Reflective Journal 4: Reflect on youth apathy. You may choose reflect on how far you deem yourself to be an apathetic youth by referring to examples from China, the United States and/or Singapore.
Political youth apathy varies from different societies. For
example, youths might be politically apathetic in one country while youths in
another country might be less politically apathetic. In this post, I would be
talking about the youth apathy in two societies; China and America. I would
also be sharing my views on political apathy of youths in Singapore.
Firstly, let us look at the political youth apathy in China.
In my opinion, the youths in China are apathetic about politics. Politics are
seldom a subject of discussion be it in classrooms or in a normal conversation.
I feel that them being apathetic about politics in their nation is due to a few
reasons. I feel that one reason is due to the economic success of China. China
has experienced economic success in the past decade and with this success, the
focus of youths of the country would change. They would not want to be involved
in politics as they are living a comfortable life, and they have become more
materialistic. This generation of youths in China are nicknamed the “Me”
generation. They do not feel that there is a need to be involved in politics as
their lives are currently good. Furthermore, they are more self-centered, which
I feel is due to the one-child policy whereby the attention of parents is
focused on them only. They are showered with love and care and I feel that this
led to them being self-centered. With them being more self-centered, they would
only care about their own well-being, they would only care about what is
happening to them, they would only care for their own rights. This led to them
being politically apathetic as they do not see a need to have a change in the
political scene. Another cause for political apathy in China would be of the
Tiananmen Square Incident. At that time, the government actually used weapons
that were meant to kill on civilians, which included youths when they tried to
fight for a change in the political scene in China. This incident happened in
the 1980s. Most of the youths involved in this incident are parents of the
current youths in China. Knowing what their parents have gone through might
have deterred them as they are afraid that if they tried to fight for a change
in the political scene in China, the government, which runs by a one-party
regime, would put down their protest yet again. Hence, I feel that this also
led to the youths of China being politically apathetic.
Secondly, let us look at the political apathy of youths in
America. In my opinion, I feel that the youths in America are rather involved in
politics. This can clearly be seen from statistics. One example would be that
of the number of youths who voted in the 2008 presidential elections. 23
million youths actually participated in the voting, a 3.4million increase from
the 2004 presidential elections. This was also the highest number of youths who
voted since 1978, which was the year whereby youths were first allowed to vote.
The youth turnout was also high at 59%. However, apart from raw data, the
involvement in politics of the youths in America can be attributed to societal
problems the youths in America face currently. These societal problems include
high unemployment rate amongst graduates, student loans and also medical
issues. The economic downturn has made a large impact on the youths of America,
and I feel that they have suffered the most from the economic downturn. They
are the ones who would have a problem finding jobs after graduating. They are
the ones who would lack the money to pay of student loans because of the
problems caused by the economic downturn, such as high unemployment rates. They
are the ones who have suffered the most from the economic downturn. I feel that
with these sufferings, they would certainly want change. I believe that they
would not want to suffer anymore. I feel that the hardships they face has
resulted in them being much more involved in politics as they would want
change. They would want to change the political scene so as to have a better
life. Hence, I feel that the youths of America are rather involved in politics
as they want change as they want to have a better life.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the political apathy of
youths in Singapore. In my opinion, I
feel that we are rather apathetic about politics. We seldom talk about
politics. Usual conversation topics include gaming and of course homework, but
seldom would be start talking and discussing about politics. One example would
be during the weekly level assembly we have. During one of the principal’s
dialogue, we were discussing about politics in Singapore. Apart from the panel
of speakers, whom I assume did some research beforehand, there were only a
handful of us who knew about the issue. Only a few of us dared to speak up in
the auditorium and I was of the many who just sat at our seat and kept quiet. One
simple reason would be that we are currently living a comfortable life. We have
all the things that can satisfy us, such as televisions, branded items. The
stable economy in Singapore has brought us a comfortable living environment.
Another reason I feel that has resulted in the apathy of youths in Singapore
would be that of the party dominance of PAP. They are the ruling party of
Singapore and throughout the past few decades, they have brought us stability
in both society and economy. Singapore has not suffered as badly as other
countries during the economic downturn and the government definitely has a part
to play in this. Not to say that the PAP are the best, but they have shown us
that they are able to maintain stability in the nation. And I believe that is
why we do not see a need to have a change in the political scene in Singapore.
In conclusion, the political apathy of youths in societies
differs from one another and I feel that the reasons to them are simply the
living standards they face. I personally feel that we should be involved in
politics as by doing so, we would not only understand the policies of the
government better, but we could also understand how we can look after the needs
of the nation in the future. This would
really give us valuable knowledge which would be useful in the future, for
example, in the area of people management. Hence, I feel that we should be
involved in politics.
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