Apathy is defined as the lack of concern for a particular subject matter. In the past few weeks, we have been discussing youth apathy in the political aspect. Hence, I shall be evaluating the political apathy in Chinese and American youths, before reflecting on whether I am politically apathetic as well.
Firstly, I will be talking about the political apathy of American youth. In my opinion, I feel that the American youths seem to be less politically apathetic as compared to Chinese youth. I think the most significant element why the youths in America are involved in politics as they had taken the brunt of the economic downturn and are now facing numerous difficulties, mainly economically. According to an article, numerous American youths are in debt and are also facing problems such as unemployment. According to statistics, as of July 2011, approximately 4 million American youths were jobless. With these problems, it is inevitable that the American youths’ political optimism is eroded and they are resentful and angered with the government. Hence, this boils down to their political involvement of the youths as they want a change in government policies as well as economic assistance, hoping for a better situation after the changes take place. However, despite this, most American youths still do not care about politics. According to statistics, the youth turnout rate during the 2008 Presidential campaigns hovered at approximately 50%. Though this reveals that American youths are not so much politically apathetic compared to Chinese youths, there is still a significantly large portion of them who are apathetic.
In contrast, I feel that Chinese youth have remained politically apathetic. This is perhaps due to the “ME Generation” of Chinese youth getting richer as a result of China’s development. It is now very common to see Chinese youth having ownership of designer goods and high-end products. I think the Chinese youth do not want to be involved in politics as they feel that their current situation is beneficial for them and hence they would rather let it remain status quo. A Chinese youth mentioned in an interview that a “Nintendo Wii comes way ahead of democracy.” This reveals that the youths are more concerned about their material comfort rather than the country’s politics. Thus, I believe that Chinese youth are mostly apathetic as a result of their satisfaction with their high standard of living.
Personally, I find myself politically apathetic as well. I have never paid much attention to the major political events in Singapore such as the General Elections. I am still unfamiliar with some of the names of the cabinet ministers. I have only read up about politics through newspapers and the Internet during the period of the elections when it was the hot topic amongst adults and youths. Similar to Chinese youths, I myself and most of my other teenage friends are leading considerably comfortable lives and are satisfied with the social and economic stability in Singapore. We have little complaints about the PAP government. In fact, the PAP government has done a great job in crafting the lives of the youth as well as the other citizens. For youths in particular, all children are given equal opportunities to education and are well-supported by the government when they deserve it, such as through education subsidies. With the government helping them to pave their future, most youths thus feel that the government has done its job and they have nothing much to worry about, resulting in their political apathy. There is a saying: "If nothing is wrong with it, why change it?"
Not on the youth, there are also adults in Singapore who are politically apathetic. The phenomenon of compulsory voting shows that there are definitely Singaporeans who are apathetic about politics. If everyone is willing to vote in the General Elections of their own accord, there would not be the need to pass a law to force citizens to vote. It is because of the presence of citizens who do not care about Singapore politics which resulted in the government to have to resort to such measures.
In conclusion, the underlying factor for political apathy of the youths is the state the society is in. People living in a prosperous country would find no reason getting involved in political as they are happy with the current situation, whereas a country facing problems such as economic downturn would have a much larger group of political activists fighting for change in policies. I feel that political apathy might not be a bad sign in a society, but an indication of satisfaction with the political state in the country. However, I believe that there should be an equal balance of political apathy as well as involvement, such that change can constantly be made based on the opinions voiced out by some citizens to prevent the political situation in a society would not become stagnant.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI observed that quite a number of us view ourselves to be politically apathetic. Most of us are just uninterested in the political scene in Singapore because we do not have to worry about anything as the government does everything for us.
I think that maybe you could have improved on your paragraph on the Chinese youth. Your stand here is that most of the Chinese youth are apathetic. However, I beg to differ with this point. I think youth apathy is mainly only present in the wealthier, more developed parts of China such as commercial hub Shanghai and the capital of China, Beijing. According to your argument, the youth are generally more affluent in these regions and hence they are more politically apathetic because they do not see a need to participate in politics, as their standard of living is high. However, I think maybe you have missed out on the other regions in China. What about the poorer regions in China where the youth are bearing the brunt of the economic problems in China? These youth are not getting employment opportunities and many cannot afford the rising prices of property due to inflation? I think that they would be more motivated to participate in politics to get out of the situation they are currently in. Hence I feel that only the youths in the richer and more developed parts of China are politically apathetic in general but this does not necessarily apply to all of the youths in China, especially those in the less developed or rural areas.
Ming Hao
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThis is overall a very informative journal entry. I like how you have conducted a detailed analysis regarding the political apathy of youths in Singapore, China and America, and provided evidence to support your points.
I agree with you that political apathy is determined by the state of the society. If the citizens of a country are political apathetic, this shows that the country is currently experiencing prosperity and stability. Since the youth are contended with their well-being, they do not feel a need to change any aspect of their lives and are thus uninterested towards politics. Thus political apathy is generally an indication of the well-being of a country.
In the case of Singapore, it is true that the government has done a good job in maintaining stability in the country and providing for our needs, therefore we youths have nothing to worry about and thus are politically apathetic. You also say that there should be a balance between apathy and involvement. However, many youths at this point do not even keep themselves informed of current issues and this hinders them from being involved in the society and voice their opinions. Therefore, I feel that schools should place a huge emphasis in encouraging students to become more informed, so that they will be actively engaged in future issues that may concern them in order to affect how policies are passed.
I believe that however the youth's political apathy can be attributed to their satisfaction with their high standard of living, it is not fair to state that all Chinese youth are political apathetic across the board. There are Chinese youths that does not live in big cities such as Shang Hai and Beijing as well, and I feel that they are generally not accounted for, there are youths who are living in poverty in China.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to account for their apathy can be their inability to make any change as well, and the possible danger they can land themselves in if they voice out their opinions, against the government.
As for youth apathy in general, I agree with your point of view that the state of society is a very important reason.