Vol. 2 No. 2 Specials

Yale students tend to be a proud bunch. We are proud of our colleges, proud of our countries, and proud of our accomplishments. But ask us if we are proud of our generation, and you'll be treated to much gloomier replies. You will hear that people our age don't vote; they don't read the newspaper; they don't care. Our generation seems to distinguish itself more through its meticulous evasion of ideology than through any political commitment. For Ivy-Leaguers, the twin perils of careerism and consumerism offer an easy way of deferring more prickly questions about social responsibility. After all, it’s easy to deplore our generation as creatures of craven, cynical, postmodern times, but, in our defense, if the twentieth century has taught us anything, it is to be wary of utopian idealism. It might not be true that all grand ideas pave a royal road to Auschwitz – but then again, why take the risk?

And yet, underneath this veneer of purported apathy, a slow but steady revolution is taking place. Over the last twenty years, community service participation among high school and college students has skyrocketed. Public health issues are attracting attention like never before. Interest in health-related fields has exploded, inspiring thousands of new, young professionals every year to pursue careers in health, making it one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Lest we be too quick to congratulate ourselves, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that the public health explosion augurs a general proliferation of virtue. Underlying technological and economic trends claim as much responsibility for the health resurgence as anything else, but whatever its cause, the health-boom is bringing with it a new paradigm for dealing with the world’s problems.

Indeed, the young college activists of today are much more likely to be found in a classroom advocating AIDS awareness than on a street corner decrying the sins of the bourgeoisie. It cannot be that students believe social and economic problems have disappeared since the sixties. Rather, many of today’s students pursue a streamlined agenda that avoids issues fraught with ideology. The crusades of the new generation of student activist focus on issues everyone should agree on: public health issues.

Part of the consensus-making magic of public health stems from its unique combination of rigorous scientific research on the one hand, and a social conscience on the other. Public health studies allow policy makers and citizens to approach normally contentious issues from a perspective that marries methodological detachment with political engagement. Political problems thereby acquire an objective, epidemiological dimension. To take one example among many, consider the controversy over government-sponsored needle exchange programs. Ethically and politically, needle exchange presents a seemingly intractable dilemma: should the government be aiding and abetting activities it classifies as crimes? From a public health perspective, however, the merits of needle-exchange programs are clear and demonstrable. Their success at controlling outbreaks of disease among drug-users and their children can be measured and analyzed. In the minds of our generation, health statistics win out over arguments based on political and metaphysical prejudices.