(Response to Question #7):
When it comes to the public identity, each and every one of us must be aware of it by taking responsibility for the decisions that we make, whether it is related to politics or the work environment in general. Doing this can be extremely difficult since we are often busy with our own personal lives at home or at school. For example, from my experience, I am usually not aware with what is going on in our state or country since I have been heavily focusing on my schoolwork. After most Election Days, some of my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers would ask me who or what I voted for. I would either tell them, "I did not vote" or "I do not know what that law or proposition was". I would usually feel uncomfortable whenever I told them these words because I figured that they would give me bad reactions as to what I said. They would tend to get somewhat angry with me due to my lack of commitment and would then question me as to why I did not vote or know about that law or proposition.
My mind is mostly disconnected with the public because I am used to focusing on the things that "I" want, rather than what everyone else wants. It is not good to disconnect myself with the public since doing that will make me not prepare in future consequences. These serious consequences may include losing my education or having more difficulty in finding jobs without any backup plan due to my self-centered and apathetic behavior.
Another reason why we make little to no effort in participating in political elections is that we are not informed well enough. The media is not enough to remind us about political elections and other issues that are going on in our state and our country since we often ignore watching the news on television and do not read the newspapers. For me, I usually do not vote because I do not want to vote for something that I do not know about and may end up making a wrong vote.
At times, we tend to think that our vote would not be that significant. For example, if I were to vote, I would ONLY make the number of "YES" votes go from 40,000 to 40,001 and that it would make VERY little difference in the voting system. If I were to tell my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers this reason as to why I never vote, they may believe in my wrong words and would end up losing commitment in voting. We should learn to not think this way because every little vote counts. Each person, including myself, is usually affected by the outcome of the votes, regardless of whether we voted or not.
People may be publicly inactive and do not go out to participate in political elections due to their fear of facing the public themselves. Some people stay home for a majority of their time because they are perhaps afraid of the violence that is occurring outside of their home. There is a pretty high crime rate here in the United States compared to other countries, which means that violence and other crimes can take place anywhere. This is the one factor that people fear about since they are afraid of being victims of horrible crimes. So they end up staying home and go on the internet to interact with their family members and friends because they think this is the safest way to avoid violence.
No matter how aware or disconnected we are with the public, we will be facing serious consequences, whether they are good ones or bad ones. Even though we face these consequences, we should learn to not ignore the public by focusing only on our education, family, and other personal factors. It is best to prepare ourselves to face these consequences by paying attention to the media and listening to the things that are going on outside of our personal lives. When we are showing public awareness, we can also spread the word about political elections and other significant events to our friends, family members, and acquaintances so that they too will not be publicly inactive and will be able to help maintain the stability of our society. When we are active, not only will we be able to help ourselves and our significant others, but we will be able to help those that are outside of our personal lives as well.
I really enjoyed reading your blog because I found that you and I share the same viewpoints on voting. For the longest time, I refused to register myself to vote. I figured it was a waste of time and American politics never really interested me. At times I would be interested in a proposition and even research it but it was never enough motivation for me to vote for it. In the end, the proposition or candidate I was interested in wouldn't win so I convinced myself there would be no point in voting if I never got what I wanted. Finally my dad convinced me to vote just once in my life. I decided to appease him because I had plans to move out of the country by the end of the year so I decided to take my chances. I found that I knew nothing about the candidates and had very little knowledge about some of the propositions. It made me feel dirty voting for something that I had little knowledge about and didn't feel any passion for. In the end, none of the propositions or the candidate I voted for won. Ultimately, I didn't feel any disappointment. How could you feel disappointed or excited for something that never interested you in the first place?
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