Is Politics For Me?

We are all busy people who have lives to lead. Whether you are an office worker, a student, a stay-at-home parent, a teacher, a critical services worker or any other myriad of careers out there – we’re all busy focusing on what is right in front of us. The challenges we face every day – and what is important to us.

You don’t have to feel bad about caring less about saving the near-extinction Gray Wolves in North America because you care more about how your transgender child can experience sport at school. Fortunately for all of us, there are people who spend their lives caring about the extinction of wolf populations and likewise, there are organisation who support the fight for transgender child rights.

You should not feel guilty that you don’t have time to petition about women’s rights because you are too busy caring for your own family, but you remember so well the dilemmas you faced that impacted your life and don’t want others to have to face the same.

We all struggle to keep up to date with what is happening. Unless you are a full-time journalist, White House correspondent or congressional press secretary, there is no way that you could possibly have time to hold a full-time job, spend time with your family and truly understand the complexities of government.

And so, I can genuinely understand why people don’t engage and don’t get involved. It’s time consuming. To stay abreast of what is happening takes effort and commitment. It’s frustrating and sometimes brings a sense of doom and gloom once the veil is lifted which often leaves you with a sense of regret, and longing for a time of ignorance.

But engage, we must.

Gone are the days when we could sit back and trust that our government would do what is best for us. We have seen all too painfully how quickly our democracy can be destroyed and an autocrat be put into power. Every day this week, more atrocities have been unraveled with subpoenas of journalists, members of congress and even White House council members. We know that the “Russia Russia Russia” collusion was real, that the 2016 elections were tampered with and there is no doubt that some form of tax fraud occurred within the Trump Organisation – whether it was under reporting tax, over or under-inflating assets to secure loans and minimize value or just plain breaching the Hatch act – we know there have been shenanigans that we demand accountability for.

So you may feel that you don’t care about politics. Perhaps you think it’s all gone a bit crazy or you just can’t spare the time to make sense of it all.

The most important thing is that politics hasn’t left you. Your government is still here for you, still cares about you and is still trying to do the best by you. But it needs your voice. If you don’t speak, how can it back you? Without your views, how can it lay strength to your needs?

In previous years, the government asked for your support and stated it wanted to hear your voice. Now your government pleads for your help to retain democracy – and begs for you to have the strength to let your voice be heard.

We need your voices. Whether you care about voting rights, LGBTQ rights, BLM, women’s rights. Education, infrastructure jobs, healthcare, climate change – whatever it is, we need you. We need you all. We need you to engage with your congress representative and have your voice heard – demand a Jan 6 commission, support the For The People act, nuke the filibuster, pass gun reform, and hold congress representatives accountable for not following their constituent wishes.

This is OUR country. Don’t let people take it away from us, because you were too busy to stand up.