Atlas shrugged because of voter apathy

For the last three weeks we have had an ongoing debate in the opinion section between representatives working on the gubernatorial campaigns of Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell. This past Thursday Creigh Deeds was on the Virginia Commonwealth University Monroe Park campus, he even stopped into the local coffee shop, Crossroads.

Besides the Commonwealth Times/RVA magazine crew and a couple of CBS 6 reporters, there was absolutely no response from the student body; no crowds, not even people asking campaign questions. It was a raw expression of student apathy.

This Saturday, despite pouring rain, I saw thousands of people dressed up to the nines to go dancing and drink. No apathy for Halloween. The reasoning behind this is simple: Voting for public office requires research, debate and an understanding of the issues.

That isn’t something most students care to bother with. It is an inexcusable symptom of what is wrong with this country, and a dire warning to our generation about the number of ignorant people standing besides us.

Change doesn’t come when people want it. It comes when you get off of your ass and demand it. It’s not a joke to say that issues like your high tuition, expensive books and low quality classes exist because you refuse to do anything but gripe about them. As long as students are apathetic, they will be taken advantage of. That is a terrible precedent for your all too quickly approaching career in reality.

In the New Jersey gubernatorial election, independent candidate Chris Daggett has been running against Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie. Despite being asked many times by high-ranking Republicans to drop out of the race (they are afraid he’ll split the vote) Daggett understands that even though he’ll lose the election, quitting is tantamount to losing his dignity.

This is because he knows that for as long as we accept apathetic candidates and no one creates a third choice, voters will remain apathetic. The election in Virginia this year is another example of this, as both candidates have run fierce campaigns in hopes to win by a small margin with no incumbent. You are a large part of that margin.

As a new generation of voters, when the older generation of baby boomers begins to wane, apathy will only extend the wait we have before we become the dominant force in American politics. If you take issue with Proposition 8, or want free health care, or feel like the tax code is unjust, or are tired of having the choice between gasoline and gasoline to fuel your car, or want a good job, or hate that our mountains are being blown apart for coal, or that our environment is heavily polluted, then I suggest you go to the ballot box-because you now are responsible.

In our ongoing debate between the two campaigns there is one more rebuttal by former president of the College Republicans Lee Vogler to Young Democrat President Jonathan Ward. The full article will be posted online at www.commonwealthtimes.com where all The CT content is available. He sums up my point eloquently about the importance of voting in an excerpt below.

“Ward, however, has been very active the entire way and for that he is to be commended. While we differ vastly in our beliefs and ideas for solutions, the thing I believe we share in common is our desire to actively participate in the political system. Hopefully through our debates other students will decide to become informed, engaged and involved in our society and strive to improve it for the better. After all, talk is cheap. I encourage everyone reading this to become involved in the community. Whether it is through politics, volunteering to help the environment or inner city school children, I hope you will participate. Our country can only benefit, and you will feel all the happier because as one of my heroes used to say, “Nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.”

Sincerely,
Lee Vogler