Students and politics have a fickle relationship. We are quick to say we care deeply about the political process, but all too often that relationship gets pushed aside and politics are dismissed as something bigger than us, a system that can’t possibly touch our rather small worlds here at school.
But this time the relationship is different. In this election, students have invested more in politics than we realize, and it’s time we committed to making politics a more important part of our lives.
Over the past months, we’ve seen our economy take hit after hit, the stock market rise and fall, gas prices skyrocket only to come back down, and the housing market collapse. Now we can see the government frantically struggling to keep America afloat with some of the biggest government bailouts in history. America is in an economic hole, and it’s clear that it will take a lot of work to dig this country out.
The task ahead for the next president, Republican or Democrat, is daunting. A failing economy is not an easy thing to fix. But while the challenge of solving this problem lies mainly with the next administration, we should also pose an important question to ourselves: Who is really affected by the problem of a failing economy?
The answer is us. College students of today could feel the bite of a bitter job market tomorrow and end up struggling through unstable housing markets in the years to come. The state of our economy now could possibly affect our career paths in the future. This reality is unfortunate but true: Our economy has crumbled, and we will emerge from college standing amid the rubble.
That’s not to say that all college graduates can’t find jobs. In fact, many can. With the baby-boomer generation reaching retirement, more jobs are opening up, jobs that college graduates can fill. But we can’t deny the effects the economy will have on our lives elsewhere: finding a home, making everyday purchases and even traveling abroad. And if the economy keeps on going in the direction it’s heading today, college graduates could be facing even harder times in the job market very soon.
Believe it or not, students’ lives and politics are actually joined at the hip. The road ahead for the next president is our road because the economy that the president must fix is the same economy that we must work and live in. The time for dismissing the political system has passed, our relationship with politics is real, and it’s a relationship that we cannot back out of.
So let’s tackle it head-on and make this relationship work. For many of us, this is our first chance to vote in a presidential election, and it’s a great opportunity to start off on the right foot. For those of us who have voted before, this new school year is a great time to adopt a new mindset about politics.
Whether your major is political science or physics, the next president’s economic plan could help shape the next few years of your life. If that doesn’t provide some incentive to research your candidates, I don’t know what will.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have put forth economic plans with the same goal in mind: healing America’s economy. The plans aren’t simple. They are a conglomeration of tax breaks and tax increases, rebates and government jump starts, new trade policy, and job stimulus packages ““ a lot to wrap our heads around. But the results of these plans could prove instrumental in our futures.
It’s painfully clear that change is desperately needed, and through our vote we become partially responsible for bringing that change about. Take some time and see what each candidate’s plan has to offer your future. The economy seems like a very impersonal thing, but its rise and fall can have very personal ramifications. Students are just one of the groups that feel its sting.
So take a moment and think about it. Students are directly affected by the economy, and the economy is directly affected by national politics; a single degree of separation surely merits some research and a vote. It’s time we invested more in our relationship with politics because that relationship has very real implications for our lives.We need to see the line between politics and real life, and we need to commit.
If you’re ready to commit to your political relationship, e-mail Fitzpatrick at viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.