Political Un-Involvement

For this blog post, I will be reflecting and expanding on my discussion leader question: Can effective change be made by not voting, and political un-involvement? Along with more meme discussion.

To some extent, yes change can be made without political involvement. Immediately, I thought of major movements like the civil rights movement that influenced the passage of several legislations that overturned discrimination practices. In the modern world of today, the Black Lives Matter movement is also working towards a similar movement, ending policy brutality. So yes, some form of change can be made from political un-involvement. However, there are plenty of people that would not agree with that. I have seen many memes and quotes of people saying “If you don’t vote you don’t have a right to complain”. I somewhat agree with that statement; for example, if someone wants to make a change (in regards to a proposition or who becomes president) then they should vote because it does make a difference. Despite president Trump wining the election, I am glad to have voted for Clinton because my vote truly did matter. In the end, the result were close, and I am glad my vote going against Trump was one of them. 




Im not saying people who didn’t vote aren’t allowed to complain, they definitely are, but I think it just brings up the question of “Well then why didn’t you vote”? The second wave liberals I discussed about in my presentation chose to take an anti voting approach because of their general distrust of the government, and they believe their vote isn’t truly counting towards anything. Instead, they use their voice to inform others about their political beliefs and interests. I can definitely say that the voices of liberals have had an informative impression on me, I have learned from scrolling through posts from second wave liberals on Tumblr. Therefore, voting alone is definitely not enough! If people vote for a candidate without prior knowledge or doing any research, then that vote should technically not even count. 

I personally love that second wave liberals are informing the public of politics, especially through social media, it definitely captures the attention of our generations youth. Memes are a personal favorite of mine, and political memes are informal while still being satirically enjoyable. I actually found an article that looks further into political memes and they claim that memes are a form of rebellion. According to Jack Meeks, “You’re looking at something that is being used to rebel against societal standards and something that is designed to sway popular opinion.” Many political memes often feature dark or racists undertones, and for that reason they are heavily criticized. However, I don't find memes to be racists or dark when dealing with real life matters. For example, some people may find the Trump taco bell wall meme to be racist. I do not agree with the meme being racists, rather it depicts a true situation. The frustration Trump has experienced in relation to illegal Mexican immigrants has caused him to want to build this so-called wall. The meme is simply taking Trumps outspoken feelings towards illegal immigrants and creating a satirical situation for many people to experience and learn from. Memes defintley have the power to inform other individuals about real-world issues, while being creative and understandable.



http://www.collegiatetimes.com/opinion/incendiary-political-memes-have-underlying-social-value/article_3081df58-c7d8-11e7-99d3-c353dcd8b861.html



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