I’m getting so reading Bucks students’ quotes this issue. I’m
seeing a repeating pattern emerge: apathy.
“I don’t care about politics,” or “I don’t get what’s going
on,” and my favorite, “I don’t like any candidate so I’m not
going to vote.”
Yeah, that’s really sticking it to the man.
Let’s start with the first comment, “I don’t care about politics.”
I bet you care about whether or not you can have an abortion,
or if you can receive financial aid. I’m willing to bet you
get super excited over receiving a stimulus package and care if
the state bans smoking everywhere.
Hate deforestation? Don’t like the healthcare system? Tired
of Wall Street lining their pockets as your grandmother or parents
lose thousands of hard-earned retirement dollars?
These, dear peers, are examples of political issues.
If you eat organic then care that McCain and Palin want to
drill offshore. If you think that the healthcare system is fine the
way it is, vote Republican.
If you think that taxing the millionaires instead of the middle-
class is smart, vote Democrat. If you support pulling out
our troops, Obama is your man.
Want to build a wall between us and Mexico, McCain will
ship the bricks.
Basically, find one issue you care about, something you
already have an opinion on, and match your view to a candidates
view. Then vote for them.
Wow, that makes sense and seems easy to do.
But Laura, how do I know what a candidate believes in?
Watch the debates, read a newspaper, visit their website or
look around you. You can’t miss the candidates’ verbal arrows
sailing through the air, whispering what they believe in, what
they promise to do, what the other guy did.
“I don’t get what’s going on.”
I cannot spit out facts and statistics and bios like some people
can, but I do know the current standings in the polls and I
know what main platforms each candidate is campaigning for.
I haven’t had television in almost three years and I know the
basics.
Seriously, you can’t escape hearing about the candidates and
about Republicans and Democrats if you wanted to, so not
knowing anything means you live in a cave or you’re okay
with coming across like you live in a cave.
You should be embarrassed stuttering “um’s” and “uh’s”
when someone asks you who you’re going to vote for. My junior
high school-aged brother knows who he wants to vote for,
so does my former roommate’s 3-year-old.
And the piece de resistance, “I don’t like either of them, so
I’m not going to vote.”
I blame television. Since its inception, campaigning has
never been the same. All of a sudden, people stopped listening
and started watching. Watching what a candidate was wearing,
watching their gestures. Watching and not listening.
After all the antennae wiggling, people started to think that
an election was about liking someone. You are not their friend
and it’s sad to see candidates play into the game.
They are going to be a decision-maker, a diplomat, a lawmaker.
They are not going to disturb your dinner party with their
opinions and long-winded diatribes.
So, please, stop caring that Obama’s so well-spoken and
McCain is old. Ignore that Sarah Palin’s American flag lapel is
sparkly (it looks so dumb) but listen instead.
Agree or disagree with just one thing and go vote. Whether
you like it or not, politics affects you. Whether you want to
believe it or not, voting makes a difference.
This is your country and it is your civic duty to vote. You
want to enjoy your freedoms like you’re god’s gift to America
without paying your dues?
Are you the smoker advocating for “smoker’s rights” and
scoff at the election like you’re too good for it? Are you the
person that wishes for something and has never taken one
simple action or gesture to prove that you care? Well it is the
immature, lazy and ignorant people who sit on their idol
hands and complain about the world around them.
Go change the world or shut up.