What is the point of the government? This is a question I often ask myself. I am a member of Generation X, or so I've been labeled since I was born in 1981. I have been labeled as lazy, irresponsible, and apathetic. One of those words applies to me right now, and that is my apathy toward the government. At this time in my life it does not matter what happens in the government, it will continue to run without my input. Perhaps our indifference toward the government is one of the many "problems" with my generation.

There are many reasons why young people do not vote, or get involved in political actions. They range from apathy to just plain not having enough time. One of the larger reasons is that most candidates are much older then those 18-25. Generation X has lead a different life style since birth then those of older generations. We like different music, different movies, there is not much we have in common. Generation X has grown up in a world of money and quickly changing technology. In order to be the President of the United States of America, one must be thirty-five years old. Automatically that is at least a ten-year age difference between the two groups. The

Brown, Steve. "Generation X: Deficit, Debt and Entitlements." http://www.cc.colorado.edu/Dept/EC/generationx965/genx/genx1.html (20 Oct. 1999)

The few students who take the time to get involved in politics and educate themselves, are faced with yet another problem. Students find many major political candidates have paid little, if any, attention to the issues that affect young people the most. Maybe these older candidates do not think "kids" can make a difference in political elections, but they are wrong. Elections have been won or lost due to the support of younger voters. In 1992, 50% of registered voters under the age of 30 turned out to vote. In that election, Bill Clinton received fifty percent of the less than 30 votes (Bush received thirty percent, Perot twenty percent). Clinton's twenty percent margin of victory in the young persons vote was his largest in any age group and may have very well put him in the White House.

To my generation, Generation X, the government is viewed as deceiving. We have never felt like we could really trust the government. Watergate, Whitewater, and more recently, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, have all given my generation a reason not to trust the government. President Clinton lied to the entire country about Monica Lewinsky, why should anyone trust him to run the government? What else is he lying to the American people about? I do not want to take part in an institution who regularly lies to the people who trust the government most. By the time the government is in my generation's hand, we will be left with a huge national debt, and we will probably never see half of the money we have put into social security. Is my one vote really going to change this huge establis

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