A.A.C. Puryear STAFF WRITER
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Editor's Note: In the spirit of PopSense's politically-neutral scene, we will soon be running our interview with creator of the nationally-renowned voting documentary "18 in 08," David Burstein.

Once upon a time, I had a great desire to be truly apathetic when it came to politics. I have always generally possessed a great dislike for America’s two-party system, which I believe has only served to explicitly divide this country in half. In addition to that, I was displeased with what I had learned in my high school history classes and what I had seen from the current news about every crooked little deed politicians have committed to implement the policies they think are best in this country. I had decided that I was very grateful for the freedoms I experienced in America and was thankful for the government that gave them to me, but I told myself I would have absolutely no part in the political system. I had decided I would be just perfectly fine if I went to college, got a good education, and then got a job that would allow me to live fairly comfortably. The happenings of the United States government would not affect me, and I would not affect them in return, even by the simple decision to vote.

However, recently, I have realized that my own policy needs revising. It started this past spring when I took a sociology class where the professor constantly beat into our brains the ideas that stemmed from a man named C. Wright Mills. One of Mills’ major theses was the idea that a majority of what we consider our private matters, our triumphs and failures in the real world, are greatly shaped and influenced by the major social issues, such as the economy, war, advancements in technology, even factors like ethnicity and religion.

“Sure,” I thought to myself, “the government’s current interactions with the Middle East certainly have resulted in horrendous gas prices which has made me choose to drive less and walk more, but these macro social problems don’t affect every aspect of my life.”

However, my professor explained that these factors affected us much more than I was willing to accept. Apparently, these societal problems can make a huge difference in our family lives and our interactions with friends. I chose not to believe this until I started getting my mind and my ears to really work together and process what was going on: my cousin, who just recently graduated from UVA with an economics major, informed that our economy is currently in a recession, and over the course of this summer, I have heard a number of my friends say how they were struggling to find summer jobs.

“Okay,” I thought to myself again, “that makes sense that my friends would have harder times finding jobs if the economy isn’t doing too well. Yeah, it has an impact on their personal lives, but not a major one. They just don’t have as much spending money; I’m sure parents will be somewhat generous to their collegiate children who have tried to get jobs.”

And I would have continued thinking this until I looked at this economic dilemma from a set of shoes other than a college student looking for a summer job. Soon enough, other possible scenarios jumped in my head: Due to the economy being as poor as it is, people buy less and companies make less money. One particular company experiences such heavy losses that the only way they will be able to make money is by downsizing, so it is forced to fire loyal employees like John Doe, despite how long and hard he has worked for the company. This becomes a problem for John because he has a wife and daughter he has been supporting, and now for the first time in their life, John and his wife are in major financial trouble. This leads to unrest and fighting between the spouses, because John cannot find a job no matter how hard he looks for one, and they split up. This divorce impacts the daughter as well; her home life changes drastically, which of course could cause all sorts of other unexpected changes. Maybe she thinks the split was her fault because of something she did, or maybe she starts to fear the ideas of falling in love or getting married because she sees how it can lead to loss.

This isn’t a very optimistic way of looking at it, but essentially, the complete U-turn of a young girl’s life is the by-product of a bad economic recession.

Maybe I’m looking at it too deeply now, but I don’t think I am. There are so many factors in our life over which we have no control, but someone else does. Multitudes of American families have been tragically changed by the deaths of loved ones in the war in Iraq, yet it was not any of their choice to declare war and have a relative fight in it. That choice belongs to the men and women who run our country.

Please understand that this post is not meant to criticize the people who work for our government. They do not intend to negatively affect American families. They are just trying to do what they believe is best for the nation, but we are still forced to experience the consequences, good or bad, of every decision they make.

However, we can help. The great thing about a democracy is that everyone who wants a say can have one, and what I have come to realize is that if I truly care about where I want my life to go, then I should want some form of an influence in what happens in our government. No, I still am not a fan of the two-party system and I do not fancy ever becoming a politician, but I have discovered that politics will always play a part in my life no matter how apathetic I choose to be. We each have a voice in how our government is run, and we should use it.

Therefore, I charge all of you with a very simple task: this November, if you are 18 or older, I want you to vote, and I want you to vote intelligently. The next man to enter the White House will have an incredible impact on the next four or eight years of each and every one of our lives, so I want you all to take a little time and get information about each of the candidates. Learn what they stand for and what they plan to do if elected, and then decide who you want to have the bigger role in your future. I’m sure as we get closer to the election, PopSense may even be able to help you with getting the information you need on the presidential candidates.

And yes, it is possible the man you vote for may not get elected, or he may not fulfill all of his promises even if he does make it to the Oval Office, but when you vote, you take the initiative to put more of your life in your control and leave it less to chance.