Patrick’s article Wednesday regarding his lack of political action makes me sick. On one hand he is completely correct: the non-activism of most people is a major problem for the county. But every voting country (unless forced to vote) has faced/will face this problem as some people just don’t care.
The “REAL” problem is people like Patrick, who express their opinions but do nothing or have not done the research to support their own opinion. They (abstracting rather than focusing on just Patrick) force their opinions on us day in and day out but don’t have any clout to say anything on the issues they push.
The other “REAL” problem is when newspapers (Mustang Daily), Web sites, and news organization employ or allow a showcased column in their name. I would think (as an informed reader) that the “political columnists” for my campus newspaper were asked during their interview – “have you ever voted?” and “have you ever read the constitution?” (and the like).
A similar example, which I think happens frequently: I was in a discussion with a group of friends over a movie (Moore’s “Fahrenheit 911” – which I neither support not denounce) when after the heated talk it came out that one of the most vocal debaters had not even seen the movie. I was shocked! Why would you openly debate/discuss/argue a concept/topic/movie you had not researched (where I say “researching” a movie is simply watching it)? This person had no right defending/denouncing the movie since they had not even seen the movie, just like Patrick should not be giving political advice!