JacquelineBrevik

Ms.Gardner
English10H2
26October2014

TheTerrorofUninformedTyrants
Ignorance,bias,andindifferenceregardingpoliticshavealwaysplaguedourcountry,and
aredefinitelyworseningastimegoeson.Tyrantsofthisnaturearepeopleofallages,especially
youngpeople.
Myfriends,thecausefortheseindividualsuninformednaturevariesfrompersonto
person.Somemaydecideagainstkeepingupwithcurrenteventsbecausetheyprefermore
lightheartedactivitiesandinterestsasopposedtotheseriousnessandsophisticationofpolitics.
Ontheotherhand,othersmayhavenoparticularreasonforbeinguninformed/biasedtheyare
simplyandmistakenlyapathetic.
Whyisthissuchaproblem?BecauseitpreventsAmericansfromimprovingthecountry
theylivein,nottomentionthatitisagraveembarrassment.ThereisaYouTubevideoofa
RussianteenagegirldiscussingheropinionsonAmericangovernmentherknowledgeofour
nation,whicheasilysurpassesthatoftheaverageAmericanteenager,wasastounding
(YouTube).WhenImyselfwaswatchingthisvideo,Iwashumiliatedandperturbedbythefact
thattherearepeopleincompletelydifferentpartsoftheworldwhoknowmuchmoreaboutour
owncountrythanwedo.Ifwedonotknowwhatisgoingoninourowncountry,thenhowcould
wepossiblyhelpit?Howcouldwepossiblyfindsolutionstonationalandglobalissues?

KnowledgeofcurrenteventsisaformofservicetoAmericapoliticalawarenessencouragesus
citizenstothinkmoredeeplyabouthowwecancontributetothewelfareofthenation.
Agreatpercentageofourpopulationgoestotheballotonelectionday,nottrulyknowing
whattheyarevotingfor.Thisiswherealsobiascomesin.Contributorstothisbiasareas
follows:themedia,societyingeneral,friends,family,andeventeachersaswell(Harvard
UniversityInstituteofPolitics).Itisincrediblehowutterlydangerousbiasedteachersare.They
typicallyonlyexercisetheirsideoftheargument,yetwhentheybringuptheotherside,they
mightcriticizeitanddehumanizethosewhoidentifywithit.Ladiesandgentleman,thatis
bigotry.Worstofall,whenuninformedstudentshavetheseeducators,theytendtofeelasocietal
pressuretoagreewiththembecausearentteachersalwaysright?
Amoreinternalbiasinthevotingsystemisalsotremendouslydisgraceful.Manyvoters
blindlyvoteagainstcertaincandidatesbasedononlyafewspecificpoliciestheydisagreewith.
Forexample,somereligiousRepublicansrefusedtovoteforBarackObamasolelyforhis
Obamacarepoliciesregardingbirthcontrollikewise,someDemocratsdidnotvoteforMitt
Romneyin2012solelybecauseofhisoppositiontoabortion.Quitehonestly/,theseareissues
thatdidnotneedtobeimmediatelyaddressed.Itisludicroustovoteagainstacandidateovera
trivialdisagreement.Thiskindofbiascombinedwithignoranceresultsinatotalnightmarethis
mentalityrunstheriskofelectingincompetentpoliticianstooffice.Theseauthoritiesthemselves
mightnotnecessarilybeimbeciles,contrarytowhatmanybelieve.Therealquestionisthis:
Whoistherealimbecile?Isitthepolitician,ortheuninformedcitizenswhovotedforhim/her?
Asimplesolutionwouldbetoeducatethesevotersmorethoroughly.Responsibility
mostlyliesonthevotersthemselvestokeepthemselvesinformedonwhatisgoingoninthe

country.AsAmericans,weeachhaveresponsibilitiesbothtoourselvesandtoournationtodo
whatwecantoremedyournationalissuesifwereignorant,wecannothelpthecountry,andif
wecannothelpthecountry,itwillsurelyfallapart.
Unfortunately,somepeopledonotseeitthisway.Theymaybeperfectlycontentwith
theirobliviontocurrentevents.Thesepeople,intheory,aremorallynotqualifiedtovote,yet
mostofthemdosoanyway,havingnoideawhatorwhotheyarevotingfor.Thisonlyaddsto
ourworseningreputationtoothernations.Weirritateothercountriesnotbecauseofwhatwe
standfor,butbecausemanyofusareignorant.
Nevertheless,IbelieveinAmerica.Amoreinformedpopulationwillmassivelybenefit
andunitethecountry.WhenweAmericanstakeituponourselvestoeducateourfellow
countrymenandourselves,whenweabandonallbiasthatskewsthevotingsystem,whenwe
developmorebipartisanwaysofexpressingourideologies,whenwebegintocareaboutour
countrysandtheworldsissuesregardlessofwhethertheydirectlyaffectus,thenthistyranny
canend.Asaresult,weshallallbeunitedtheRepublicansandtheDemocrats,theconservatives
andtheliberals,thecapitalistsandthesocialists.However,thistyrannywillonlyendwhenwe
ceasetobeuninformedvoters.Myfinalpleatoyouisthisdontbethatvoter.