By Wyeth Larson
Ever wonder why Congress doesn't listen? It's because they can't hear! We have a bunch of out-of touch elderly people in control of our country. Take Fred Thompson for example. With jowls that dangly, I half expect him to sprout a tail and start baying like a basset hound halfway through the debates.
Why is it that Congress can't deal with issues which pertain mostly to our generation? Watching a Senator try to figure out what will help the 18-25 demographic is like watching your grandfather try to ride a unicycle while drinking too much of his favorite scotch.
So what do they do to keep in touch with us? Well Rudy Giuliani does it by actually touching - women of our generation that is. While he's off prowling the NYU campus for some fresh wife, Hillary's getting filled in on what Bill heard last night from the cute new intern after he finally pulled whatever it was that kept her from talking out of her mouth. Needless to say, these aren't very effective focus groups.
In a recent editorial a graying Thomas Friedman recently lamented the state of America's youngest and politically quietest generation. Why is it that people my age don't vote, don't speak up, and don't host the large rallies he had as a 20 year old in the late sixties? Is it because we have a deep set perception of a government that doesn't listen?
We have been repeatedly told by our parents, our bosses, and our columnists that the government is full of corrupt politicians who only listen to money, so for us as college students, that rules us out.
We've experienced this lack of interest time and again. I keep hearing about how financial aid for college will be fixed. Last month, the fees on my Stafford loans went up; how is that fixing anything?
Is it because the stage is stacked with the same old actors, playing the same old games with the same old equipment? In 2005, 12.4 percent of Americans were 65 and over, 24.8 percent were 18 and under, but the mean age in the Senate was 62. That's a huge misrepresentation of the American public.
We need to vote for younger candidates. We need to encourage younger people to run.
Right now, Barack Obama is attracting so much attention in the youngest voting group not because he's had anything wildly new or fresh to say, but simply because he has had less time to become faded into the system in Washington, and because he looks the youngest.
So get out and vote. There are important measures on the Oregon ballot for the upcoming vote. Measure 50 and Measure 49 both are important initiatives with long term results. Make sure you get out and show your support, for whichever side you choose to support.
If younger voters vote and get politically active, legislation will be passed which helps us. Legislators will be forced to pay attention, and younger legislators will be elected. Without young people voting, politics will stay old, stale and corrupt.
Wyeth Larson is a junior ?biology major
