My generation — and more than that, my grade in particular — is the perfect age to be the most cynical, disheartened and angry with politics.
And honestly? I’m tired of it.
I turned 18 right before the 2016 primary elections, during my senior year of high school. In my government and history classes, we went into painstaking detail about the presidential campaign and election. I have a distinct memory of my teacher sadly saying, “I’m so disappointed that this is the first election you guys get to vote in.”
Little did he know…
When I got to vote for the first time, I pressed the button advertising Bernie Sanders, proud — if a bit idealistic — and excitedly stuck an “I Voted” sticker onto my shirt. When the general elections came around, I was a little less idealistic, a little more skeptical, but still so hopeful for the outcome. I was voting from abroad, and I happily filled out my ballot and stuck it in the mailbox.
As an American abroad at the time of the elections, I had spent weeks being asked who I was voting for — and who I thought would win. Not surprisingly, my predictions ended up being very wrong.
All of this is old news though — almost everyone I know has had to make some adjustments to the new political reality we live in. Recently, though, it’s been getting even harder, at least for me. The thing is, I’m not just an American citizen — I’m also an Israeli citizen. Lately, those seem to be two of the most dramatic and turbulent democracies to belong to.
Today my phone lit up with about 20 headlines about Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, being accused of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust after a grueling investigation. Sounding a bit familiar? Yeah, it reminded me of the Russia investigation too. I’m sure by the time this article is published, dozens more important and shocking headlines will have come out about both of these situations.
My point though isn’t to talk politics, though. Instead, I have been thinking a lot lately about how I can make myself believe in the concept of democracy again. Because to me, the news that yet another leader of a so-called “democracy” that I belong to has abused his power is just another shove into an abyss of cynicism and political indifference.
So I don’t write to criticize but to somehow attempt to regain some sense of hopefulness, belief, and empowerment. In the face of an endlessly depressing news cycle, it’s so easy for me to convince myself that there’s nothing else I can do — climate change is going to flood New Jersey, nuclear war is constantly imminent, leaders are corrupt and voters are racist. But while this mantra of doom is something I have almost started getting used to, I need to remind myself that it’s better to be upset, passionate, even enraged about this issues happening around me than apathetic.
So while I haven’t yet figured out to do with all that rage (suggestions are encouraged!), at least I still believe in democracy enough to be mad about all the leaders who aren’t taking it seriously. And I won't stop having these conversations, because talking, even fighting, about politics is far better than ignoring it.
