More than often when I tell people I'm an incoming journalism student they will give me the thumbs up of some sort through not just the "Oh, you must have an interest in writing," but also the "Oh yes, that's good for times like these."
That is usually followed up by "yeah, there's so much craziness happening in the media today, so many different polarizing opinions and people with their issues."
They're not wrong, not at all. They're just not outright saying what they want to say; some form of "I hate Trump" or "I love Trump "or "I can't decide." Political affiliation has thus been likened to that of someone's religious beliefs, or income or even sexuality; everyone knows it's there, and yet they don't talk about it.
This is an issue that will cause many repercussions for the future.
Older people than younger people actually went out to vote in the elections in 2016. According to NPR, in the past election, only 31% of young voters made up the electorate, as the trends have generally been over the years. And yet we see a rather overwhelming amount of those same young people rallying at such events as the Women's March and March for Our Lives.
The problem here is not that more of us don't care, because it is our constitutional right to not be involved at all. It is, however, a problem when tour enthusiasm to march doesn't match with that of going out to vote. This is something that has to change.
If one is passionate about environmental rights but has a conservative stance on abortion that doesn't make them ineligible to vote by any means; voting independent shows the diversity in the values of an individual and is a good indicator of how a current policy should be changed or created. Apart from social issues, we need to raise our voice more because of issues such as taxation, which does affect us in the near future once we graduate and have jobs, or even start a family.
As the next generation, we need to show that we care, because it is up to us in the end. At the end of the day, social media and word of mouth can only do so much for what happens at the polls. Beyond even just voting, one can phone bank or go canvassing for various candidates, or even sign petitions which increase the likelihood of voter turnout.
There are those who don't want to necessarily advertise their opinions, and that is ok! As long as they get their vote out on Election Day, they are doing their part to make the nation a changed one. But a simple post on social media, a comment or a like on a page isn't going to do much in the grand scheme of things. If one wants to be involved, they have to be prepared to go the distance and make it known to their local representatives, lawmakers, and others in charge of making policy and change happen.
We care about the issues we care about, whether you're liberal or conservative, black or white, gay or straight. But for anything to actually change we have to take our actions in the marches and put them where the government can truly hear us.
