Americans have duty to stay informed, form opinions
By Chris Schmicker
When I ask Adam what he most fears in life, he tells me no TV and moldy bread, in that order. So I skip to the next prompt for the biographical poem I'm helping him write: "I am a lover of ...
"Eating, and video games," Adam tells me with a smile. He starts to sketch on his paper a man with wings and a big sword.
"There must be something else you're interested in," I say. "Do you play any sports?"
"No."
"Do you listen to music?"
"Only on my Gameboy."
"What do you do after school?"
"Go home and watch TV and eat." His face lights up. "What about lover of beef?"
That's the same thing as lover of eating, I tell him, but the recess bell has just rung, and he quickly sweeps up his papers and pencils and is out the door.
Adam (name changed to protect his identity) is a student I tutor at a public middle school in town. He is in the English as a Second Language program there, although English is his first language. Coming from Punahou, populated with upper-middle-class kids of driven, over-achieving parents, it's easy to forget that many people in Hawai'i, and the nation, consider television and eating the highlight of their day. Artistic and cultural pursuits aren't necessarily priorities, nor is following the often-Kafkaesque and constantly changing world of politics.
But we rightly expect the average student at a college prep-obsessed school like Punahou to be informed and motivated intellectually. That's why I was surprised, during the Sept. 11 chapel service featuring representatives from three religions, when the name of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was mentioned and people around me began asking: "Who?" A major player in global politics, Sharon has been a very controversial figure in the long-standing blood feud between Israel and the Palestinians. Pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio or look at TV — he's everywhere.
To competently make decisions on political and social issues — decisions that will undoubtedly affect our generation in many important ways — we have to get out there and get informed.
Many members of this year's senior class will turn 18 before school ends. In this context, it's vital to learn more about current events and issues.
While people joke that the major benefits of turning 18 are twofold — porn and cigarettes — turning 18 is a much more significant milestone. At that age, a boy must register for the Selective Service, which means he can be drafted, go to war, kill and be killed with society's full blessing. Also, at 18 a person can register for — and participate in — local and national elections such as the 2004 presidential race. To be able to actively participate in our democracy — and potentially, to change the course of the nation — is an amazing opportunity. It's also a responsibility not to be taken lightly.
It is hard to identify the cause of the disappointing voter turnouts that have plagued Hawai'i and the rest of the nation recently. Perhaps people believe the country will simply run itself, and their wants and needs as citizens will automatically be met. Reality check: It's not going to happen.
Early Americans fought hard for a government by the people and for the people. A political system which chooses not to let its citizens have a say in politics is a dictatorship; a political system whose citizens choose not to inform themselves about issues and make their feelings known will become a dictatorship. In George Orwell's novel "1984," a must-read for anyone with the slightest concern about the direction America could potentially be headed, the author painted a horrifying picture of a country whose citizens have become apathetic toward the workings of their government.
These "proles" (short for proletarians) find pleasure only in sports, government-manufactured pornography and the like. Apathetic to politics and government, they have sat, glued to the telescreen, while a Machiavellian government — power-hungry, ruthless and not at all concerned with the interests of its people — has sprung up around them.
Obviously, America is far from such a bleak state. However, it is not hard to imagine our nation moving in such a direction if its youths do not take it upon themselves to play an active part in shaping their government and society.
In fact, eerily Orwellian actions have been taken recently by the Bush administration. For example, there has been a good deal of debate over the president's proposed Patriot Act II, an extension of the 2001 USA Patriot Act which gave the federal government increased policing powers.
The new act, which Bush introduced during a Sept. 11 visit to the FBI Academy in Virginia, calls for "empowering authorities in terrorist investigations to issue subpoenas without going to grand juries, to hold suspects without bail and to pursue the death penalty in more cases" (From an article in the Washington Post by Dana Milbank on that date).
Such measures endanger Americans' civil liberties. If we continue to remain ignorant about such current events, we might all too soon see the day when "Big Brother" continually spies upon citizens as Orwell predicted, and people can be arrested for mere "thought crimes" — murderous or counter-revolutionary merely in intention — an idea also featured in the 2002 Tom Cruise film "Minority Report."
I know my views on the Bush administration may sound somewhat liberal, so let me add that becoming informed about issues doesn't require disagreeing with the actions of the current administration, protesting the war in Iraq and going vegan.
If like me, you find that you dislike the way Bush is running the country, that's fine. But I would much rather a person have well-informed ideas that completely contradict mine than simply agree with me because they don't know anything about the issue. Similarly, I don't think people should be afraid to be controversial. Argument and debate are great things because they force a person to consider both his views and those of others.
It is easy to simply think what others tell you to think. However, I challenge you to develop your own opinions about things. To follow any political agenda blindly — whether Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative — seems just silly to me. I advocate a certain dose of independence in such matters. Be a little skeptical about what you read and hear. Don't follow the majority if you don't agree with it.
Be especially careful about those who would have you believe that doing what they say is somehow "patriotic." As Thomas Paine once wrote, "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels."
As Cypher, the Benedict Arnold of the original "Matrix" remarked: "Ignorance is bliss." Indeed, it's easy, and even cool to some, to remain uninformed of current events, political issues and social changes. However, such indifference will eventually bite us all in the butt.
America is a democracy, and a democracy cannot function properly without citizens who take informed positions on issues, and then go out and vote on them. I don't claim to know everything about all issues. I am quite ignorant about many things. But I still feel that at least trying to educate yourself about the state of our nation and our world — by reading newspapers or news magazines, watching the news on television, listening to talk shows on the radio and so on — is better than not trying at all.
People around the world would kill for the liberties and rights that we Americans enjoy. Use them or lose them.
Chris Schmicker is a senior at Punahou School. This is based on an article in the school newspaper
