THINK INSIDE THE BOX

Words by Enya McIntyre.

Comic by Sean Parnell.

“Politics”

“Oh, you mean Politicksis, the Kojaque song. yeah good tune man”

No, I don’t mean the tune, I mean the organisation and it’s time you mean it too.

It baffles me that basic politics are not taught in secondary education. The first time I had a proper conversation about politics was first year of college. I was 19 and I remember thinking “what the fxck, why don’t I know this already”. I was 19 then meaning I was 18 for a whole year in secondary school – a whole year with the gift of a vote, wasted. And I thought to myself, had I not been made take this compulsory module on Irish politics, how many more years of my life would have passed by me, not using this gift? 

The truth is “using it” isn’t the problem. The problem is using it efficiently. You see, in that one year of being 18, I did, in fact, make use of my right to vote. I voted in the local election, but it wasn’t my vote, it was my parents. I didn’t have the knowledge nor the interest of Irish politics to make the choice for myself, so I did what most teenagers do; asked my parents who they’re voting for and ticked their box too. I use the word ‘teenagers’ loosely here as I don’t believe this habit is restricted to only them. If you think about me for example; had I not taken this politics module in college- when would I have learned about politics? Would I magically wake up in the middle of the night having been visited by the politics fairy, blessed with a thirst for righteousness? Most likely not- I’d go about my young life blissfully unaware of the government's antics until one day I’m knee-deep in debt, enraged and in need of someone’s face to stick to my punching bag, so I turn to the government. But at this point, everyone my age has gotten the same wake-up call and so the cycle continues; back to the uninterested youths until they’ve no choice but to be interested. 

There’s sort of this collective preconception that politics are for old people who have one eye on RTE news, the other on the paper complaining about their pensions. The keyword here is 'pension'. Now I know it’s hard if you’re under the age of 60 to actually make it to the last syllable of this word without snoring but there’s a reason why this is such a favourite amongst politicians. The answer is obvious really; it’s because old people love their pensions and you know who has power over pensions? Politicians. Politicians want votes, old people want better pension rights and bother to vote and so a sort of an I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine situation is created.

The only problem with this is if you’re not going to vote then don’t think you’re going to get your back scratched for free. No siree, politicians don’t waste their energy, time or resources on trying to win the hearts of those not arsed (excuse my French) with utilising their right to vote. This bracket of “unarsedness”, as I like to call it, is where the majority of our age group between 18-25 and potentially higher fall. Not to point the finger at anyone but I think this largely comes down to the fact we’re not educated on this in schools. Politics shouldn’t be restricted to optional classes such as history or geography because the consequences of politics effects are not ‘optional’; we don’t have the liberty to simply opt-out of tax increases, just because we didn’t take that class way back in secondary and weren’t made aware of it.

Although we may seem worlds apart from cranky pensioners, we’re not that different. We complain about stuff too- student accommodation and rent prices being a biggy. The famous, College Court, the place we know and love (and sometimes hate), is not only one big massive party but also one big massive hell hole of mould, stone age furniture and Arctic temperatures. I happened to have the pleasure and also, misfortune of living there for a year. 

Countless nights I spent shivering in my wet bed (no thanks to the single glazed windows) trying not to breath in the mould glued to the wall beside me and praying that my morning wouldn’t start with one leg out the window because of the handle of my door falling off for the thousandth time. I would lay there and just think “How the fxck is this okay.. How is this not violating some kind of rental rights? Or at best, human rights?”. I couldn’t figure out how it was justly to be paying hundreds of euros a month to live in a glorified shed with what looked like, hundred-year-old furniture. 

And then it occurred to me, it’s not justly, it’s democracy. Maybe blaming democracy is a step too far but it most definitely, plays a part. If you dwindle the meaning of democracy down to its core, you’ll get something like “state ruled by elected representatives”. We ‘elect’ our government, we choose who's in charge. Their job is to hear us and become a voice to represent us. The problem is if we don’t tell them what we want then how can they give it to us? Sure, we take to Twitter and Facebook to rant about the unfairness of student life but in the end hashtags and GIFs don’t determine who’s pulling the strings in these situations- votes do. Politicians nor the government are not going to put their energy into creating laws to benefit students who are not willing to return the favour in the form of a vote. Whether this is fair is an entirely different debate. 

With all this being said, I don’t want to undermine the work of advocates working tirelessly to inform us and stir up change. Tweets and protests may not be the ends but they’re certainly the means of getting us there. They’re the crucial catalysts needed to stir up enough commotion to catch the government’s attention in the first place.

Already, it’s clear that the government are starting to listen to us. Suddenly, every political party wants to be associated with tackling climate change. Don’t be fooled. This isn’t coming out of the goodness of their hearts, like I said before, politicians don’t give out free back scratches, you best believe they’re after votes. And how do they know climate change is the way to get this? Because it’s what the people are telling them through all this activism. It’s an endless cycle: peoples demand’s > politician’s campaigns > demands met = people satisfied = politician’s reelected = happy politicians. Obviously, this is a simplified utopian view, but its basic message is valid: power really is to the people. 

I would like to finish by taking the opportunity to put my big girl hat on and make it crystal clear I am by no means an expert on this and do not claim to be. I’m just a girl with an opinion, an interest and a strong belief that collectively with the right knowledge and willpower, we have the ability to make a difference. We need to stand up for what we believe in, demand politicians to meet our needs and then elect those who best represent them. It won’t be straight forward, and it won’t happen overnight but if we keep pushing, we will get there.

So, think inside the box, register to vote and use it. But most importantly, educate yourself so that YOUR vote really is YOURS.