Did you hear about Britney Spears this week? Apparently Lynne Spears is reporting that Sam Lufti has been drugging Britney in a Howard K. Stern-esque fashion.
Do you also know how many delegates front-running Democratic and Republican presidential candidates currently have? Probably not. It's a sad occurrence that in America, the Country of Opportunity, very few people exercise their most basic rights, namely voting. In 2004, the Top 25 Lycos searches for the week prior to the 2004 presidential election included the following:
1. Clay Aiken
2. Halloween Costumes
3. Halloween
4. Pumpkin Carving
5. Paris Hilton
6. Britney Spears
7. Brooke Burke
8. Pam Anderson
9. Ashlee Simpson
10. Christmas
11. KaZaA
12. Baseball
13. Michelle Vieth
14. NFL
15. Grand Theft Auto Adreas
16. John Kerry
17. NASCAR
18. Poker
19. Dragonball
20. Usher
21. WWE
22. Lunar Eclipse
23. Boston Red Sox
24. George W. Bush
25. Lindsay Lohan
(Source: http://50.lycos.com/.)
Think there's a problem? It sure seems that way. More people are interested in crazed pop stars than the people who will be running the country they live in. In the democratic nations of the world, America has one of the most embarrassingly low voter turn-out rates. How can that be? In a country where the individual is praised and given inalienable rights, far more rights than most countries, how can that same individual be so apathetic toward politics? The answer lies in the advent high-technology.
In a perfect world, the increased emphasis and convenience of technology would only increase the proliferation of political knowledge and contribute to the education of the general public. However, this is clearly not the case in America. It seems as if this technology-rich country has used technology as a distraction from more important issues, such as politics. With games available all over the Internet for free, who wants to sit and read the detailed strategy for a new Iraq policy? Not the youth of this generation.
I've criticized the public thus far; it is not solely the peoples fault that there is so little emphasis on the importance of politics in American society. The media has greatly contributed to America's apathy toward politics. The news used to report much more on political candidates decades ago, but lately there has been a shift in the content the media prefers to report on. Ratings are what drives news stations and what gets ratings? Entertainment. There is too much emphasis on the entertainment of a story rather than the information is provides. In the New Hampshire primary, the most popular story was Clinton's crying episode. How much air time was given to her actual speech? Probably not much more than seven seconds, since that is the average time politicians receive uninterrupted on an evening news network.
The people and media are inextricably intertwined. The media reports what the people want to see and therefore, the people, directly or indirectly, influence what the media reports. It's very sad to see that the youth of this generation are so apathetic toward politics when this Age of Information gives so many opportunities to become involved. Being seventeen and a high school senior, I am chomping at the bit until May when I turn eighteen and can register to vote in the general election come November. But I know that I am an exception and I wish I wasn't. American calls itself the example of democracy and forces democracy on other nations, but then why can't she get her own citizens to vote in the self-proclaimed most important elections in the world?
Maybe next time you head over to Google or Yahoo or whatever search engine you may use, you'll be a little more prone to see how Obama is doing or if your states primary/caucus is coming up. Be the exception and set an example for your peers, children or even parents. What is more important? Your future president or Paris Hilton's new boyfriend?
You make the decision.
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I completely agree. People are so wrapped up in the lives of celebrities that they rarely take the time to look into the things that will impact their own lives. They overlook politics and environmental issues to gasp at Vanessa Hudgen's nude picture scandals and wince as they watch Britney spiral out of control. This world, America especially, needs to get a grip on what is truly important.