It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized how little our population really delves into politics. In the 2004 elections only 55.3% of eligible voters went out to vote. That is barely half of the voting population and 37% in 2006. Around my last two years of high school a lot was going on politically. The presidential elections of Obama vs. McCain, and it seemed to be the first time in a while that there were a vast amount of people young and old running to the polls. It seemed to be a political awakening. There had been too many times before where I heard comments such as “ my vote doesn’t count”, “ I don’t need to vote” , “why should I care about current events” etc. Well let’s fast forward three years to present day. I want to encourage people to still take note of what’s going on in our country as well as outside. Being outside of the country for months I have noticed how I hardly know what’s going on in America unless I actively read the news. I also notice how people in other countries seem to be more in tuned with their politics than most people are in America are within our own country. The other day in Paris I had a conversation with a French guy about a stereotype of Americans is that we are self-centered in politics. In that we only care much about our own countries politics and careless what’s going on outside of our country. Also that some Americans are not as well informed. I feel this is very much true. I feel a charge now to stay informed about what’s going on in the world around me and not just live silently every day ignoring the problems in the world. “The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it's to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out! Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride…But, this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live. God bless America.-Joe Wilson”
(statistics found :http://elections.gmu.edu/ and double checked with http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html)
