What You Can Do for Your Country: Changing America

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”- John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy’s disposition highlighted from his 20th January 1961 Inaugural Address, desperately holds true today. Studying my high school history courses, reading and watching the news, observing my peers’ indifference and inaction towards issues, such as climate change, pollution, rampant poverty, gun violence, and unequal healthcare among other matters, I set forth on a mission to discover the reason why we are unable to address these issues adequately.

Asking my peers and people in my community, I was unable to find an answer. So I surf the internet and continued my quest.  It took me days to find information about the causes for the government and people's attitude towards the issues. However, I started to find articles that spoke about these issues, and the influence money from corporations has on our politicians and our entire political systems- the main reason is money in politics!

First, 'on January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission overruling an earlier decision, Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce (Austin) that allowed prohibitions on independent expenditures by corporations.' In essence, the Supreme Court decided that it would be just fine for corporations to spend as much as they want to influence our politicians as Corporations say that they have the same First Amendment rights as real, live people.

Second, one might ask why this is important to me. As a citizen of the United States and resident of New York, it is important to me because everyone is doomed to face the consequences of money in politics. Travelling through the state of New York, I could see that there are many people on the streets and train stations that are homeless, there are many incidences involving guns violence, and many people work paycheck to paycheck. Also, there is a higher incidence of people having asthma, and since New York is on the eastern seaboard, we are much more prone to sea level rise. Moreover, while returning from a study abroad program in 2018, I noticed the stench in the air, even though the Clean Air Act was still active since 1963.

So what can be done to solve this issue? I donated to representUS, Brand New Congress, Wolf-Pac.com, joined the stampede project of people power initiative and voted for candidates that support this cause in the 2018 midterm elections. Also, I currently follow opensecrets.org and watch the most extensive online news show in the world; The Young Turks which is presented by mainly Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur every day for 2 hours. Finally, I am the founder and President of Medgar Evers Debate Society where students not only debate a myriad of issues that affect America and the world at large but also discuss the role each of us can have on these issues through advocacy in our communities. However, more can be done such as rallying and volunteering in various organisations that support this movement and spreading the message throughout our communities

All in all, I understand that eradicating money out of politics is a big, ambitious goal but it is not impossible. Every time substantial positive change has been made in this country, it is because people dreamed big, aimed high, and set ambitious goals. It is time to act now because the life of our democracy is at stake! And if at first, I do not succeed, I will try, try and try again until my last breath.