Aaron Feudo columns
Issue #6 - Friday, January 12th, 2001
Why you should care about politics
In the aftershock of this recently passing free-for-all election, I have gotten involved in many political debates with my fellow students at Robinson Secondary School. Many of my good friends, though they have different views on some issues than I, are also very politically active. These "elitists" have an understanding in what is affecting our nation and our world, and have formulated their own hypotheses on how these issues be best dealt with. I call them elitists because many students at my school, and many youth everywhere, seem content to sit back and not care at all. When asked why, they respond with something along the lines of "because it doesn't affect me," or, "why should I care when I can't even vote yet," or, in the particularly idiotic case of the punks with the spiked and dyed hair, the Bad Religion and NOFX shirts, and the proudly boasted Anarchy patch on the backpack, "because the government sucks." Let me take this opportunity to explain why the politics of our nation does
affect you, even though you can't vote yet.
Many of today's most debated issues deal directly with our generation. One particular issue deals with us even now, that of affirmative action. Over the past two years, I have found that most students do not even know (or needless to say, care) what affirmative action deals with. Those that have any idea usually can only describe it as "dealing with minorities." Yet these kids who couldn't care less about it have a good chance of being kept out of their top college choice in a few years because of this very issue! How can you not develop a stance about something that will affect your life so dramatically?
Another issue that will affect us all shortly is that of social security. Most kids today think this is something they don't have to worry about until they retire. They think that when they do retire, they will simply collect all the social security taxes they have been paying all those years, plus the interest it has gained. This, however, is a farce. Every job you ever have will take a bit of your earnings and spirit it away to pay for the aging generation before us. Our money is not going to our future, it's going to our parents' generation's present. What's worse, our generation gets the ultimately short end of the deal. It is estimated by 2030 there will be over 76 million Americans at least 65 years or older, all of whom will be able to collect social security. Because of the conflicting populations between that generation and the generation supporting them, the latter generation (read : us) will not be able to support them. The entire social security program will probably go bankrupt
due to this, leaving us with having invested money into something in which we will never get a return on. This is why the social security issues deal with us almost exclusively. What happens to our money depends entirely on topics such as privatization of social security and the raising of the social security age limit. It seems only logical we would try to participate as much as possible to see that our needs are met as well.
Clearly, no high school student can truthfully say that politics does not affect him or her. As has just been proven, the politicians governing our nation today are also deciding what will become of the nation we govern in our future, and more significantly, what will become of us. It is the job of every American, including the teenage population, to stand for their beliefs and values. Many say there is nothing our generation can do until we grow old enough to obtain the right to vote. I am here to say I disagree. Joining and starting clubs, writing to Congressmen, volunteering, and even debating others all make an impact on what happens to our future. Do not settle any longer for the immature views of a child, those of "I don't care," and "I can't do anything so I hate it." Above everything else that can be done, the most important is to be aware of the world around you. Let it be known that you are an adult, maybe not legally, but certainly mentally, and that you care about the laws and
policies passed in our country today. Resolve that if an issue affects America, it affects you as an American Citizen.
