Sure, there were finals and all — heck, I presented my final paper that day. In fact, I had written about people from May Day’s past — people whose invaluable contributions cannot be understated. The efforts of workers struggling against the system all over the world are recognized on May Day in the streets of London, Paris and Berlin, yet the U.S., where the holiday was founded, has not seen large May Day celebrations in a long time.

This year was unique in that large May Day protests and rallies were held; the Occupy movement infusing a sense of vitality in an otherwise forgotten holiday. The influence of the Great Recession we find ourselves in is obvious: people are beginning to seek out alternatives to our currently failing societal configuration.

Occupy movements only represent the beginning of a long process our country is about to embark on. As the Indignados in Spain and the student protesters of Quebec show, this process is not isolated to the U.S. alone; the whole world is ready to confront these basic questions about what path the human race should take into the future.

University campuses traditionally have been bastions of radical activity; the Paris 1968 uprising started with a student movement, and one only need look to the history of the American counterculture movement to see the same in our country.

The anti-war movement in this country was spearheaded by organizations like the Students for a Democratic Society, who ratified their founding declaration in Port Huron. Students across the country united for their common welfare, organized forms of direct dissent against their exploiters and, in the process, helped sketch out a vision for another world.

MSU took a leading role in divestment from the South African apartheid regime; our campus is not impotent in this regard. What’s lacking is not an awareness of the issues students face — the crushing weight of exploitative loans, for one — but recognition that these obstacles are not insurmountable.

It is only when we as students do not recognize our own power and potential do we allow ourselves to be exploited so thoroughly.

Indeed, it is sheer lunacy to contemplate the fact that students in Montreal are striking against a tuition hike that would have them paying a whopping $2,500 when in this country, students routinely pay upward of $30,000 a year for a half-rate education.

So what is to be done? Is the lack of organizing on campus to be seen as a cause or a symptom of this apparent apathy?

When Ron Paul graced us with his presence, the excitement was palpable — this for a man whose ideological vision would hurt us directly. Now this can be seen as an expression of a larger American problem, but to speak of a national problem now is to ignore our conditions. Our country is divided down the middle, political polarization is forcing our government into inefficiency and gridlock. No solutions are coming from that front. Let the College Democrats have their Obama and shove it. The only thing more useless than a striker is a voter, after all.

It is apparent we are heading for a great synthesis; this current position is untenable. Our reduced economic position isn’t going anywhere, and the U.S. isn’t headed for a great revitalization anytime soon.

This isn’t doom and gloom — our country no longer can claim to be the world’s only hyperpower. Globalization has left its mark on our world, nations cannot claim autarky anymore.

Our conditions in this nation inextricably are tied up with those of our fellow humans.

My travels this summer will take me throughout the world, experiencing different expressions of this new interconnectivity. What must be considered is the role we as students will play in this future and how to ensure our needs are represented.

Ahmed Rizk is a guest columnist at The State News. Reach him at rizkahme@msu.edu.