Conflict as a Moral Addiction

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Scott Mason

Conflict is possibly the most complex aspect of our lives. It can be at once so personal and so public. We may think that we only care because we are involved, but this idea can be made completely invalid by people all around the world who care about violence in Africa and the Middle East.

Tabloids make millions of dollars every year delving into the conflict-ridden lives of celebrities. Conflict provides so many of us with jobs, livelihoods and even our majors.

If change is what we crave, then conflict is what we live on.
Professional wrestling is possibly the most unrealistic television creation ever devised. It is obviously fake and we know that very few people believe that it is real. Yet, it is so popular that year after year events sell out around the country. Ex-wrestler Jesse “the Body” Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota during the 1990s and I think all of us remember some aspect of Hulk-mania from our childhood. What is it about the drama of the McMahon family and their wrestlers that seems to captivate America to this day?

When celebrities file for divorce or have beef with other celebrities, it seems our eyes are glued to the entertainment media. When K-Fed is fighting for sole custody, the issue absorbs our minds and we are constantly scanning the Internet for news on the subject. This proves that it is not just the physical aspect of conflict that draws us in, but it is the idea that something wrong is occurring. We get sucked in every time we hear someone is having relationship issues, whether it is someone we know or someone on television. Day after day debating with our friends about every aspect of the conflicts we acquaint ourselves with.

What makes American college students care about Darfur, Venezuela, Cuba or Iraq when we have nothing to do with any of it? It is because we are slowly becoming citizens of the world, instead of simply Americans? Our arms reach out to attempt to solve these injustices, if only by increasing awareness.

We often times focus of things that even our own government glosses over. Students protested the strife all over continental Africa long before the United States government became involved. Groups are sent year after year to China to help fight for human rights cases, as our government continues to allow unsanctioned trade. Much of Latin America faces issues with basic civil liberties, but somehow the government still does not do enough to help, though students are there to provide, if nothing else, verbal support and awareness. These are conflicts where something needs to be done to bring both sides – government and people, to the same page. Conflict draws us in every day, and undoubtedly we will care, as students, more than anyone else.