Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seeking another term in office next Sunday.
According to a Sept. 30 NPR article, Chavez’s opponent, Henrique Capriles, is slated to give him a run for his money. Because of this, the article states “the youth vote in Venezuela is shaping up to be crucial”.
Oh, if only we were to read such a headline about the November elections in America.
We all remember the excitement that revolved around the 2008 presidential election.
With a fresh-faced, articulate, biracial senator from Illinois and a war hero turned seasoned politician competing to be the victor that would end the eight years of disappointment and disillusionment that were the Bush era, hope for a brighter future was palpable and clear throughout the nation.
This sense of excitement even spilled into a demographic known for its apathy: the youth.
Youth voters came out in droves in 2008. In fact, it’s estimated that somewhere between 49.3 percent and 54.5 percent of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 29 voted, a percentage second only to the 55.4 percent that voted in 1972, shortly after 18-year-olds received the right to vote.
Suffice to say, four years later the nation is in a different position and it is highly unlikely that we will see such a large amount of registered youth turning out to vote this November.
The excitement is gone. The trademark short attention span of the country is infectious, and it seems that no demographic has been struck as hard by the disease of apathy as the youth.
Many young people believe their voice doesn’t matter. Burdened by student loans and dissatisfied by what they see as minimal progress in the last four years, I have heard numerous people say they simply would rather not vote.
Many complain that our democracy has been captured by special interests and that the needs of corporations and powerful campaign donors are often put ahead those of the every day citizens that are the backbone of the country.
It’s true that in our society money is power, and its role in the political process is extremely discouraging, especially in light of the recent Citizen’s United case.
However, on the other hand, why should politicians care about us, the youth, if we can’t even take a few minutes to register to vote and make our voice heard on Election Day?
In the view of Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, humans are primarily motivated by self-interest. Let’s look at the interests of politicians.
Politicians seek to be elected and re-elected. They will inevitably devote a
decent amount of consideration towards the needs of those that give them large contributions that will allow them to accomplish the goals they seek. They will likely give less attention to one single voter with a limited role in the political process.
However, I can almost guarantee that they will give absolutely zero attention to the disillusioned kid who complains to his friends that voting doesn’t really matter, or to the 22-year-old barista who rants on her Facebook page that all politicians are just crooks and liars and so there’s no use in taking part in a process she believes to be irrelevant.
This kind of pervasive, engulfing cynicism is not what our country was built upon. Our country was built upon the idea of inalienable rights.
Of going against the grain.
Of individualism, and for taking stances and fighting endlessly for the right to take them.
We were founded as a democratic republic, but are we really deserving of it if we aren’t working to keep that republic by taking part in the precious privilege of free and fair elections that so many across the world are denied of?
Venezuela, stereotyped by many as being undemocratic and anti-American, saw a voter turnout of 74.69 percent in their 2006 presidential election. Two years later, voters in the U.S. turned out to vote for our president in “record” numbers, with just 56.8 percent of the eligible voters casting a ballot.
As residents of the birthplace of modern democracy, we can and should do better than this. As young people, we’re not old enough to be this cynical.
We may be poor, indebted college students that appear miniscule in comparison to the likes of Monsanto, Blackwater and the AARP, but what we do have on our side are numbers and a right that no one will ever have the authority to take away.
There are seven more days to register to vote in the state of Indiana. Register to vote in your hometown. Register to vote here in Monroe County. Ask the College Republicans or College Democrats for help.
Go online and do it on your own.
But no matter what you do, do something.
— kabeasle@indiana.edu
