Staff Writer
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| Photo by Robert Villapudua |
Looking at our current chapter of American history, a troubling trend appears to be creeping into the collective conscious of our generation: Apathy. Apathy concerning matters of politics is becoming the new status quo among people of our generation and some people of older generations. Our student body is no exception.
I walked about campus to gauge student opinions on politics. I sought the opinions of students of different ethnicities, genders and appearances, throughout the campus, asking “What do you think of the candidates for president, and do you have any strong opinions on the subject?”
“No, not really.”
“I don’t care.”
“I don’t really keep up with it.”
“As long as whoever gets in does a good job, I don’t care.”
“I’ve never voted, so I don’t keep track of it.”
In addition to responses like these, I also received blank stares, looks that would give the impression that a UFO landed in front of them and I exited the craft, speaking to them about politics. If not apathy, disenfranchisement was next in line. Students who were not apathetic seemed cynical. When I asked one student about the candidates for president, she responded, “I think that we’re better off having a pigeon as president.” With our choices for candidates, who can blame her?
The more I interviewed, the more disconcerting my feelings were.If the amount of people I interviewed is a reflection of the majority of the students, we have reason to worry. Even more worrisome than the apathy itself is the pervasiveness of it. I found it in different ethnicities, men and women, people who appeared to be well off, well-spoken individuals, and many other groups I encountered. It appears that apathy has no prejudice. It is an omnipresent force that seeks to confine anyone it can to widen his or her posteriors.
However, there are dots of good news. Tolerance and acceptance is prevalent in the students. My original premise of this article was to find out if Republican candidate Mitt Romney is elected president, would the students care if he is a Mormon? Every student I talked to said they didn’t care in one way or another. So, while political lethargy is a looming problem, religious tolerance and acceptance appears to be on the rise. Opposite the majority of students who didn’t care, there were students who had articulate and interesting opinions.
Student Timothy King had this to say:
(On
President Obama) “…He says, ‘Yes we can’. Yes [to] all this change and really,
a lot of things are still the same. He has made changes. Some for the better
but still, at the same time, some for the worse.(On Mitt Romney) “What I enjoy about him is that he does
have a little bit of a twist of a Democrat to him…they always say that when a
Republican gets into the presidency, he turns into Democrat. When a Democrat
gets in, he turns into a Republican. So, since he has that little twist
already, it could be a benefit to him or it could be something that ends up
hurting him.”
A young
student named Kristl had this to say:
“I think
everyone should look into the president [and] look into the other candidates
and not base your opinions and thoughts on the media. Don’t just focus on the
media. Actually look into the candidates. Research them and study them and find
out what’s best for you.”
Maybe the
scourge of rising apathy is just on our own campus and not a national one.
Perhaps if we were CSUAV and not AVC, more vigorous discussions would have been
had during my brief visit around the college. Maybe if my interview concerned
the Kardashians or Justin Bieber, I would have received a stronger response
besides “I don’t care.” One thing is certain; our society, young people in
particular, need to be informed about political issues. When the founding
fathers decided to flip England the proverbial bird and set out to build a new
nation, they had a land of freedom in their minds. When there is a debate, we
need to watch. When a speech is made, we must listen. When there is an
election, we must vote, lest we lose the essence of what makes America great.
Over the course of American history, newer generations of men and women have
continually put their blood, sweat and tears into the soil of this great country
and kept it alive. Now it’s our turn to do the same.
