But what also annoyed
me greatly was the age of the people involved in these parties. Most of them
were in their early twenties like me, and were only just being born as Mrs
Thatcher’s premiership came to an end. Most of them may have some idea who Mrs
Thatcher was, but only in a historical sense. They have no real idea what it
was like living at the time she was Prime Minister, or what the conditions in
the country were like. If you watched the news, whenever they spoke to someone
who had lived through the Thatcher era, and had been adversely affected by her
polices, their response was “I’m sorry for her family, but I’m not particular
sad.” No cries of “Ding dong the Witch is Dead” here.
Now if these parties
were motivated by something other than an opportunity for a laugh and a chance
to get on the nightly news, if they were motivated by an actual interest in
politics, by a belief that the country was damaged by Thatcherism and needs to
change, then there’s better things they could be doing with their time than
rearranging the signs outside the Ritz.
The number of young
people voting or getting actively involved in the political process is going
down with every election. The Lib Dems may have relied on the student vote in
the last election, but that’s a very small pool of voters and getting smaller.
And while I’m sure the National Union of Students is well intentioned and
genuinely interested in the welfare of students, it doesn’t seem to be doing
anything to counteract this trend. They have the capacity to call on a huge
membership and convince them to make their opinions heard by voting rather than
by smashing up windows in central London .
But they aren’t. They are squandering a marvellous opportunity to do some real
good.
If young people are
genuinely interested in changing the world for the better, then they need to
get involved in politics. Stand for a position in their student union, get
involved in their local political parties, even run for their local council if
they want. Get out there, make your voice heard. Make the small changes that
make the world better every day. Nothing was ever changed by people assuming
that someone else would do it. It was changed by people standing up and making
the change happen.
If you’re really mad,
then do something.
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