There are a lot of problems in the world; Climate change, racism, sexism, classism… I could go on forever. But overwhelmingly, the overarching issue which fuels many other problems, is political apathy.
 
Political apathy is lack of interest in political activities. Frequently, this takes the form of not voting, however a general lack of interest in politics could be described as political apathy. As a nation, the United states has a serious problem. It is estimated that only 55.5% of the voting age population voted in the 2016 presidential elections.
 
So what are the causes of this? Political apathy can just be a result of laziness, but usually it goes deeper than that. Some people don’t vote because they feel that their vote will be canceled out by someone else’s. Others feel that politics is boring, inaccessible, or unimportant. In places where the political atmosphere is more violent, people often do not vote due to fear of electoral fraud or political violence.
 
You may be thinking ‘so, it’s not like it matters’, so here are the effects of political apathy.

Firstly, it reduces the accuracy of news sources. Due to people’s general lack of interest in politics, news sources have to exaggerate political news in order to make it interesting to the public, thereby reducing its accuracy.
Secondly, political apathy leads to polarization of politics. People who have less extreme views are less likely to vote, meaning that most of the people who vote have extreme views, so politicians who get into power tend to have extreme views.

Lastly, political apathy is effectively giving up your place in society. By being politically apathetic, you are letting your freedom of speech slip through your fingers. You are allowing the nation to become a nation of politicians, not a nation of public.
 
So even if you’re not yet old enough to vote yourself, which most of the people reading this probably aren’t, convince your family to vote. Make the world a better place. Take part. Participate. Be confident of your right to freedom of speech.