It's All Death and Taxes

The last two nights have been a whirlwind of emotion for me - the first two Democratic Debates aired. 20 candidates. Two nights. 10 each night. I was ready.

I watch political debates like most people watch football - hoopin’ and hollerin’ at the TV, clapping, and cheering. I grab snacks and set myself up. I make sure I use the bathroom before it starts.

I get serious.

The debates did not disappoint. I went into them expecting to love Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. I ended the two nights falling absolutely in love with Buttigieg, Warren, and Kamala Harris.

But what I think isn’t really what I want to address today.

Today, I want to address the lack of interest and passion and excitement that I see in my generation and the ones after me when it comes to politics. Today, I want to challenge the mindset that we have that prevents us from discussing politics in a civil manner (if we even discuss them at all).

In a Facebook post that I made recently, I challenged people to stop using the excuse of being raised to not talk about politics and religion. I stated that we are not our parents or our grandparents or their parents. I pointed out that we, as humans, are literally in a position that can make our break the survival of our entire species.

It is time to take action. It is time that young people get to the polls en masse and VOTE. Brush up on your civics. Learn a bit how government works because it’s also important to understand that your vote for president is not the only thing that matters. Congress has just as much governmental power and is absolutely full of old white men that are no longer in touch with current American reality.

We are not a nation a straight white men; therefore, our governmental makeup must change to reflect it.

We are women. We are LGBTQ+. We are black, latino, and asian (and a bunch more nationalities that I haven’t listed). We are poor and middle class. We are children. We are citizens by birth, and we are naturalized citizens. We are illegal immigrants seeking asylum. We are all colors and genders and races, and we are in need of representation that reflects this.

Change does not happen overnight, but it can happen. And it starts with you and I.

So many people that are my age are disheartened because we see the damage that the electoral college, gerrymandering, and the two-party system is causing. We see issues like this not being addressed, even though we urge those elected to represent us to change them. We see candidates being forced upon us because the government has decided that they are the best candidate.

But do not forget that this country was founded on the ideal of popular sovereignty. We the fucking people are the bedrock of this country, and it’s time that we acted like it.

I was speaking with a friend this morning, and she stated that she can’t stand most of the baby boomer generation because they pounded into our heads that if we went to college and got a good job that we would succeed - we would be happy and healthy. So we worked hard, and we got jobs. But we are not happy and healthy. And we do not feel successful because most of us still barely make rent and live check to check even with college degrees - and most of us have crippling debt because of student loans.

I totally understood what she meant. We were raised to think that all it took to succeed was hard work and determination, and we were not prepared for failure.

This sentiment translates to our rising indifference about politics. We have given up trying to change things. We have stopped voting. We have tried and tried to enact change, and it hasn’t happened yet. And we weren’t properly prepared for that failure.

But I am here to tell you that we can succeed if we reinvigorate our drive to change this country. We can succeed if we all raise our voices. We vote. We speak about change. We embrace each failure as a learning experience, adjust, take a breath, and get right back at it. We stop pulling away from discussing politics, and we throw our political wants and needs right back at the government that has decided to ignore them.

And we take our damn country back.