Not being a citizen of the United States has burdened me with the inability to vote. I used to not care about politics, I used to have a very low level of political efficacy, I used to think that even if I could vote, my vote wouldn’t matter.
Now being older and more educated, I have realized how wrong I was this whole time. The inability to vote has made me advocate to other millennials about the importance of making your voice heard, especially with the election coming up in November 2016.
A corporate puppet, known as Hillary Clinton, and a racist billionaire, known as Donald Trump, are leading the polls for their opposing parties. If we want to keep these two out of office and put someone like Bernie Sanders in, then young adults need to take action and become more politically involved.
Millennials naturally have a negative attitude toward the government and authority in general. I think a key reason for this is because we were raised during a time of major technological advances. These advances make it easier for individuals to access information and investigate controversial issues further.
Conspiracies are also another reason for the lack of trust in the government. Ever since I can remember, there was always a government conspiracy; from the truth behind Sept. 11, 2001 to alien interaction, there will always be something the government is trying to hide and the public is trying to find out.
Edward Snowden and the Wikileaks website can also be held accountable for the distrust in our government. Wikileaks is a website where top-secret government documents, videos and pictures are released for the public to view. Some of the most popular leaked documents talk about the NSA’s ability to spy on individuals.
Millennials may not trust the government, but the only way to change that is to become more politically active and put the right people in office. Since I cannot vote, I encourage all the couch potatoes to get up, register and make your voice heard.
We are the generation to change our country for the better.
Nick Bragg can be reached at [email protected] or @Nick981 on Twitter.
