Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan: Fighting the stigma of an apathetic generation

To paraphrase Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, I don't want to be a traitor to my generation and all... but I just don't understand the way the youth of America has settled into political apathy. Until last week's State of the Union address, I held the na‹ve fantasy that all kids at Penn and beyond looked forward to such events with excitement characteristic of the good little citizens we are. My proverbial bubble was burst the very next day, though, when I asked some friends what they thought about Dubya's latest proposals. They hadn't watched -- in itself, forgivable -- but to my chagrin, they told me they weren't even registered to vote. To someone who marks her ballots for even the local primary elections in a state of glee, that came as a shock. But to be fair to my friends, it's not just them. In a nation that barely gets half its citizens to the polls for the presidential elections, we (18- to 24-year-olds) make up the worst offenders. Ever since 1972, the first presidential election in which those 18 and up could vote, our turnout has regularly declined -- making us, my friends, the lowest of the low. It's unbelievable, really, how little some of us seem to care about the affairs of our great nation, especially now when the issues at hand are so critical. I know there's still some truth to the notion that young people are idealistic, socially active crusaders, but I wouldn't call those people a majority. It's fine that it's not everyone's cup of tea to write petitions and attend rallies, but we've got to raise the bar. At the very least, we've got to vote. For those who slept through civics class in high school, this democracy is supposed to be "of the people." Let's put aside our cynicism and wave the flag for a bit. While I'm under no illusions that this government is perfect, I still realize how lucky we all are to live in a truly free country. It's an amazing thing to have a voice in the way this nation is run -- an ability we should hold dear. Consider for a moment: women did not win the right to vote in this country until 1920, meaning that some of our grandmothers were born into a world where their political opinions were invisible. African Americans were effectively denied the same right until as recently as the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Think of the years of struggle that it took to finally reclaim this foundation of American democracy -- people have literally died in pursuit of it. Could we have forgotten it all, and so quickly too? So what's our problem? Despite what the old guard may say, we're not just spoiled, ungrateful, sorry people -- rather, we just put too much faith in a few stock excuses. Allow me to address the most popular ones (it helps if you read them out loud in a whiny voice). "But my one vote won't make a difference." Ah, the granddaddy of them all. Unfortunately, this one just doesn't hold water anymore. There are numerous counterexamples scattered throughout history, the most obvious one being our last presidential election. "But politicians don't really care about what's important to me." Well, if that's true, it's because we won't vote. Given our age demographic's dismal turnout, politicians don't want to waste their time trying to appeal to us. If we'd rise up and become the powerful voting bloc we could be, suddenly they'd be falling all over themselves making promises about student loans and free beer. "But I don't know anything about the candidates." True, an uneducated vote is no service to our country. So educate yourself. There's a world of information out there for those who take the initiative to find it -- read the newspaper, watch the news, look up the party platform. Sorry, but ignorance is no excuse for shirking your civic duty. "But I don't know how to register." Contact your local elections office -- a Google search should do it. Or keep your eyes out for the groups that set up on Locust Walk around election time to register students. Or go to the Federal Election Commission's Web site and download a mail registration form. Local offices should be able to set you up with an absentee ballot as well. "But I'm too busy to vote." Come on now, that's the lamest of them all. Simply rearranging the day to omit the 45 minutes spent online reading rumors about the Olsen twins can work wonders. No matter what our excuses are, we all know deep down that we should be heading to the polls whenever we can. So if you're still not registered, go do it -- you're making the rest of us look bad.

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