This past Thursday was Constitution Day, a national holiday designed as a chance for us to reflect on the remarkable achievements of our country’s Founding Fathers. I have been reflecting on the Founding Fathers in class this week as well, and, while they were not perfect, their altruism and genuine concern for our nation’s well-being is uplifting.

Unfortunately, the state of contemporary American politics is less inspiring. The current health-care debate seems to have brought out the worst side of our political system. From irresponsible, media-seeking politicians who cry false accusations of death panels, to borderline violent protestors whose signs and slogans often carry racist undertones, to the absolutely inexcusable outburst of Congressman Joe Wilson during the president’s recent address on the floor of the House, our country desperately needs more genuine statesmen—politicians who are willing to make hard choices and who can elevate the tone of our political discourse.

Such leaders seem to be in short supply these days. Instead, I fear that an unrepresentative fringe that seriously threatens our ability to solve this country’s deeply pressing challenges is increasingly hijacking our political system.

While I cannot offer a complete answer for the reason behind our current political problems, I think the response to my last column offers some revealing insight into both the problem and a solution.

As one anonymous reader commented, “I wonder what you are doing to change the world…At least there are some people who are out there being ACTIVE members of the Wash. U. community, while others are just all…TALK.”

What bothers me about this comment, and others like it, is the view that being active in the Wash. U. community is synonymous with changing the world. Let me be clear: I genuinely appreciate the efforts of student leaders to improve our campus. Members of Student Union, EST, various tutoring groups and others do great work, and our campus is certainly better because of their efforts.

But as great as it is to improve the Wash. U. community, our campus is not in fact our entire world. Instead, our campus-focused efforts should be a prelude to future efforts to change our broader society.

With a depressed economy, a high-stakes health-care debate, two ongoing wars and countless other vitally important challenges confronting this country, we cannot afford to be forever focused inward. Our campus pursuits should either attempt to directly improve society or should be a means of training us to do so in the future. Advocating better campus food, for example, is a good end in itself but is much more worthwhile if it also prepares us for future activism.

“A more intuitive e-mail system, a comprehensive school calendar, more efficient programming, shorter food lines [and] more money for student groups” are all nice perks, and I appreciate SU’s efforts to secure them for the student body, but I would not call them, as Dione Drew did in her op-ed last week, “very important.” These are luxuries, not vital necessities, and they matter little relative to the serious challenges that exist outside the Wash. U. bubble.

It is precisely because I admire the talent and intelligence of Wash. U. students that I wrote a column mocking our collective campus pursuits, my own included. I think we should constantly question the real-world value of our efforts, both on campus and in the future, because I think we have a solemn obligation to attempt to improve our broader society. I also know that we cannot make an effective contribution if we cannot properly identify the real challenges.

I think one reason our country lacks courageous leaders is that too often, smart, privileged college students shun politics and public service, not only as a career path but also as a part-time pursuit, and focus instead solely on their own specific interests and concerns.

I think we should all care about the state of our campus, but I think the state of our nation is far more important. Perspective matters, and the one excuse we have for elevating our relatively minor campus problems to such high levels of significance is if doing so better prepares us with the skills needed to address more critical challenges.

We can be the leaders this country and world desperately need, and leadership on campus is a wonderful first step. It should not, however, be the last. Pretending is fine for now, but only if we eventually really do work to change the world.