For as long as I can remember, every night at dinner the evening news served as a metaphorical fifth party to the concluding meal of the day. Words such as ‘Congress’ and ‘election’ decorated conversations with familiarity among friends, as if they were ‘pizza’ or ‘movie.’ On the other hand, I also vividly recall growing up and hearing responses eliciting groans and general dismissal of the topic even if brought up in the vaguest form.
“I don’t really care about politics,” and “The country is already bad as it is,” are common phrases associated with the topic of politics, and I do not believe that this should be an answer to a topic that impacts us so greatly. Our present and our future are dependent on what we chose to believe and the choices we decide to make.
I wholeheartedly understand the hesitance to invoke yourself into even a conversation about the election, I mean, I am a Democrat with an extraordinarily large amount of Republicans in my even larger extended family. Basically, it can be intimidating to express your beliefs and views on a concept so important with such wide-ranging opinions. Though, if you do not start now, when will you? If you don’t start gaining the courage and confidence, then when will you?
Politics aside, no pun intended, whether you identify as a Democrat, Republican, third party or no party, it is crucial that you put yourself at the forefront of what is going on in the political arena, even if it is just watching election coverage. Get educated about the issues, read about the issues, watch a debate and, yes, vote!
Of course, there is the longstanding argument that if young people do not involve themselves in politics and become educated then they are ignorant, and if they do, then they are ‘too young to understand,’ misguided or just simply do not know what they are talking about. Yes, being young and discussing a mature topic like politics around those older than you can conjure up criticism but then there will be a time, not so far off, when you will the older person in the room who is looked at as someone who knows what they are talking about. Or better yet, shrug it off and stick to your gut and believe in what you say and what you believe politically. After all, if you were willing to get involved and pay attention you clearly are not ignorant to the political world and spectrum.
It is almost foolish to even play around with the idea that the issues discussed and argued by politicians are not critical to us, this is our future. It is our time to decide, so don’t just get out and vote, even after the election continue to pay attention and put yourself in the conversation. While politics may seem boring, and even after you try to involve yourself they might still be, our future is not as simple as putting the label of ‘boring’ on it.
