Being apolitical is irresponsible. Apathy is not a virtue. “I don’t feel like voting for the lesser of two evils” is not an excuse. But from a young age we are conditioned to think that politics is a dirty word, that it doesn’t affect us, that it’s something only grown ups talk about and never at the dinner table. Democracy doesn’t work if the polis (that’s all of us) doesn’t communicate. Whenever we choose not to engage in civil discussion on important issues, philosophies, cultural norms, or really anything that impacts the greater good, we’re all worse off for it.

Let’s get back to chronic apoliticality. If you aren’t interested in politics, but want to be, just talk to a friend. Talk to them about something you’ve seen on TV or a news notification that popped up on your phone. There’s a good chance that the reason you’re apolitical is because you just haven’t talked to your peers about what’s going on. I wasn’t interested in politics at all before I got to Dickinson and now I’m a political science major. I’m not saying that everyone will become interested in politics just by talking about it, but maybe you’ll find something you really care about through doing so. Maybe you’ll find yourself always engaging in discussions about race, gun control, abortion, identity, etc. We all have a moral compass, and sometimes you’ll find that the reason why you’re passionate about an issue is because the status quo violates that compass inside you. I realized my freshman year that the status quo violated my moral compass, and that’s why I decided to stop being apolitical and learn about who represents me and what they stand for.

I think that all of us know that Donald Trump is the president. But who are our Senators? Who’s your Representative? Who are your Senators and Representatives on the state level? Do you know your Mayor or City Council? Politics isn’t just about what happens in Washington. What happens there is important, for sure. But too often we forget that there are other governments that we are constituents of. I am a citizen of Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, and the United States. What I watch on CNN in the caf has almost nothing to do with Pennsylvania and certainly doesn’t ever concern Lancaster. To be informed on who represents us and what they do, we need to venture outside what is easily available to us and do our own research. Ballotpedia.org is a fantastic website that has information on most elected officials in the country except for on the local level. Reading your town’s newspaper or finding an online version of it can help you with the rest. What I’m telling you to do isn’t easy- I struggle with it too. But it’s important that we all do it so that we can elect officials who truly represent us.