"Politics has no appeal to the younger generation since it has no impact on their lives" Discuss.

This is a G.P topic I had today - heres what I wrote in an hours time...


Politics is said to be as consistently inconsistent as the stock market, if this were true, then interest would never wane - however, it has been consistent in its plethora of failures. these consistent failures have dismayed the masses; disenfranchised the middle class and disillusioned the youth.


History offers much wisdom to those wiling to take it with a pinch of salt but the only wisdom it has ever imparted is a tragedy: politicians never learn from history - to the cost of many millions of lives to date. The blunders range from “accidental” famines in China to gross market negligence in the Americas to global world wars. Yesterdays’ youth commit the same mistakes committed before them and hence, I argue, history should be scrapped from the syllabus; today’s youth are justified in their apparent nonchalance towards politics.


I disagree with the topic, not because politics has no impact on the youth’s lives but because it has had such a negative impact. The example of barren Afghanistan is before us. It was invaded by the British in the 19th century only to be defeated - not by Afghans but by Afghanistan itself; Afghanistan’s rough terrain poses a myriad of logistical problems for any force. The British left with only one dejected soldier. Then with the blessing of uninformed politicians, came the Russian army in 1970; many argue that it was because of the Afghan stalemate that the Soviet Union splintered. However, politicians did not learn - they continued to commit more troops and continued to suffer. In 2001, the USA invaded Afghanistan; currently It has lost control of the entire country and controls only Kabul and Kandahar. I reiterate, the youth are justified.


Politics has never solved anything and this trend continues. North Korea stands testimony to this assertion. Intensive political wrangling by heavyweights such as China and the USA and other nations such as South Korea and Japan have not been successful in creating a responsible global player in North Korea. North Korea launched and “successfully” tested a nuclear warhead; it, on the 5th of April 2009, fired a medium-ranged ballistic missile over Japan. It threatens to destabilize the entire region. Has politics been able to amicably resolve anything? No, I think not.


Iran is another similar nation trying to lift itself out of sanctions through a political dialogue. However, it seems that its efforts are doomed to fail because of some obdurate politicians in Tel-Aviv and Washington; Iran has been dubbed a threat in political minds and political minds alone. Think tanks and philosophers argue that to resolve the middle-east crisis, Iran’s support in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine is absolutely essential. Politicians, however, have other plans - plans that threaten to alienate the youth.


There are many examples; China’s accidental famines during the 19th century; American deregulation leading to the current poor fiscal climate; Silivo Berulsoconi’s many gaffes at the recent global-20 summit; Sudan’s governmental ethnic cleansing; India’s hidden and neglected poor; Europe’s indecisiveness over turkey; the Russian Georgian gas dispute and the negligence of politicians around the world over global warming. This is by no means a comprehensive listing of politicians let-downs; however, it is indicative of the reasons behind the youths’ lack of interest in politics.