Learned complacency

Dear Editor,

During a recent voter registration drive I was taken aback by our young adults total disinterest in politics. Their arguments for complacency varied little -- it was a complete waste of time. I wondered for days where the idealism of youth, which throughout history had been one of the greater driving forces for change, disappeared to. It slowly dawned on me that these young had never registered, never researched an issue, nor ever voted. Theirs was not a case of disenfranchisement due to past disappointing experiences -- they had none. Instead, I concluded, theirs was a learned behavior -- a behavior most likely taught to them by the 50 percent of adults who are not registered voters and the 60 percent of adult registered voters that no longer cast ballots. I assume that these folks are probably not showing up at the polls for the exact same reason.

Measuring the progress of a society is not a chore for the impatient. We, as a group, are pushing the boulder of progress up a great hill. The going is often slow. We will lose our grip from time to time and the boulder rolls backward erasing some of the progress we've made making our forward motion seem to creep at an intolerable pace. It is during these times we must remind ourselves how difficult our chore truly is, or that sometimes it is more profitable to look back down the hill to see how far we come rather than focus on the hilltop which is so very far away.

Ours was once a nation that owned and traded slaves, a nation that brutalized the Native Americans, a nation of sweat shops, and a nation that considered the female a lower human being. We have made change and it definitely can be measured!

These days the boulder is heavy as ever. It is weighted by the gold of the pharmaceutical companies, the oil companies, the home mortgage industry, the insurance industry, the finance industries, and many, many more. No one doubts that favors, bribery, and the blatant selling of votes is a common practice in Washington D.C.

Our government is for sale by way of campaign contributions and we all know it. Not that American businessmen have constantly kept the good of the nation in their sights, but now, due to a swelling amount of foreign investments, it is possible that it won't even be Americans buying our politicians through lobbyists, PACS, and other special interest groups- it will be foreign nationalists operating through our corporate structures. Certainly they will not have the best interest of the American people in mind.

Presently, money rules on Capitol Hill. Our government responds to money and not to the average American voice largely because there are so few voices these days. The clinking of coin easily drowns out the faint objections of the citizens.

As the boulder gains weight the only way to keep it moving up the hill is to increase the number of individuals pushing on it. We have a moral obligation to persuade our neighbors to get involved, to persuade all American citizens that the power of the vote is the only reasonable way to solve this mess.

As citizens we do not have to agree on any particular political party or individual issue, but we must all surely agree that our representatives are not going to take large amounts of money from any group in return for a favorable vote. A citizen of Nebraska's 3rd District has but four candidates on a federal level to keep track of -- a President, two Senators, and a Congressman. Of these, only three will ever come up for election at the same time. With today's technology, we can easily track where the bulk of their monies come from and how they cast their votes. We may not be able to keep big money from trying to overly exert itself, but we can certainly control who it gets to talk to!

Which of us does not have the time in a two year period to do this? Which of us can afford to pass on doing the homework? Which of us does not feel morally constrained at this point in time to demand better representation for the everyday run-of-the-mill citizen?

In our darkest hour, those times when our frustrations have settled in at their deepest levels, we wonder how the average American can stand on equal ground with the extremely wealthy and powerful or the multi-national corporation.

What referendum need be petitioned to make this a reality? What law must be passed? We have always had this power -- it is the power of the vote. But this power is not passive -- it requires action.

Do some quick research, get your family, friends, and neighbors involved, and perhaps most importantly, for the sake of our future -- preach to every young American you know that this is our country, we are 320 million strong, and we can make a difference!

Al Dunworth

Culbertson