The Political Spectrum

Politics may seem scary or difficult to understand for some students. But for your voice to be heard, it is essential for students to decide their opinions. Students may search in two main political parties to affiliate themselves to. Mr. Michael O’Shea, a history teacher at Bloomsburg High School, explains the general differences between each party, “I would say generally just kinda echo what really are stereotypes of both groups. Not necessarily negative stereotypes, but our general stereotypes like republicans tend to be more politically conservative. Which means more conservative in terms of economic policies whereas they would be more in favor of less government regulation. You know, less taxes in certains areas like the private sector of the economy.” Mr. O’Shea continues to describe the opposite political party, “Democrats, politically, tend to be more liberal, more left leaning. Which economically usually means they are more in favor of taxes and regulations that would maybe benefit the environment or help out those more impoverished like welfare policies and programs. They also tend to be historically more in favor of supporting union labor, union workers, and on social issues they typically are more progressive in their thinking.” With the basic parties laid out, a student may ask themselves why participating in politics is important. Students may hear “republican” and “democrat” on the news, but they may not grasp why politics affect them. Mr. O’Shea continues to go into detail on its importance, “I mean it’s real, it’s not as complicated as what people make it out to be. I mean the first thing is if you want to participate it in politics. Participation can be as simple as reading a book about an issue or social movement or whatever. You have to become informed first on your own. And if you’re just informing yourself based on like the talking heads on CNN or FOX or whatever,” O’Shea continues, “I think there is value in that. But I think today with the access to the internet, get out and explore different websites of information, listen to podcasts. Definitely some of the way I’ve looked at the world and my political views have been gained through listening to some psychologist, an expert on what causes addiction for example.” It is important to realize that politics affects many medias and issues that students and citizens hear of every day. It’s great if a student understands politics, but they should realize they have a voice. Mr. O’Shea highlights the importance of voting, v“Your friends or peers are going to vote how they’re going to vote and which is great. But like ultimately when you’re making that decision of who should be in office whether it’s a congressman or senator or rep or whatever. At any level of government you’re making the decisions so you need to make up your own mind about what you support and what candidates like most closely represent that.” Choosing the candidate can improve your knowledge on politics, and it can allow you to have a say whether that person may be in office. With this sort of power, it would be remiss if students didn’t register to vote when they turn 18. 2020 is coming soon, and that means election year. There is no better time to register than now, If you are 18, register and make a difference in the election whether you vote republican or democrat.