Influencing the Government

If one were to ask almost any young American what he thought of the job being done in Washington, one might receive any number of answers. But if asked what he thought of the job he was doing in terms of the governance of this country, the most likely answer would be "Huh?"

Most young (and many older) Americans do not really believe that their vote has any effect whatsoever in determining the polices and goals of the United States government It's very telling that the government can even be discussed in an "us & them" context.

Ask a young person what form of government we have and you'll get a pat, "We're a Democracy." Ask him to explain in detail, and you'll get something vague about "one man, one vote" with maybe a mention of "Congress" and "the White House." Ninety-nine out of a hundred young people couldn't explain what a republican democracy is, and most of those have never even heard of the electoral college. a recently told a group of High School students that Kennedy was elected by the electoral college, having lost the popular vote. They were highly indignant to learn that the electoral college even existed, let alone that it could override the popular vote.) To most of our young people, "Communism" is synonomous with "Russian," "Democracy" means "the U.S. and it's allies," "Monarchy" means "the Queen" (who is somehow vaguely associated with a Democracy) and there ain't no more, is there?

In a democratic society, apathy is a kind of occupational hazard. If you stipulate that there be leaders and there be followers, then it's unrealistic to expect that the total voting population will want to be involved in the governing process. Yet the attitude I find among my peers is not simple apathy; it's more akin to a deliberate ignorance and complete aversion to any responsibility for any actions taken by the government This is terrifying, the moreso because I find I share the attitude in some degree.

I spend a lot of my time exhorting my fellows to "Wake up! Look around, learn a little. If you don't like what you see, try and change it If you like what you see, support it." And for those who like it and those who don't, the response is the same: "Why bother? Nothing I could say or do would make any difference, anyway." I am at a loss to respond to this. To explain why one person can make a difference, a much longer view of the world is required than the view most young people have.

There is one arena in which young people perceive a hope of making their influence felt: business. We are told throughout our lives that to count you must be a success, and being a success means having more money than one person could spend in a lifetime. If you ain't rich, you ain't nothin'. To get rich, a person conforms to the business community's standards, and part of those standards is knowing when to keep his mouth shut and what not to tamper with. If someone is willing to become "a cog in the great machine," he may eventually become a wheel, and then his voice will be heard. Unfortunately, he will probably have vested interest in maintaining the status quo by then. This really doesn't matter, however, since he's achieved his goal of becoming rich. And besides, one person really can't change the government anyway, right?

I said earlier that this sort of attitude is terrifying. If you consider that the people who have this attitude now will soon be running the country, is there anything that can save us?

A massive drive towards education and a more participatory outlook among the young might do it, but who will undertake the task? "Educators" suffer from the same sort of parochial attitude that any special interest group does, the same goes for the media. (If I'm stepping on any toes, here, I apologize. I realize that broad generalizations are dangerous; nonetheless my experience leads to the generalization.) I submit that such an effort is possible only by those individuals who feel that there is a problem, and who are concerned for the fate of the United States in the next year and in the next century and on. And there aren't many who feel that way.

So, can anything save us? I doubt it. But it's worth trying. I'll send letters to my Congressmen and the White House, but I don't expect to influence anyone in Washington. My hope is that by talking and exhorting and pleading with the people I see every day, I may be able to influence their perceptions of their country and the world. And that would really be influencing the government.

...Kevin Kinnell...

© Copyright 1986
Institute for domestic Tranquility