America is at the height of perhaps the most monumental political debate of the past century: health care reform. The debate is of epic importance not only because of the enormous sums of money involved, but also because it is directly related to what Americans regard as most important: their health. Yet Hopkins, home to the top medical program in the world, has barely participated in the debate.
At this point last year, by contrast, the political climate on campus was hotter than Megan Fox in a Transformers movie. Students flooded St. Paul Street in ecstatic jubilation as Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president. They celebrated to the point that several students were tasered and arrested (yes, freshmen, it's true).
Nonetheless, while symbolically significant, that moment pales in comparison to what could be the largest expansion of government in U.S. history through the de facto takeover of the health care industry, which comprised a whopping 17.6 percent of U.S. GDP this year.
However, as I looked out my window onto St. Paul Street on the night of President Obama's health care speech, all I saw were a few drunken Towson girls leaving the Den.
To be fair, this is the atmosphere across the country. No, Towson girls are not drunk across the country. Rather, America's youth have been relatively silent on the issue of health care.
This is especially surprising given that those aged 19-29, according to a study in 2007 by The Commonwealth Fund (a health care research center), represent 30 percent of the uninsured, around whom this debate is centered.
Many journalists attribute this indifference to young people's carefree mentality. They are not concerned because they do not fear for their health or because they have not yet had to deal with health care bureaucracy. Thus, they don't care if health care reform doesn't pass and they remain uninsured.
Others claim that though the youth were silent during summer vacation, they will soon become a political force as they amass on college campuses and take to the streets.
However, two weeks into the year, I have yet to hear a word of debate on health care among my Hopkins peers.
My explanation is that although the youth showed glimpses of political life during the last election cycle, history has shown that, for the most part, they do not participate in politics.
The last presidential elections were an exception when 52 percent of youth voted, the largest youth turnout since 1972, according to Rock the Vote. Generally, only 47 percent of the youth vote, compared to a stunning 73 percent of seniors between age 65 and 74, according to Brian Faler of The Washington Post.
However irrational it may be, the youth are reverting to their normal behavior, where they are engrossed in their own busy day-to-day lives and do not find the time to participate in politics.
This is a colossal mistake. The health care issue is just as important for elders as for soon-to-be elders, not only because of the inescapable biological condition, but also because this bill will have a significant impact on the lives of young Americans in countless other ways. Proponents of the bill argue that universal coverage would aid youth, as they are the most uninsured group in the country.
Opponents of the bill, such as John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, argue that "healthy young people will have to buy policies that don't reflect the low risk they have of getting sick . . . This means lower prices for older (and wealthier) folks, but high prices for the young."
The importance of the health care bill is open to debate, but either way, the ramifications are of immense importance to your life and future.
This is thus a call to open up a campus health care debate, for in the perennial words of Martin Luther King Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
