Political Apathy

On Saturday, December 13, Robert McFarland addressed our new crop of LETU graduates. His topic? Political apathy. In a rousing commencement speech that garnered a standing ovation, Mr. McFarland reminded all of us that our voice counts and more importantly, our involvement makes a different. How can we avoid political apathy? Here are some of his recommendations:

Be knowledgeable and involved.
· Know your own elected officials

· Become familiar with how they vote on issues

· Call their offices and voice your opinions on the issues of the day and tell them how you want them to vote.

· When they don’t vote the way you expect them to vote, voice your dissatisfaction both verbally and in writing.

· Always – always vote in general and local elections

· Talk to the staff people who work for your elected officials. Most of the time, they are whom you will get when you call. Let them know your opinions.

· Let the elected official and their staffs know that you will not vote for and continue to support someone who won’t represent your values.

· Support local and national efforts to install term limits so we can dissolve this business of professional politicians.

* All the information you need to do these things is available to you on the Internet and Google. You just have to commit to not being apathetic.

Sounds like a great New Year's resolution to me!