Embedded Files
Our Influences
Our Influences
The Rise of Student Activism
The Rise of Student Activism
1964
Most of what OPIAS is based on can be traced back to the early student political movements of the early 1960s.
Increased calls for youth political rights and equality under the law culminated in the Free Speech Movement protest at the University of California-Berkeley.
Thousands of students rallied to demand of the school that they be allowed to openly express political views and opinions of college campus', and there success laid the groundwork for many institution-based groups.
The Peak of Student Activism
The Peak of Student Activism
1968
As time went on, organizations like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) developed as a way to unify students and encourage conversation.
While talk was high and debate was strong, student activism of the late 1960s became much more about ideology than participation. This led to fractures in certain areas of the student body, and infighting between groups of students.
OPIAS considers certain mindsets that developed during the late 1960s, like ideological partisanship in the representation of student ideas to have ultimately led to the decline of the student activism movement.
The Death of Student Activism
The Death of Student Activism
1970
Most people consider the Kent State Massacre of May 4, 1970 to be the beginning of the end for the mainstream organized student movement.
Due to increases in polarization and ever growing conflicts with authorities overs increasing anti-establishment sources, the movement become the victim of its own operations.
Failing attitudes towards civil resolutions to student issues led to the deaths of 4 students, and the injury of 9.
Results
Results
1972-Present
According to data released by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, since the events of Kent State overall participation and voter turnout from people in the 18-29 demographic continues to decline.
It is the belief of the organization that these trends have led to an effective lock-out of young people from most well established political spaces, forcing younger blocs to grow more radical in opposition to an ever-misaligned ruling class.
Our Story
Our Story
Origins
Origins
Pre-2022
The organization began to form among conversations between two students from Lathrop, Missouri.
While attending high school, Jesse Moore and Everett Bass engaged in many discussions regarding their dismay at the modern state of politics, and solutions that could be fix it.
Most of the organizations ideals originate from a now-lost semisatirical essay written by Moore under the alias "Richard C. Hocklett". In this essay, he outlined issues with modern political institutions, the paradoxical degradation and intrenchment of modern political institutions, and a fear of continuing trends of radicalization.
OF-TAY
OF-TAY
2022-2023
OPIAS was originally founded by Moore as the much more radical Organization of Free-Thinking American Youth, or OF-TAY.
OF-TAY was described by early essays of Moore's as a "radical reformation movement" whose ultamite goal would have been to mobilize large-scale youth unionization to push for a more co-operative government.
Due to lack of both overall and ideological interest in such a project, OF-TAY failed to find success.
OPIAS
OPIAS
First Years
When Bass signed onto the project in late 2022, the organization was reformed.
Bass, considered by members of OPIAS that knew him, was widely considered a realist who pushed for a less radical and more buereacratic structure in order to appeal to a more professional audience.
It was this combination of Moore's reformatory idealism and Bass's pragmatic realism that created a balanced system on which the organization could establish itself.
OPIAS
OPIAS
Present
After Bass's departure from the organization, OPIAS stagnated for some time in an effort to rebuild its numbers.
After several years of ebs and flows, the organization is now in a slow but steady rate of growth. While progress may be slow, most of the organizations leadership is confident that once recruitment reaches critical mass, the dominos will fall, and OPIAS will begin to rapidly gain a following.
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