Forty years ago the UW campus, downtown Seattle and even I-5 were steaming with the heated outrage of thousands of college-age protesters, kindled by a common anti-war passion. The revolutionary flame spread throughout the country with rumbles of marching feet and fiery shouts of “Hell no, we won’t go!” Waves of hand-painted banners thrust in the air by the hands of twentysomethings established a youth strike against the war.

American soldiers were risking their lives in Vietnam, with hundreds dying each week, and our parents’ generation was vehemently against it. If the U.S. military wasn’t going to cease fire, neither were they.

Now, five years into the war on Iraq, Red Square is only filled during passing periods, and nothing but construction and last December’s floods have shut down I-5. Young people are getting flak not only for their lack of motion against the war but also their fading desire to learn about the conflict. In short, it’s assumed that we don’t care.

But with 4,000 U.S. casualties to date, our generation isn’t ignoring the extent to which this war is affecting our country. The absence of college students shouting anti-war slogans in unison shouldn’t be attributed to apathy, but to the lack of a draft.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, young men were being called to combat, encouraging those at home to participate as well — in their defense. Watching a loved one be sent to a possible death prompts a significant emotional response. When it’s paired with going for a cause he or she doesn’t feel strongly for, it can bring anger strong enough to encourage active involvement.

Humans of all generations tend to take stock in what affects them on an individual level. Some say we’re self-centered, but it’s really a basic law of economics.

All ECON 200 students know that a consumer won’t buy a product if the benefit doesn’t outweigh the cost. In the case of political activism, a citizen won’t put out the effort to protest if it won’t create a positive change for him or her. Protesters of our parents’ generation were hoping for the benefit of bringing their friends and family home, making involvement in a mob-style march a small price to pay.

Without this potential gain, the cost of skipping class, painting banners and shouting at seemingly deaf policy-makers just isn’t worth it for many of our peers. It’s not that we don’t care — that would be total insensitivity. Rather, we’re less attached because we’re not being forced to risk our lives.

[Reach columnist Meghan Peters at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.]