We have entered the Age of
Apathy. .. 1824

   
   

: Left Overs ,
(Tain Reeve, OP Columnist

A

 

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apa-
thy? I dont know and I don’t care.

—William Safire

With our most recent federal election
almost a year behind us and a provincial
election looming on the horizon, there is
one question that is on the minds of young
people, Who will be the next American Idol?|
This, friends and readers, is a problem for
three principle reasons: 1) It means our
democracy is in trouble—though, thankful-
ly, TV democracy is alive and well, 2) it
means young people are more likely to
identify with Paula Abdul than Paul Martin,
and 3) it means that my future livelihood as
a political scientist is in jeopardy. Thus, for
the sake of self-interest, I must intervene
and save democracy.

Now, first let us examine why it is that
young people don’t vote. A review of the
literature on the issue by a lot of old white
guys (the definitive source for everything)
will tell us that people in general don’t vote
because they are not interested in politics,
don’t think politics affect them, or don’t
know anything about politics at all. This is
that crazy apathy word that keeps coming
up. In fact it seems that young people are
more apathetic than anyone, as only 34 per-
cent of people 34 and under voted in our
last provincial election. It seems that young
people just don’t care about politics. The
real question is this, What makes this gen-
eration of youth the crowned kings of
apathy, more so than any generation
before? Well, I’d say that the same thing is
plaguing all voters in North America; it’s
just something that targets young people
more than older folks. The enemy my
friends: AMERICAN IDOL!

Okay, so it’s not just American Idol.
Think of that program less as the actual
problem and more as the problem’s current

March 16/2005

mascot. The problem is TV, commercial-
ism, and the education system. Over the
years the process of marketing to young
people has become more and more effec-
tive. And this process is effecting people at
a younger and younger age. In our glorious
mass-consumption economy, corporations
spend great wads of money to convince
kids that they must consume like mad or
face dire social consequences. The kids
have no time to worry about politics. They
are too busy earning money and spending
it.

Also, you can thank a good 20 years or
so of neo-conservative influence for con-
vincing a whole generation of youth that
government is an evil bogeyman out to
steal their precious bling. By the time little
Johnny no-vote turns 18, he doesn’t give a
holy sweet Goddamn about politics. He’s
too busy pimping his ride, and chillaxin’, or
whatever else it is that the kids are doing
nowadays. Combine this with a “they'll
learn it from their parents” approach to
politics in the school system, and you have
a situation where Canada is damned near
being outvoted by Iraq—where you could
be blown up for voting.

So what is the solution? I’m afraid to say
it, but it may cost money. I know this is
going to make the neo-cons mad—more
government spending is always bad. But
since they are willing to shell out millions to
force democracy on people on the other
side of the world, spending a fraction of
that to make sure we have a working
democracy here at home should be easy.
The first step is education in schools. Then,
you focus on those outside of school, put
some real programs out there to encourage
people to learn about politics. Remind
everyone that without politics, everything
we love in society is gone, even American
Idol. Gasp! The goal should be to create a
genuine interest in politics, not lure people
to the polls by offering them Velvet
Revolver tickets. “Rock the Vote,’ I’m
looking in your direction.

If you feel that government doesn’t care
about you so you shouldn’t care about it,
remember one thing. The reason govern-
ment leaders don’t pay attention to us is
because none of us fucking vote. It’s an
easy concept. If 100 percent of us voted,
the government would be knocking down
our doors to find out what we want. So get
out there and learn. Use the net, the
library—hell, flag me down in the hallways
or e-mail me. Whatever works for you.

 

       
    
  
 
 
   
 

 

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