My Generation Needs to Stop Being Apathetic

So I've noticed that my generation needs to stop being apathetic. I don't know how many times I've heard one of my college peers rattling off complaints about how they work so hard, and yet are unable to make enough money to pay for school, housing, food, life. Still, if you ask that same person if they've written to legislators about how they want an increase in the minimum wage, the answer tends to be a resounding, "no." Better yet, if you ask them whether or not they'll be voting in the November election the answer is a resounding, "There's an election in November?" They don't even know.

And let me tell you something else, I live in a mostly conservative state. I have absolutely no issue with people who are Republican, and I have nothing wrong with people who are Democrats. What I do have an issue with is people having no freaking clue what they party they swear by is even doing. I mean really? You really want an increase in the federal minimum wage? Then why do you vote Republican despite the fact that all but one Republican Representative voted against raising the federal minimum wage. 

I'm an independent voter, meaning I don't subscribe to any party. This isn't because I don't care enough to research and decide which party my views fall in line with, but it's because I care enough to research and realize that both parties are absolutely crazy idiotic. Both are getting more and more extreme by the day, and while politics has become a contest between the two parties conducted with the eloquence of a three ring circus, my generation turns to social media to receive half-stories and snippets of biased information about things that may be happening in Congress, but who knows really? Meanwhile the more supposedly "informed" of my generations turn their sites to either a. Fox News, home of the Republican Figureheads or b. MSNBC, home of the Democrats who like to hear themselves talk nonsensically. And this is their only source of "legitimate" information.

  

Forgive me if I'm of the opinion that people have brains and should be capable of forming more of an educated opinion of things that affect our daily lives. And I'm sick and tired of hearing the excuses like, "Well I really don't care. It doesn't affect me. My vote doesn't matter anyways." Are you an idiot? Well no shit, Sherlock. Of course it doesn't matter because you're not voting. And FYI, to use language you might manage to understand from your extensive knowledge of acronyms, it does affect you. The reason that you're still being paid 7.25 an hour (instead of, I don't know, a livable wage) is because you don't care enough to vote for someone who would vote to raise it. So honestly, if you didn't vote, don't even talk to me about this.

Honestly, I've made my stance on this one issue clear. I think the minimum wage should be raised. That being said, if you do extensive research, make an educated decision to recognize biases in your news sources, and the formulate an opinion that opposes mine, I totally and 100% respect you in every way. And I totally and 100% respect your opinion as well, though I may disagree with it. But please, my fellow peers, don't watch ten minutes of your preferred biased news station and then consider yourself an expert on the issue. Just because you can rattle off whatever the guy on the TV said, doesn't make you an expert, and doesn't make you intelligent.

So, please, for the sake of our nation and my sanity both, stop being so goddamn apathetic about everything.