How to Make Your Voice Heard in Politics
This week in The Upgrade, we discuss how ordinary people can get involved in politics, even if it’s not an election year. To put it mildly, the unexpected results of the recent elections caused a surge of political activity, and we are thinking about how to take part in them.
How to listen to this week’s episode
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This Week’s Discussion: Political Activism
One of the easiest ways to get involved is to contact your direct representatives. As writer Beth Skorecki explains in the series, there are three people in Congress who represent you directly: two senators from your state and one member of the House of Representatives who represents your district. These are the people you should talk to when you want to voice your concerns or want them to vote in a certain way on a particular bill.
This is actually easier said than done; phone calls are the most effective method of influencing your representatives, but you can also send emails, faxes and letters. While it is unlikely that you will ever speak directly to members of Congress, their staff will tabulate all the issues discussed by their constituents. In this regard, it is important that you are truly one of the participants. You might want to talk about the actions of a particular politician, but in reality you should focus on the people whose job it is literally to represent you.
Later in the show, we’ll talk to Joanna Rothkopf and Prachi Gupta , hosts of Big Time Dicks , a new political podcast on our sister site Jezebel. Joanna and Prachi share their advice on how we can continue to participate in the political process; for some people, this means hiking, donating to organizations that support causes you care about, or even running for office on your own.
What can really help is focusing on a few issues that bother you. Approaching the current state of politics with the intention of fixing whatever is wrong is too difficult and will not necessarily achieve anything. Moreover, it is simply tiresome. You cannot be present at every march, protest or demonstration, and you should not set yourself the task of conquering the world. Focus on a few issues that are especially important to you.
Our weekly updates
Every week to add some minor enhancements to The Upgrade . Here’s a quick recap:
- Andy: Sweatpants. Okay, bear with me. I recently bought a set of socks, underwear and T-shirts, which also came with sweatpants (all put together for mannequins like me who need a set of essentials). These pants have become a part of my daily life and made my life a little better. Life hack: wear comfortable pants.
- Beth: Beth took note of the book ” Kill their habitat” and decided to fill the bed every day when she gets up in the morning. It’s a small and simple thing, but it kicks off her day right away and makes her bedroom more organized.
How can I ask a question?
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- Call (347) 687-8109 and write down the question. The calls are awesome! We love them and we can play yours on the show!
- Send your question to upgrade@lifehacker.com .
Try to keep your questions as short as possible. That means 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions may be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they apply to more people. Anyway, we look forward to hearing from you!