A lot of us feel overwhelmed when we think about politics. It’s not hard to see why.
Oftentimes, it’s as though we can barely keep our heads above the water. There are so many issues that it might be hard to even keep track. Right now, our country faces critical questions on climate change, gun reform, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, the economy, our very democracy and more. It’s tempting to think that it’s all insurmountable, especially as college students with wide and unknown futures ahead of us.
But it is not insurmountable. You are able to look past the apparent doom and gloom. You have more influence in this world than you realize — even if many of our leaders are much, much older than us. In fact, there are many ways to handle what seems to be an unmanageable world.
One of the most important steps you can take is to stay regularly well informed. A lot of unneeded stress comes from worrying about unnecessary things. You might be scrolling on social media and see an alarming news headline on a post or video. Most likely, that headline is lacking in context. Sometimes, thanks to misinformation, it may not even be true or is just clickbait.
The best way to avoid this stress is to thoroughly read your news. A full article is able to provide much more detail than a headline or a few sentences can on social media. Doing this will help calm worries when you are able to view the fuller picture.
Sites like the Associated Press News have very informative articles for free. Obviously, one should avoid biased sites, even if they have very long written articles. Thoroughness does not always equate to accuracy.
The second step to sorting through the many issues of politics is to separate each one, research it and see where you stand. You may be worried about many topics, but while doing so, all the issues have jumbled into one big stress ball. Take one topic, like climate change, and look into it. See what the problem is, the proposed solutions, the political stances and the current events surrounding it. Once you know more about the issue, your uncertainty surrounding it is likely to fade away.
Individually breaking down these issues will allow you to form your own opinions. Seeing that there are steps toward a solution and that it’s not all doom and gloom allows us to seek progress. You can decide which solutions are the best way to approach the issue. Do this for every political topic you believe is important.
This leads to the third step: getting involved! Being politically active shouldn’t be taboo. Working with others to find solutions to improve the world around you is healthy. Using social media to stoke your negative emotions – also called doom scrolling – is what you want to avoid. Being informed and then doing nothing can easily increase anger and anxiety.
Instead, you must be what Theodore Roosevelt called the “man in the arena.” Being a critical cynic from afar or worrying from the outside is counterproductive. Contributing solely in token ways, such as changing the color of your profile picture, is not enough. Entering the arena of hard work not only improves you as a person but also makes you a better citizen.
The most obvious benefit to being politically involved is making it easier to handle the issues facing our generation. This can range anywhere from working with a candidate whose ideas you agree with to joining an advocacy group lobbying for change. You can always make a difference.
You may ask, what if there are too many issues for me alone? Luckily, there are diverse people who are passionate about certain issues that can help you along the way. Working with others allows you to spread out the work load and pool expertise together.
There is a popular saying that advocacy is a marathon, not a sprint. You must not be dissuaded or discouraged by political work because of long processes. The most stable and secure solutions are created and won over time, not in a day or a week. You will find the truest victories when you give the best effort.
Hopefully, this will have created a pathway for you to handle a world with so many different political issues. While it may feel uncomfortable to deal with them, the most important thing you can do is try.
Walker Kinsler is a junior at UT this year studying political science and history. He can be reached at [email protected].
Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.
