Seeing as how it's election season, I figured it was time for another important announcement about Democracy.
I may not be storming the beaches of Normandy, but I am almost completely sober while writing this post. That's called patriotism.
Now, if I remember my half-semester of civics class, voting is good. And, as I rudely discovered in 2008, there are marked differences between our electoral system and Survivor.
"Wait, I thought we voted him OFF the island!"
Now, shockingly, that mandatory civics class we took in high school has not instilled the democratic fervor in our youth. Kinda like how we've all taken French since Grade 3 and yet still mispronounce "poutine".
Seriously, young people just don't vote. Maybe it's because we've never had to fight for our right to cast a ballot; maybe it's because Super Mario has no save feature, but it's a problem.
For those of you who think you're "too cool" to vote, or who think your vote doesn't count, let me say this:
YOU ARE THE REASON MY TUITION KEEPS GOING UP
If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about anything the government does. None at all.
Worse, do you know who IS voting? The elderly.
Now I don't know about you, but MY grandma (bless her heart) still says things like "black" music is too "uppity".
THAT IS WHO IS SPEAKING FOR YOU
Seriously guys, go vote. Do it ironically if you have to. If you've got a fake ID, vote twice. We need you.
My suggestion is that MTV Canada should have a few shows informing youth on their voting options. Campaigns with the message "go vote, it's cool" is not enough.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked my 20 year old brother (who is addicted to MTV) if he was going to vote, he replied "Hell no". When I asked why, he said, "Because the government is BS, and I wouldn't know who to vote for." He wasn't totally opposed to the idea that he could do a few minutes of research to find out what the various parties are all about. The reality is that he won't bother.
MTV needs to infiltrate these young minds! Let's face it, teenage boys are too lazy to change the channel.
First off, thanks for raising the bar on comments Charlotte!
ReplyDeleteYour brother's attitude frustrates me to no end. But I would argue that the problem is not lack of information, it's apathy. There are five national parties (I'm generously counting the Bloc and the Greens here) each with fairly distinct platforms.
The system is not that difficult to understand. These parties have web sites. They have political ads, albeit some really awful ones like the ads attacking Ignatieff (seriously I want to punch whoever directed them in the kidney).
If your brother can't be bothered to "change the channel" or browse the internet for 10 minutes, he probably won't bother to stand in line to vote either.
I honestly don't know how we can get more young people to care. To me the decision whether to vote has always been obvious. We are so godam lucky to live in a democracy, I can't understand why anyone would give up that right.
In truth, I have a lot of trouble respecting someone who chooses not to vote. If you want to go in and spoil your ballot, THAT I can respect. But not voting at all, that just doesn't make sense to me.
If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them!
And bonus points to Charlotte for starting the debate!
Apathy for sure. There's also a vicious cycle: youngsters don't vote because issues concerning them aren't really being 'advertised', yet leaders don't focus on these issues because youth aren't voting. It's the baby boomers +.
ReplyDeleteThe civics and careers class needs to be re-vamped. Whether they introduce it in another grade or change the cirriculum.
My civics teacher smoked medicinal marijuana yet still didn't provide an interesting class. Must be the content :P