Some days, I sit and wonder about the future. Not my future which is much pretty certain, but the future of this country which I call home and fortunately or unfortunately still call home.
Being brutally honest is, well, difficult to digest, I know. Random thoughts is how I would describe them, but serious thoughts. I feel inclined to emphasise ‘serious’ because I look around and it’s like everything has suddenly become a joke.
I registered for the elections and I’m eager to vote because that much is guaranteed in a democracy right – the power to elect our government – yet many people my age seem to think it isn’t. The folks I know are busy chatting on Facebook.
If ever there was a time to follow current events it’s now, and I’m not going to argue that social media isn’t changing the way people access news and how quickly, but let’s be honest: Social media is just a place to grow egos, be narcissistic and frankly, talk trash for a bunch of young folks in this country.
I remember the reason I joined Facebook. It was to connect with family and friends, networking and using the media to share my opinions, my passions and my convictions that the future of this country is really dependent on how much many of us care – us meaning young people.
I know, we don’t care or to be more frank, we don’t really give a damn, now do we? I could pack 20 of my friends in a room and pull out 8 who are interested in the elections. I digest these facts and suffer the indigestion that comes with it. Why? Why are the folks my age sinking in apathy and allowing this great nation of ours to sink too?
It’s like no one has a voice any more. We are all in a room and the silence is deafening. I remember reading one of my friends post on Facebook regarding the elections. He said, “It is as if they are all trying to underwhelm us.” He meant the political parties, and I thought it was an interesting observation.
I know some folks are going to judge this piece as political and the paranoid ones will position it in one camp or another. But what isn’t politics these days; our very lives are tied to our politics whether we choose to accept it or not.
But I don’t mean to sound political except to say that our politics tomorrow ought to be different from our politics today. There are a bunch of things I’d like to say to our present political leaders but here is not where I will ‘lay things bare’; this piece is a word to the youths of this nation, and hopefully they are reading.
We need to be concerned about everything happening in our country; we need to celebrate the positives and condemn the negatives and we need to declare our interest in government though we are still some years from leading.
I declare my interest! I declare that some years from now I will be in government acting directly or indirectly and that no matter how good power feels, I am never going to forget that power belongs to the people.
Again, I sit and wonder about the future of this country. Wondering whether I’ll be here to see us develop as we should or watch capable people I know manage the nation’s affairs in another 15 or 20 years. Would I even play a role?
It is interesting to sit and think about it because the capable people I know are looking for jobs overseas and many others are looking for a way out. Migration is the still the major goal of so many folks I know, and that alone says much. (thescene@stabroeknews.com)
