I see a lot of people who caught the last episode of “Jersey Shore” but haven’t even heard of the revolution occurring in the Middle East.

I asked my friend what he wanted out of life and he said, “A big house, a nice car, a hot wife and all the weed I can smoke.”

I laughed. Hopefully he’s kidding. Hopefully my perception is skewed and I’m just a madman rambling about what we should care about as young adults.

What should we care about? How about the fact that the top 1 percent of Americans have more financial wealth than the bottom 90 percent — how is my friend going to get all that “cool” stuff if that tiny minority has all the money he requires?

How about the fact that eight media conglomerates disseminate all of the news: News Corp., Time Warner Inc., Viacom, General Electric Co., The Walt Disney Co., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Yahoo.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I think corporations probably have an interest in controlling what we think and believe, and I hate to burst your “happy bubbles” but our (read: average people’s) interests probably don’t correlate with the corporations’.

Here’s another “cool” fact: Most of the governments in the Middle East that have been, and are being, overthrown were and are U.S.-backed dictatorships — puppets to serve our national interests.

In these countries, wealth distribution reached an unbearable level and the middle class could no longer — if they ever did — buffer the injustice enough to stop a popular uprising.

The middle class here is shrinking; corporate forces are gaining more and more power in America.

As of now, corporations can spend shareholder’s money without consent and the editors of The New York Times correctly stated that this has “paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding.”

Hearing about this makes one wonder — is this country a representational democracy? Or is it disguised as a representational democracy but is, in actuality, a shadow oligarchy? And because the U.S. is the world power in a globalized economy, has the world become a shadow oligarchy?

“Oh man,” one might say, “all this stuff sucks.” I would agree. I would much rather watch “Jersey Shore” than research this sort of stuff. But I believe we have a moral obligation to think critically about the world in which we live.

So I do my duty and fulfill my obligation by staying aware. In the age of information this has become much easier. I only can hope people take advantage of it.

All I’m saying is that for every episode we watch of “Jersey Shore,” “Teen Mom” or a sporting event, we should read an article, research something or do something about an existing injustice.

It will benefit us and by extension, society. It will help eliminate some of the hegemony that has engulfed post-industrial America.

I feel like I sound whiney. I’m not trying to guilt trip people or complain. I want people to open their eyes to the age of information. Take advantage of technology and use Facebook as a social and political tool.

Don’t develop tunnel vision; instead, always try to perceive the big picture — even if the college degree you’re pursuing doesn’t necessarily demand it.

We are the next generation and have more opportunity as a whole than ever before to make a difference. Let’s not ignore our chance.

Eoin Nordman is a State News guest columnist and a political science freshman. Reach him at nordmane@msu.edu.