Look, I get it. When I was your age I wasn’t interested at all in politics. I didn’t really think it mattered to me that much. As long as I had enough money to buy food, clothes and go out on weekends, I was happy. When I had kids, I was more interested in them than anything else.
Yeah, I voted. I got slightly interested when Reagan ran and then paid attention from that point on. But, even so, I didn’t think that politics could possibly ruin this country. I thought George H.W. Bush and his son were good men. Even Clinton, as much of a jerk he was, didn’t show me the damage he did beyond having oral sex in the oval office. ( just so you know, he was one of the first, him and Nixon, to sell our economy to China.)
But I never got really involved. To be fair, I was a teacher and didn’t think it was appropriate to be out in the public with my politics. And, we weren’t encouraged to share our politics publically.
But, I could have done SOMETHING. I could have worked on election committees, gone to county council meetings, participated in my town commissioner’s meetings. I didn’t. I just didn’t think it mattered.
And now we see it does. If the people in our country don’t get involved in our local, state and national politics, we cede control to people who become the Elite Ruling Class. They become rich and powerful and they determine that they don’t really need us to stay that way. We are not even in the top ten groups they worry about when making decisions. We create a layer of rulers who can do whatever they want. They make different rules for us than those they follow, they violate the individual rights of citizens on a daily basis, they play games with the future of our country financially, and they commit criminal acts while remaining immune from prosecution. In short, they have become a huge crime syndicate.
So, why should you care? You should care because you might have children some day and will want the best for them. You should care because the more freedom you give up to the government, the less control you have over your own life. What happens to you when they shut down your job/business with no reason? What happens when they teach your children values you are opposed to? How will you deal with being so burdened by taxes that you can’t pay your bills?
It seems far away now, because you are young. I’m warning you though, that’s what we thought. So, you need to heed this warning and get active.
1.First, you need to be educated. I’m sure that you took American History in school and possibly Civics or Government. What I can’t be sure of is if you were actually taught those subjects or not. Don’t blame your teachers, most of the time they were told what to teach by the county or state. And, there are some great teachers out there who went above and beyond state and county and taught you more, and more correct, information. But, you can’t be sure. Search for books that have good factual information without bias, if you can find them. A website yaf.org has some great books. Also, find copies of the Constitution without side interpretation. Read and think for yourself. Also educate yourself on economics, philosophy, etc. And educated citizen is a powerful citizen!
2. Get involved in local politics in any manner you want, as a volunteer, an observer or maybe even a candidate!!! Go to meetings. If you have children, find out what your child is being taught in school. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of teachers, content specialists, and school board members. Voice your opinions! You are the taxpayer, you are the boss!
3. Be careful of where you get your news from. Find various sources. While late not comedy shows may be entertaining, they are extremely biased. So are many news channels. You don’t need someone to tell you what to think about issues or events, you need to make up your own minds.
4. Ask your parents and grandparents about how things were when they were growing up and when they were your age. You might learn some things you never knew about how politics were then.
Most of all, don’t let anyone tell you that because you are young that you have no right to an opinion! You absolutely do!
We need you to be involved. And you need to be involved!!!!
