Ah politics. A daily staple of many Americans lives and the reason behind most of the arguments you have with your grandparents. For as long as I can remember, my parents encouraged my siblings and I to be engaged with political events and news. As I grew older, I began to search out political news and information myself. I became aware, though, of many people’s disinterest in politics and political discourse.

Now, I know politics are crazy, ridiculous and, at times, disheartening. It can be difficult for me to understand what is going on all the time and what each event means for an average citizen. But this does not discourage me from following politics. It makes me want to learn more and to do more to become more politically engaged. Politics can be ugly, but they can also be so exciting. The knowledge of being an informed citizen far outweigh any effort you might have to use to become one.

My biggest pet peeve has become when people tell me they “don’t care about politics.” How can you not care about something so integral to your life as a human living in the world in which we do? If you are an American, living in America, politics are part of your daily life, whether you like it or not. Everything thing you do involves some sense of the government and the more informed you are, the better off everyone will be.

I am not arguing that people should have to pick a side or ideology of American politics. I am only arguing that, as an American, you should feel the need to be informed. We are so lucky to have many political resources to choose from, it seems ridiculous to not use them.

This is not just a generational problem. It is an issue across the board in America. The lack of political interest hurts all citizens, not just those who are disinterested. We can do better, as a society, to be more informed and to want to learn more about our American political system. We owe it to ourselves and to our democracy to be better, more informed citizens.