We Can Do More
Image courtesy of Britannica
By SARAH PALMER ‘20
The German word “weltschmerz,” the intense pain we feel when the world does not live up to our expectations, translates our current collective experience with unfortunate accuracy. In the first month of 2020, the international community has confronted numerous crises including the Australian bushfires, the Taal Volcano eruption in the Philippines, the escalation of conflict between the U.S. and Iran, and the outbreak of coronavirus. According to Forbes magazine, conditions are only going to worsen. Those who are viewed as less influential in society, especially youth and marginalized groups, often feel this hopelessness with greater intensity.
On a more positive note, however, the epidemic of weltschmerz signifies another uniting sentiment: things should be different, and we can do better. When we lose our sense of outrage, we succumb to indifference. When our world-weariness is channelled effectively, it can lead to powerful action. One student in our community who has tackled important issues head-on is Sam Bevins (II).
On January 22nd, Sam testified in the Massachusetts state house on behalf of a bill she has spent the last year working. This bill would allow young adults who turn 18 between the primaries and the midterms to vote in the primaries while they are still 17. In an interview, she emphasized that this bill would not lower the voting age, and the law already exists in 24 other states.
Sam was able to research how this bill was passed in other states, what they had to do to pass it, if it had failed, who is currently trying to pass it, and how to draft it. She then called her representative’s office and set up a meeting that same week. Representative Meschino said she “loved the idea and wanted [Sam] to do more research and write up a final report on the topic because she wanted to see the complexities of it.” The representative also assigned a college intern in her office to help Sam. Sam shares how accommodating her legislators were, as “the representative and senator really did let me do a lot of work and would always keep me in the loop with everything.” Even though Sam doesn’t have the expertise to draft laws, they let her overview the legislation and change a few words because “in the end, they really wanted to make sure it was [her] thing that [she] proposed and that [she] was in agreeance with every step.”
After Sam’s testimony, the bill is now in the Election Laws Committee. Sam will find out on February 5th if it passes and what the date for the final vote is. If the date is after Super Tuesday -- March 3rd -- it will not impact this election cycle, but Sam remains positive, expressing that “if it doesn’t work in time for me, it's great that other people will get to use it.”
However, in conjunction with her representative, Sam used the media and her image during her testimony to incentivize the committee to give her bill a floor date before March. Sam also reached out to news outlets to bring public attention to the issue and further incentivize the committee. She was interviewed by several new sources including the Boston Globe, the Ledger, and Channel 10. Sam has also harnessed the power of media through her activism on Instagram and her political blog (samspoliticalscoop.com). Ben Simpson and Josie Vogel, also of class II, both of whom would be impacted by this bill, testified alongside her. Josie also visited the state house last Wednesday to lobby her representative to vote “aye” on a carbon-tax bill that would create accountability and fund green infrastructure.
Ultimately, Sam learned that if you care about something, the government is there to serve you, no matter your age. In addition to the generosity of her legislators, she noticed that when her friends contacted their representatives and senators, “they answered: some of them got back to them with an email within one day. So even if it's not this bill, if you’re passionate about something you can really influence [representatives'] votes and the process.”
The bill has already received a lot of support, but if you feel inspired by or are interested in the bill, reach out to Sam. Milton is lucky to have an unbelievable network with students from all over the state, and as Sam would like to remind us: “every vote counts.”