Political Apathy is Outdated as written on 7/6/2009

The issue I see with students these days is the apathy felt in the
political realm. The other issue I see is the ignorance of some
students who do vote for the wrong reasons. It is not about being a
Democrat, Republican, Independent, or a Libertarian, it is about being
informed and knowing why you vote the way you do. It is not about the
popularity of a candidate as it is about the issues. Economic,
domestic, and foreign policy are the basis in which we should measure
a candidate.

Political affiliation is almost like a circle in which one spectrum in
the circle falls under complete government control, equal
distribution, i.e. socialism, and the other spectrum falls under no
government control, or anarchism. But these really are not terms that
are necessarily used to describe parties in mainstream America.
Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, Moderate or
Independent, and the term Libertarian are all synonymous to political
pundits and commentators to refer to their own ideology or that of
their detractors. Generally, all of these fall somewhere along that
circle and each reflects a common view with the other. But within each
of these classifications are other terms to reflect an even further
core of beliefs, such as conservatives. Conservatives are also divided
into neoconservative, paleoconservative, and the traditional
conservative, but that is neither here nor there.

The point is, regardless of your affiliation, you should know what you
believe and why you believe it. Whether you consider yourself pro-life
or pro-choice, your view on gun rights, entitlements, welfare, and
whether your believe America should have an interventionist foreign
policy or one of isolationism, know where you stand.

We are at a pivotal moment in our history, beyond the election of the
first African-American President, our nation is constantly changing
and very important issues are being raised and will be raised in the
future that will effect the direction of this great country.

Pick up a book, read a newspaper, political apathy or political
stupidity are no longer “hip” but rather outdated in a climate that
aroused a large number of students to cast their votes this past
election. Regardless of what ideology you may align yourself with when
you conclude your political curiosity, just find it. There are plenty
of people out there who are looking for people to fall into alignment
with a cult-like mentality of followers. Avoid that. Do not be one of
those who drones on talking points without knowing the real facts, but
rather look at an issue objectively and draw your own conclusions.

Article as written in The Shorthorn