the world we live in. What people don’t see is that they aren’t melting in fear. When snowflakes melt they come together in the form of water. Water which is a necessity for all living things. Something that can not always be seen as it takes on many forms. It can be a vapor, a cloud, or even fall from the sky. But eventually one day it will become a snowflake again. If being apart of something more then we can see or believing that change is an essential part of our world means that I will melt into a sea of like minded people, then call me a Snowflake. XOXO, Hunter
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Hunter FergusonHolding her Associates of Arts in Political Science, Implementing Beneficial Community Project, and having Led a Student Collaboration team at her college of attendance- Hunter chooses to blog about the world around her as well as her personal experiences in hopes of creating a Powerful group of like-minded people. Archives
July 2019
Categories |