In defence of politics to my age group

By nature, as a writer, '˜part of the package' comes with a collection comes of (sometimes cruel) rejection slips. One came two months ago; '˜AVOID POLITICS' was written on the seal, angrily capitalized, with a blunt note. The publication is political-complete with cartoons-but the apathetic attitude is wrong to me. Politics needed defending. It also seemed a little bit odd, due to my submission being political. This was the inspiration for this column, as well as Moranifesto, by Caitlin Moran; my own defence of Politics to people the same age as me. After all, writing about who you've met needs changing up a little bit, and can become very typecast in writing monthly (I can hear the sniggers from some relatives, and groans from a few classmates):
Voting is for the young SUS-160606-100116001Voting is for the young SUS-160606-100116001
Voting is for the young SUS-160606-100116001

You can change your life* by voting. (*Okay, maybe that’s a bit far.)

Our electoral system, First Past The Post, is based on local candidates, rather than who stands for Prime Minister (we vote for the MP to represent our constituency). ‘Candidate A’ offers the best policies, and could be better than ‘C’ or ‘B’. Over the next five years, that could influence your area, radically. For the better. What’s not to love about that? It’s almost a fundamental basis for change, and sometimes, we really do need that.

Politics is freedom-aka, Democracy.

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Democracy is “power to the people”. That’s political, surely? Largely, we all have an opinion about how we can run our lives and (sometimes) areas. We can express that, because of our ingrained freedoms. We may be an indirect democracy, but we can at times influence democracy, directly. (See my next point.)

The PM can’t always make a decision.

*Coughs: June 23rd. Cough* Politics dictates that-but has become such an pressing issue, to the electorate. We have influence, come that day in June, directly, over the course of the next few years. All thanks to politics. I like to call it ‘Euro Polling Day’; voting to maybe stay or come out of the Common Market is bound to be a polarizing result.

Suffragettes and the votes for women.

Simply: I think that women and men should be equal-no, scratch that, EVERYONE should be. To give women the vote was innately political-and I’m grateful for that. I’m seventeen, can’t vote yet, but will be utilizing my age as and when. Politics allowed them to have a basic right-one that I wish to take advantage of, now, gratefully.

Politics is about us-the electorate-so why avoid it? Why would a political publication say to do that? I care too passionately, and think you should too. Politics is integral to the running of this democratic country, and has been that way throughout history. I wish to keep it that way, and think that we should all play our part in it.

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Currently I’m reading: Tales From The Secret Annexe by Anne Frank. (One of the most impactful experiences was getting to visit the ‘huis’. And listening to: Ultimate Collection by Anastacia (Watch this space!)

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