Negativity Within

Today's class was one that has left me undecided. I for one am not a follower of politics, and I hope I never will be. I do not know exactly why, but I have never been interested in politics. Like I wrote in a persuasive essay for my English class, I believe I may not be interested because I have never been encouraged to participate in politics. I had thought up various reasons why the government, schools, and daily living sitatuations/occurances such as media and advertisements, did not encourage youth to participate. I must have had some good points because I achieved an 80% on the assignment.

I remember in high school, I had to do a project for my civics class. My partner and I collected over 500 signatures from the Hamilton area on a petition in support of Bill C32 (at the time this bill would have enforced stricter legislation against animal cruelty and negligence), as well as over 600-signed letters from people who agreed with our beliefs. We sent a copy of the petition and the letters to each of Ontario's senate members and the Prime Minister at the time, but did not receive much response. Months later, we received a letter from one of the senate members stating that the legislation we were fighting for had left parliament and that our concerns would be attended to when it comes back to parliament. I think that this may have been what solidified my negativity towards politics.

But after today's class, my opinion on politics is a bit more tolerant. The whole idea of being heard is what really got to me. I do not know if what Mark said was true about politicians/government people ignoring a letter if the sender is not on the voter's list, but it is a plausible explanation. I now wanted to vote, and re-submit my materials to see if I would receive a different outcome, but a part of me in the back of my mind stopped me from exploring my new interest. This negative part of my mind exists because all I ever hear about politics is the negativity that exists within.

I believe that media is responsible for this negative image I have of politics. On television, the only thing that is ‘news-worthy’ is when a politician does something wrong or goes against their word. The positive side of things in politics is rarely discussed and I for one am unimpressed because of that.