TEENS, POLITICS, YOUR VOICE Politics, what does it mean to the teen who hasn’t reached that “Legal Voter” status yet? What does it mean to the new voter?
Regardless of where you stand, politics can be frustrating and down right confusing—that’s assuming you can even believe what the players are claiming in their grand speeches.
So, what’s the point in paying attention, right? The biggest hurdle I see people facing is the feeling of helplessness.
“My vote won’t count for much anyway.”
“It’s not like anything in the government will change.”
“Why even bother wasting the paper for the envelope?” ---------------------------------
You know—I think John Hancock, Rosa Parks and John Witherspoon should have said those things too. For that matter, let’s throw in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther (the Lutheran) and heck, why not General Hap Arnold and Gandhi as well?
Think about it. Even if they were in the same place or same time or even fighting for the same or roughly related cause—that only adds up to a total of 7 votes.
Good grief! Seven signatures won’t land you Student Treasurer at middle school.
--------------------------------- Oh, but those guys were different right? Older, wiser?
C’mon! Sarcasm aside: they aren’t any superior at all.
Those guys didn’t know CPR from AOL or a Tic Tac!
No evidence suggests they could yell any louder than you (with the possible exception of the doctor.) No one had to prompt them in front of millions of people to see if what they had to say, by chance, was worth hearing. What’s important is that each of these people knew what was important—they listened to their hearts and stood up for it (with the possible exception of Rosa Parks, who did in all technicality sit.)
Want to know how you are different? You aren’t.... Like, at all. |