Politics have never interested me as much as they have interested my family and my peers. Picking a party to follow and stand behind, backing a presidential candidate, and getting into fights with people over politics has never really been my thing. My grandpa, a radical republican, sends me multiple emails a day trashing the Democratic Party. When it comes time to fill in the ballots, he not only tells us to vote Republican, but he sends my whole family all of the “correct” votes and why those votes are the ONLY acceptable ones. The constant flood of (frequently) irrational emails being sent into my inbox daily has pushed me more and more away from thinking conservatively. Being forced to do something has always pushed me away from doing what I am told, like any natural teenager. Other than my grandfather, many of my peers, teachers, and members of my family are liberals. I have been able to hear and reason their opinions on the hot politic topics and see what the Democratic opinions are.
One day when I was putting my preferred party down on my registration card, I almost checked the Democrat box. But why, I asked myself. Because I don’t like what my grandfather says? Because the only Republican views I’ve seen were from a radical? Sure I come from a very liberal state but I wasn’t about to conform and be a Democrat either. Hearing liberal thoughts at school and conservative thoughts in emails wasn’t about to decide my political party and what I stood for.
It then came down to the decision on which party to register for. When this time came, I felt like a little girl who couldn’t read a book. I didn’t know much about politics and was relying on the opinions of my elders and not the facts that I could have been studying up on. At this point in time, I decided that I wasn’t qualified to decide to be a conservative or a liberal. For the meantime, I am registered independent. I will only make the choice that could possibly be one of the most defining moments of my life when I deem myself knowledgeable and worthy.
1 comment:
I think that is a great choice. Many young adults seem to follow either the path that their family follows, or the one they think will make them the most popular in the eyes of their peers. To wait and not identify with a political group until your moral, emotional, and spiritual choices have been made up in your mind, is the smartest choice. I really appreciate your courtesy and wisdom to take your time. It gives the rest of us, unsure individuals the courage to wait as well.
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