Voting turnout has dropped among all Americans in recent history. Turnout among voters aged 18 to 24 dropped from 50 percent to 32 percent from 1972 to 2000 according to the Center for Voting and Democracy. This drop is much sharper than any other age group. This causes many to chide college students for our lack of participation in the political process.
Most even say political office seekers should not bother reaching out to the youthful generation because we won’t vote. The campaigns seem to follow this way of thinking. The Gore and Bush campaigns ignored adults under age 50 — and particularly those under age 35 — according to an analysis of their television ad-buying behavior done by the Third Millennium’s Neglection Project.
Generally, voting and political involvement or the lack thereof is a family tradition. If your parents didn’t place much stock in voting, chances are you won’t either. Growing up, my family placed high value on voting and being politically involved. I can remember going to the polls with my parents many times and begging to pull the lever for them. Actually, my family went much further than just voting in most cases. We often volunteered and I spent many days as a young child stuffing envelopes, distributing flyers and even going door to door for candidates.
I realize I am an exception to the norm and many would find my childhood days spent in grassroots politics strange to say the least. Sometimes, I would drag my friends along to help, but generally my friends thought this hobby was boring. I believe all of us are made uniquely with different passions and goals, so I understood all my friends would not be excited as I was for election season.
Through the years, I have found that my peers’ most common remark has been, “That doesn’t affect me.” Actually, they are partly right. We can go through our day-to-day lives without noticing any changes regardless of who is in office. But as we get older, we will notice the role of government in our society more and more. Taxes, freedoms and even the economic well-being of a society are determined by government policies.
As we approach graduation and job hunts, we will realize how politicians impact our state and lives. The corrupt politicians and bad policies that plagued our government for many years have put the state’s economy and infrastructure in dire circumstances. This affects us whether we have trouble finding a good job, drive on poorly maintained roads or face sending our future children to a failing public school. The apathy of Louisiana’s citizens and its young people has contributed to these problems and allowed our leaders get away with almost any ill deed.
Our generation has much to offer. We see our past leaders’ mistakes and want office holders who will do what it takes to improve our state. I often hear students voice their opinions. Yet, many still say they don’t vote. A survey released by MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation shows nearly all who were questioned held strong opinions on many issues in the 2000 presidential election, but less than half of the eligible voters planned to cast a ballot the following November. If we all began to put action behind our opinions and got involved in the political process, our country and state would dramatically improve.
Many good people simply don’t care about the political process. Excuses, frustration, apathy and misinformation abound. If they would look beyond these barriers, they would see the benefits of being involved and costs of apathy. They would choose action above apathy. I encourage you to do all you can to cast your vote Nov. 5 and seek to look at the political system in a new way.
I close with a quote from Plato.
“The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
Contact Jason Doré at [email protected]