Young People
Why are some groups pushing young people to vote?
I don’t understand why in every election there are groups out there trying to get young people to vote. If the young people want to vote they should, if they choose not to vote they shouldn’t vote.
Why would anyone want to be pressured into casting a vote for something that the person is not interested in and not informed about. I voted for the first time in 2000 because I learned all about the candidates and issues and closely followed the race.
Just like I wouldn’t vote for any of these awards shows where I didn’t see the movies or know any of the people running, why should people that do not know the candidates or issues be expected to vote?
For example, on the yahoo election site there is a “declare yourself” page trying to get young people to vote. It doesn’t offer much information about the candidates or issues. Only that its important they vote. I think its important that people not vote if they don’t know what they’re voting for.
I am 19, and I have voted every election I’ve been eligible to vote in (2). There is a difference between me and 80+% of the other people my age, however. I try to think out every argument I’m going to make a decision on. A large majority of people at this age simply parrot back what their parents, the media, or a teacher or the like have told them.
This, combined with the fact that political races are all about capturing “groups” (i.e. the gay vote, the black vote, the christian vote, the Asian-Jamaican left-handed typist vote, etc.), make the youth an especially delicious group. Think about it: hire Steve Jobs’ advertising director to make a hip, cool, little ad with some fancy graphics and some token ethnicities participating in some multicultural activities, and then saying “Let’s go vote!” (sponsoredbyjoepoliticianforpresident), and you’ve captured another 30 million votes. Not only are you getting a group, but you can pretty much dictate their votes as well. What a deal!
My personal standpoint on politics is this: I don’t care what political camp you ally yourself with, or what stance you take on any issue, AS LONG AS you have carefully thought it out yourself. Hell, I’ve been caught parroting a couple of times, and I thank people for it, because it means I have to go research the subject before I make a fool of myself. But people seem afraid to look at their convictions under a microscope, because a large portion of the time they realize that they will see the fallacies in them. The way I see it is that reexamining your standpoint will either lead you closer to the truth (which should be the end goal of anything done in the life of an honest person) or strengthen your convictions even further.
Unfortunately, however, the wonderful thing about our “democracy” (it’s closer to a republic, but that’s beside the point) is that everybody is allowed to vote. Even the stupid people, even the people who disagree with you, even the people who just vote for the person with the best hair. The liberals, the right-wings jesus freaks, the communists, and the war mongerers are all allowed to voice their opinions. the KKK, the Black panthers, the crips and the bloods, the Jihadists, and the just plain crazies. Everybody can voice their opinion. Lets just hope that they actually research whatever opinion they have and that they make an informed, intelligent decision.
Justin
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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 at 8:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.