Danielle Volesky, wondering in her Nov. 10 letter, “Try to attract youth vote to the polls,” why politics is not interesting to younger people, leaves me wondering just what’s going on with the “youth” in America. They have so insulated themselves with activities of their peer group they’ve lost a vision of the big picture.
If our country spent half the time and money we squander on football and sports, our voters would really pay attention and know what the issues are. Less than 50 percent of our registered voters turned out on Election Day because they’re too caught up with this weekend’s scores. Compare the number of television channels dedicated to sports to how many offer public hearings on political issues. I suspect you’d get such a backlash from our young male population, things would change quickly.
Some nations have a poll tax, a prerequisite fee for voting. If we enacted that and made it retroactive to the last election and this one, you’d get such a response that voters might actually pay attention to something besides this weekend’s scores. Fine eligible voters where it would be felt most.
How can anyone fail to exercise our most important responsibility?
Donna McGrew
Vancouver
