Photo by Firdaus Latif
For many of us, politics can be a very daunting subject. The political system is often complicated and requires lots of information gathering on our part. It's easy to get overwhelmed and decide to just leave it for another day. Modern-day politics has become the core of how a country operates.
However, as Generation Z gets older, more of us become eligible voters with each passing year. When we earn this right, it becomes our responsibility to keep track and take note of the political climate in our time. Eventually, this will help us form a political view or ideology. Doing this is of utmost importance because as young voters, we have the chance to shape the future of our country, our lives and future generations to come.
As future voters, we must become more politically active by getting to know the system and its members. The older generations often dismiss young people from partaking in politics. They refuse to create room for us to express our opinions, as they believe we are inexperienced. Still, there are ways we can combat this idea. For instance, we can find out who our politicians are. Get familiar with their names, backgrounds, and track records to know whether or not these individuals are fit candidates to represent us. You can also observe their attitudes, personality traits and perhaps even some physical traits. Tuning in to news channels, radio news and online news resources also provide a lot of useful information.
There will come a time where the morals of current politics, policies or methods being used are morally questionable. When this happens, we have to call them out on their transgressions and demand for a change. How the elected officials react to our needs is the easiest way to test their intentions and will tell you a lot about their eligibility as our representatives. We must remember that those people are put there by us for the sole purpose of being a champion of the people they represent. Which means that their actions must reflect that as well.
Involving yourself in politics means a lot of information processing, and it can sometimes be too much to digest all at once. To avoid overwhelming yourself and help you retain an interest in the vital information, choose a particular issue that you are passionate about and focus your energy and time on that. Doing this will narrow down the scope of information you have to digest. This can improve the quality of the information you retain, like the state of the economy, new bills that are in the process of being passed into laws and more.
To conclude, there are a plethora of actions that we, the youth, can take to begin the process of change in our country for the better. The most significant step of all is to register yourself as a voter. Once you are eligible, (minimum age 21) register at SPR to vote in all future elections, both state & federal, and start influencing real change!
By Mohammed Areslan Bensaid