Words for Power

By: Sean Savoie 

In a democracy, the true will of the people must be clearly understood. Without effective communication, a real democracy is impossible. For this reason, when it comes to writing, strong and controversial argumentation is healthy, constructive, and inherently democratic. 

Immigrants and teenagers are the people who most need the power to create a powerful argument! This is because in the modern times it is ironically so difficult to be heard, and youth and immigrants are newcomers. Yet, young people come home with earplugs in their ears and go straight to their computers when they get home. They search across billions of webpages. And somehow through all of this freedom and access to information, the necessities for a free society become lost. 

Previously, when holding US naturalization courses, I realized that the majority of Chinese people and even many Taiwanese people did not understand the true miracle of American democracy and its historical development. Now, hold on; do not get offended just yet my dear readers. Most middle-age and younger nativeborn Americans are also extremely naïve when it comes to freedom and comprehending the concept of our ingenious Forefathers, the authors of the Constitution of the United States. Freedom in general is being taken for granted. 

Effective writing is the key! Freedom of expression and the right to petition the government for change is the way. 

Remember! It is essential to recognize that the United States formally exists on a piece of paper, the Declaration of Independence. The power of the written word remains essential even in a world of computers and video here in 2007. The problem is that citizens are seemingly less aware of the importance of keeping an eye on the government. New immigrants and young students seem to misunderstand where their freedom comes from: an intense and constant battle…. not against Al Qaeda, but against the corruption and greed in our own society. 

The most important concept in democracy is that the people control the government, not the government controls people. Young people today seem less vigilant than the youth in my childhood. Please keep in mind that all politicians, including the President of the US, are public servants. Yes, they are servants; not rulers, tyrants, or kings. Elected politicians are more like guardians who keep the Constitution secure and the three branches of government equal. The balance of power is essential for democracy. Politicians ideally carry out the will of the people. Yet, as I see in my writing classes, too many students are seriously misunderstanding this duty and balance. 

So, OK. How does a person help to ensure that a government which spends $560 billion a year on its military does not become too powerful? Many, including myself, will argue that this is the central idea of the Second Amendment, the right to own guns. But, as many students unnecessarily point out to me, a gun is not the way to make changes in the US; and although these students appear to miss the point, they raise an equally interesting one: the written word is still more powerful than a gun. The necessary balances of the government are kept in check with verbal communication, not guns and knives. 

When I was in my youngest, most impressionable years, demonstrations and large marches in Washington, DC were commonly broadcast on the TV. Universities supplied buses for students and others to travel into the Capital with strongly-worded banners, posters, and T-shirts. In school, our teachers would constantly remind us to keep an eye on our government, and they would show us documentary films of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the unspeakable violence of the Vietnam War. "This is your government. Your government did this. Watch your government carefully." 

Where are all the public demonstrations and speeches pushing for change? 

Has fear changed everything? Are we too afraid of terrorism to petition our government and challenge its corrupt policies? I doubt it. When I was younger my fear of the USSR was very real. As very young students we would practice how to go underground into a bomb shelter if there were missiles on the way. Fear has always been with us. 

I have begun to work with Hispanic students, and I guess the reason for my focusing so heavily on argumentation in writing classes relates to a conversation I had with the mother of one student, who happens to be from Ecuador and speaks primarily Spanish. I told her that my goal for her son was to enable him to strongly express his opinion in writing. She said, "Oh yes please, thank God. If a person does not know how to strongly express his opinion in this world, he is lost. I do not want my son to be lost." 

I have been teaching to the Chinese-speaking community in New York for seven years, in Taiwan for another four years, and I have never heard one mother say that. I have mostly heard from Chinese-speaking mothers of the importance of passing tests like the English Regents, TOEFL, and SAT. But all the while I have been emphasizing the extreme importance of being able to put a strong opinion into writing. 

The power of writing is not just the power to pass a test; the true power is in the ability to say "no" and have a chance of influencing the world, even if just the local world around you. The value of democracy is currently undergoing a crucial test, and the written word is the most powerful weapon for a young person and an immigrant to develop, possess, and put to use.