I would sooner take a power drill to my left temple than hear
one more middle-aged Stepford politician talk about “the
voting youth.”
If I had a dime for every time some misinformed professional
dilettante told me what I needed, what I had too little or too much
of, I would have several million dollars.
Of course I don’t have several million dollars because if
I did I would have used $500 of it to buy an elegant silver
platter, put the rest of the money on said platter, and mailed it
all to the UC Board of Regents.
There is, however, one idea about us that those in charge
understand: We, the 18-24 voting age bloc, don’t seem to care
much about them. For years we have all been barraged with the
accusations of our political apathy and ““ they’re
right.
In 2000, only 36 percent of us voted, according to the Center
for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, and
though that number jumped to 47 percent in 2004, we’re still
the least-represented age group by a good 10 percent.
True to form, these politicians are quick to point fingers
(“Those kids, with their rock music and their MTV and their
fornicating …”) but ““ and this is hardly surprising
““ they never seem to look in the mirror. Are we politically
apathetic, or has paying attention made us jaded? Who is failing
whom?
There were 135 gubernatorial candidates on the ballot in the
special recall election two years ago. And a man in a 100-way tie
for the least-qualified person on the ballot ““ a man who has
never held public office, never governed anything at all, never
even shown any real interest in politics ““ was elected the
leader of the world’s fifth-largest economy by a margin of
some 1.3 million votes.
If I’m politically apathetic, maybe it’s because
I’m sick and tired of seeing these grossly unqualified,
sycophantic, name-recognition politicians in office time and time
again.
It’s the Jesse Ventura principle, in that what appears to
be a mass of individual, drug-induced votes adds up to the idea
that people seem to want their drinking buddy in charge of things
that are too important to be just handed out to the as-seen-on-TV
candidate.
All of these premises lead me to the same question: What does it
even matter who is in charge anymore?
This isn’t about Republican and Democrat ““ this is
bigger than that. Anyone who thinks muscles make better leadership
tools than brains and experience deserves whatever happens to them.
And the general concept of voting, on the whole, is starting to
look like it does more harm than good.
So it’s no mystery to me as to why a great number of us
are seeing politics in America as something to be avoided. An
apathy that stems from disgust rather than from ignorance is
understandable if not excusable.
But the fact remains that these eight propositions will affect
us. They affect our teachers, our parents and our little sisters.
And if you don’t vote, if you choose not to, you have
absolutely no right to say a single word about what happens.
As much as recent politics inspire me to claw out my own eyes, I
am voting on Tuesday because I believe in participatory
government.
Voting is the only weapon I have against the maniacal whims of
Mr. Universe, and I am using it, even if it’s mind-grating,
even if it’s just on principle ““ because this is a
principle I’m not ready to give up on.
If you, too, are wavering on the balance beam of cynical
idealism, e-mail jobryan@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.