Many wonder what the future of The United States Of America will hold. Millennials and our generation will have a huge impact on that. White supremacy will statistically lessen and social attitudes may adjust.I have noticed there is a passion for social justice within many of us.
62% of us would take a pay cut to work for a responsible company, 70% of us believe in marriage equality and 90% of us believe in climate change. Yet I see an attitude amongst a lot of privileged youth, a mindset that “politics” and “social justice” are boring concepts. I understand that politics can be tiring and C-SPAN is not lively entertainment, but that does not decrease the importance of political awareness in a democratic country. People with this mindset need a wake up call. I am very passionate on woman’s rights, education and healthcare as the issues within out system have affected me personally. I have been unable to access birth control, I have dealt first hand with a underfunded school subjected to the school to prison pipeline and I have been years without a doctors visit due to a lack of health care. I hold no anger to people of privilege, as a cis-woman living in the united states I understand that even I hold some privilege. Perhaps not white privilege but I was born with opportunities people born in other countries may never have. Nonetheless, I feel if you have a working brain and a beating heart you must immerse yourself in politics and here’s why.
1. People are suffering.
No matter how good life treats you, it isn’t good for everyone and politics affect that. Many people are facing obstacles that the news aren’t covering, the more you know about politics and social justice the more likely you will positively affect others. Remember the holocaust? Many Germans seemed clueless of the holocaust atrocities during the aftermath of World War Two. Many things have changed worldwide since then but governments hiding the truth from the general public has not. Educate yourself the best way you can to defend yourself and others.
2. It’s your civil duty.
People died for our right to our vote. Whether black, women, white, republican, democrat, or third party we all have the right to protect the things we believe in and make a difference in out communities. Politicians work for the interest of the people, and if people are poorly educated or not pursuing political situations the public will be taken advantage of.
3. Ignorance is not bliss.
Not being sure of your stance in the world is not blissful. The statement “Ignorance is bliss” is stupid, even if we aren’t aware of our issues they are still there. If we ignore issues like climate change we will still feel the impact of these problems. Not to mention by being ignorant you will always have questions and feel anger or confusion over political situations. Adopting the views of those around you simply isn’t enough, people are flawed and may have flaws in their logic. You must adopt your own political views. How is a proper government to run and follow the people when the people are not fully aware of their stance?
Our generation is taking huge strides towards progress. Americans tend to have an overall negative view to politics, but a politically liberated nation is a great one. We can be great, we must be educated and we must talk about politics.
