Apathy killing the American political system

By Logan Rapp - Special to The Collegian

It’s on every channel: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, FNC, MSNBC, NBC and every other combination of letters in the alphabet soup of television– the death of Americanpolitics.

More specifically, what we’re watching is the death of Americans caring about politics.
The death will not be immediate, but it’s guaranteed in the way our own inevitable return to dust is guaranteed.

The last eight elections have consistently shown approximately half the voting population of the previous election. The 2000 Election, in all its hype, media attention and general view, was the election to watch. Actually, it had one of the lowest turnouts in an election since the Depression era. This is not a shocking development; we’ve always known this.

There are facts and statistics that can be spewed out all the live-long day to back up this information. The steady and rather consistent decrease in youth voter turnout andthe shrinking media coverage of the party conventions leap year by year. This we know, this we recognize and understand completely.
What’s worse than the simple decrease in turnout is the very consistent feeling among the younger constituency that they do not care for either side of the political aisle. It’s worse because my classmates, friends and acquaintances have become jaded to the tired, recycled political rhetoric that field surveys and polls have been “proven” over the years.

What these surveys don’t tell you is that over the years, more and more people have checked the “Do Not Specify” box under their party affiliation. You can’t help but consider George Washington’s farewell address. He all but pleaded with us: Do Not Use The Party System. More are starting to listen now, George.

What concerns me beyond anything else is apathy. It’s the reason why youth voter turnout is decreasing. Little by little – we’re learning that it’s easier to just not care, and therein lies the danger.
We want to learn from Sept. 11 and care about the defense of our country. Extremists excepted, it’s pretty safe to assume that all Americans are in agreement over the war in Afghanistan and, by extension, the War on Terror. These are no-brainer decisions.

However, it is difficult to become involved in politics when the average politician still assumes that the American people are stupid.

I’ve said it: They think we’re stupid. Apparently, focus groups have become the microcosm of the American voting public, and only people with short, strong names like “Bush,” “Kerry,” “Reagan,” “Clinton” and the like will have a better response with the public. Image is now a major factor, too – you have to be easy on the eyes to get votes.

Granted, if someone looking like Nikita Krushchev after being hit by a diesel truck tried to run for president, I probably wouldn’t vote for him either. The focus, however, on image and style has become such a smokescreen from the beliefs and values of the candidates that we young’uns are ready to just give up and let the whole thing crumble.

We listen to our loud music, sneak our cigarettes, make out and skip class because if we actually cared and spoke our minds, the adults wouldn’t listen to us, anyway. The irony is that they came into power because they rebelled against their preceding generation by getting more involved in politics than ever before and by going more liberal than ever before. We’re rebelling simply by not getting involved. Our underground’s best weapon is nonexistence.

Fred Thompson said it himself: “After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood.” The scary part is we’re chuckling because it’s true.

Actually, I take it back. Politics is not being murdered. It’s committing suicide.