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Coming out of a very controversial presidential election, it’s important for college students to remember that the United States is a country founded on citizens’ political participation. But we have reached a time when many Americans, especially young people, don’t feel motivated to participate in or even educate themselves on fundamental political issues.

For many reasons, including the fear of being politically incorrect, people have resorted to the excuse of “I don’t care about politics,” which I find incredibly problematic and unethical.

The right to cast a vote is a privilege that should not be taken for granted. Importantly, the people who state their political indifference completely overlook the glaring ignorance of their apathy. Anyone who believes the outcome of the election will not affect them are blind to the struggles of Americans across the country, and are thus liable for the cycle of a passive and ineffective democracy.

There must be a larger degree of empathy toward our fellow Americans. We need to foster a larger worldview that encourages and advocates for political conversation. Especially among marginalized communities that experience a multitude of political challenges.

An individual’s ethnicity, gender/sexual orientation, physical ability, education or socioeconomic status can all supply them with certain privileges. With this comes the responsibility to speak up for those who can’t. For example, white privilege comes from being white, but also being straight, cisgender, able-bodied, well-educated, from a high-class private institution or from an upper-class background makes living in America much easier. The way race as a social construct has commanded many of the laws and amendments of the U.S. demonstrates the advantage of being white.

Remaining silent doesn’t keep peace, it perpetuates privilege. By acting as a bystander, harmful political policies get enacted and marginalized demographics suffer at the hands of indifference.

Although the ensuing policy enactment and increasing termination of reproductive health rights may not affect cisgender men, they will affect their friends and families — mothers, daughters and sisters, queer peers and people of color — each in different ways.

People tend to care more about politics as they get older, simply because policies become more prominent in their lives. This typically tends to come around college when people begin to lose a safety net they may not have realized was previously there, especially from parental support. It’s during this time in their lives that people begin to consider housing, jobs, groceries, taxes and gas prices, which may not have been at the forefront of their minds previously.

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College students often forget how big of a role the government plays in their education. Public universities are state-run, and almost all private universities receive government-funded financial aid. Public university tuition and subsidies are decided by politics, as well as student loan rates and tax money allocation. Aside from mere economic factors, students tend to weigh local politics when considering secondary education options, as one in four people admit to rejecting particular colleges because of their state’s laws.

Furthermore, while some people say they choose not to weigh in on governmental policies because they think it doesn’t affect them, a past study shows that more than half of those receiving government assistance didn’t realize it was coming from the government.

It’s important for everyone to vote, especially in presidential elections.A study conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation found that “direct constituent interactions have more influence on lawmakers’ decisions than other advocacy strategies.”

This means taking action and staying politically active, whether supporting a particular campaign or candidate or exercising your right to protest, is the most productive way to enact the change you want to see in the world. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action is the greatest form of government on earth.”

While voting is important, it’s not a good idea to turn in an uninformed ballot. People are growing more comfortable with aligning themselves with a particular party without reading up on the candidates and voting exclusively Democratic or Republican. A reason for this could be that there is just simply too much news, primarily negative, for people to keep up with. In fact, a Pew Research Poll found that roughly two-thirds of Americans are overwhelmed by the amount of news there has been in recent years.

Then there are those, who, particularly in relation to this most recent election, abstained from voting because they didn’t want to feed into a two-party system that pressures people to vote for what can feel like the “lesser of two evils.” When it comes to this, it’s important to recognize that the ability to pick and choose which issues to care about is a luxury, and, at the end of the day, you need to make the best decision based on the options presented.

For college students directly, it’s our futures on the line when it comes to exercising our democratic right. So, read books, watch the news, join clubs, socialize in diversified communities and find something political to care about. It’s unrealistic to expect young voters to verse themselves in everything, local and national, so find a topic that resonates with you. Stay informed, stay active and check your privilege.

Dan Tiwari is a freshman film major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at dtiwari7@syr.edu.

Published on November 12, 2024 at 11:03 pm