rise up Rochester

A year ago, I don’t think I would have been able to discuss global politics the way I have recently become accustomed to. In the past year I have become more aware of what is going on at the local, national and global level.  I became aware, educated myself, and felt comfortable for the first time talking about issues of education, housing, and violence facing our City.  I feel as though I can actually sit down with a Bush supporter, which there are surprisingly some of, and say specific reasons why he is an idiot. Too many of us have become used to criticizing without reason and praising without reason.

Flickr User: sloomis08

I used to be the kind of person that accused of Republicans of only caring for the rich. I thought some scheme of wealth distribution would be appropriate. I used to think democrats had to have the answer. Today I scorn Republicans and Democrats alike because neither party is serving us.

To have a conversation with someone around my age, when I find someone who is not politically apathetic, is usually pretty easy. For the most part, there are people out there willing to have a non-confrontational chat. On the other hand, I find myself in a difficult position when talking with those of the Baby Boomer generation. They think it’s “cute” that us young people enjoy talking about politics, but think we have no clue what is going on.  Certainly no one in their early 20s during the 1950s would have sat around a table at a family talking about the short-comings of our two-party based system. But many of us today speak of government and politics, because we have no choice but to begin to wake up those around us to the fact that politics are not just a topic of conversation; they inevitably, unfortunately, affect the content and quality of our lives. If you choose not to speak up and not to participate, you are still affected by what lawmakers do. What the U.S. government does affects your experience at home and abroad.

At a family picnic this summer, I sat around a table with people in their 60s who praised Dick Cheney and said that they would vote for Bush again if he could run. Even better, they said would be if Condoleeza Rice ran. I was infuriated! Tell me why Dennis Kucinich would risk his career and life to try and impeach George Bush for no reason at all? And, if Dennis Kucinich is such a quack, do you think it’s a coincidence that the impeachment articles have been blacked out by the media? Why is it, liberals and dems, that after four years of criticizing this government, you say it’s too late to impeach?

My elders told me that I would understand when I got a real job, and that anyone with an ounce of wisdom becomes a so-called “conservative.” Yet, they were shocked and amazed that I told them I was beyond those terms and refused to subscribe to a category. I refused to let them prescribe me. “You kids are always liberal…then you get jobs and see how things really were.”

I can’t decide what hurt the most about that conversation–the fact that people were praising Dick Cheney for “telling it like it is” or the fact that they said 9/11 “rocked” them in a way that it didn’t affect us young people. Well, I may not be very old, and I may not have access to everything the our so-called U.S. intelligence does, but I can tell you that, if you believe that hijackers attacked us on September 11, 2001, you should be aware that is was because of our own foreign policy and that our current foreign policy puts us at risk of further attacks. Meanwhile, Bush and his cronies at home tell us that we need to give our personal liberties to them to keep us safe. Tell me one reason why Dick Cheney would be looking out for you? Furthermore, our intelligence agencies seem to know nothing about the history, language, and culture of the Middle East. But, I digress.

I care about what goes on in this country. It may be too late to wake people up to the fact that it is unlikely McCain or Obama will be our saviors, or that we don’t have to be fooled into believing we only have two choices. I challenge you, go to the websites of the prospective candidates and look at their views on the issues most important to you. Look at their thoughts on Iraq, Iran, social security, education. Report back to your friends and don’t be afraid to start talking politics. It is NOT off limits.

Find a news source that you like: NY Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Washington Post, City Newspaper, Infowars…If you are bilingual, try reading a foreign newspaper. I think you’ll find a foreign language paper much different in its portrayal of global politics. I also  think you’ll find that reading several online editions of these even for a few minutes a day will increase your knowledge of the world around you and help you start to critically think.