Author: Wang Shan/Ashan Café’s World Branch
A few days ago, I just turned 19 and enjoyed a year of 18. In this year, I passed the driver’s license test, moved out to live alone, and started to earn my own money. The result of the referendum on the “18-year-old Citizenship Amendment to the Constitution” greatly negated me.
In all fairness, 18-year-olds have already been able to be alone and decide their lives. More than 40 years ago, a strong woman married at the age of 18, took care of a rural family, and gave birth to another girl; and this girl was my mother.
From this, it can be seen that not only my own generation, but even my previous generations, 18 years old is also the age to start a family, get married and have children, just like my grandmother’s decision back then. From this point of view, perhaps supporting citizenship should not be a conflict between generations, but an affirmation of the value of “people” across generations, so that those who can decide their lives can also decide the political world that affects their lives and cast their own a ticket.
So, I started thinking,Why is it that the people around me are optimistic, the bill has cross-party support, and public figures and politicians across the country have repeatedly supported it, but they still ushered in a big defeat in the voting results, and even agreed with only about half of the passing threshold, and more than half of the votes? 5 million people voted “disagree”?This may be a lesson that the people of Taiwan should carefully think about and reflect on “everyone’s affairs”.
Regionality of billing data
Click on Commonwealth Magazine, according to the balloting data compiled by the Central Election Commission website, this constitutional amendment review, although the number of generally agreed votes is barely more than half, but from the whole Taiwan, the number of agreed votes accounted for the highest proportion of valid votes Counties and cities, but they can see the mystery.
The counties and cities with the highest proportion of agreeing votes are Chiayi County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, and Yilan County. City, took the first four. In particular, readers are reminded that this time, despite the disastrous defeat of the ruling party, only five counties and cities have won the chief seats, and the top four regions that most agree with this constitutional revision review have been taken away.
In addition, although this revision of the constitutional amendment has received the joint support of major political parties in the country, a few days before the vote, there were still rumors that a local team of a specific party was suspected of spreading remarks that they should not lead the referendum.
The above two points make people worry that even if the central parties of the various parties have no intention of manipulating the issue of the referendum on constitutional revision, whether the constitutional revision referendum, which should have been decided regardless of party orientation or ideology, has fallen into some kind of local Conservative and change, party-state and avant-garde?
Secondly, from another perspective, the counties and cities with the lowest proportion of consent votes this time are Kinmen County, Lianjiang County, Hualien County, and Taitung County, and most of them are located in outlying islands or eastern Taiwan. a distinct geographical distinction,Does this show that the “communication” of the proponents is weak when it comes to the constitutional amendment resolution, and even limited by the framework of a specific geographical area or stratosphere, it is difficult to break through the limitation of voice transmission?
your stratosphere
Recalling the recent discussion, even as someone who regularly watches TV news, I still receive most of the information about this revision of the constitution from social media, and most of them are advocates of student rights around me. Or organizations related to youth participation in politics pushed the news to my eyes; even a few weeks before the polling day, when discussing the general election with some elders, they were still not very clear about the referendum resumption.
This phenomenon is probably the reason for the optimism in the circle of friends before voting: we are in our own stratosphere, and because of the repeated reflection of information dissemination, there is a certain degree of cognitive bias, and we mistakenly believe that the public is not concerned about the issue of citizenship at the age of 18. I understand it quite well, and I don’t see any reason to object.
In addition, before the vote, some people thought that the passage of the constitutional amendment meant that the 18-year-old could run for various public offices indefinitely, but according to the existing legal norms, this is impossible to happen; It can be found that there are still some people who do not understand, do not know, and do not understand the effect and purpose of this referendum.
In “French High School Students’ Philosophy Reader 1: Is the government the master or servant of the people?” As mentioned in the book A Philosophical Path to Politics, the political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out,The reason why citizens in a modern democratic society are indifferent to politics and even advocate individualism is because they fail to feel the connection between their private affairs and the public. One of the reasons for retreat.
Therefore, if the proponents can change their perspective, language, and method to fulfill the responsibility of “communication”, it may be possible to slightly save the low turnout rate and citizens’ reluctance to actively understand the bill.
Reflection: Whether to fulfill the responsibility of “communication”
On the night of November 26, looking at the billing data, I turned my head and discussed with my mother: “Why do so many people not support 18-year-old citizenship? Not even the big figures of the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, as well as artists such as Wu Nianzhen and Lin Meixiu, all expressed their support. Didn’t you?” I continued, “Didn’t Grandma give birth to you when she was 18 years old? You should be able to experience the feeling of learning to judge rationally and make choices at the age of 18, regardless of whether you are young or old. ?”
“I’ve never heard such a way of speaking being used in propaganda,” my mother replied. “It’s very reasonable. I should explain it to everyone in this way. The older generation must also understand it, so they will be impressed.”
yes!In addition to keeping warm in the stratosphere, agreeing, or discussing propaganda issues with legal principles that the general public cannot swallow, it may not be more than a simple example; And as a member of civil society, have we ever tried to step out of social software and online media, and try to discuss the core value of 18-year-old citizenship with relatives and friends from different regions, ages, and backgrounds, so that they can feel When the referendum on constitutional revision is not only related to everyone’s 18-year-old, but also to the next generation, how about listening to their views and concerns? I must admit, I can’t do enough on my own.
I still remember the referendum on same-sex marriage a few years ago. After the counting of the votes, I discussed with an elder I know. He told me that he voted “no” because he was worried that the legalization of same-sex marriage would encourage married gays to divorce. More family tragedies (I know, that doesn’t really sound reasonable); so I patiently explained it to him, but the vote is closed and irrevocable.
And this time, I made the same mistakes again. It was only after the referendum that I really realized what I had missed and urged myself to look forward. But in any case, we always have to reflect on how to make society better, how to use “language that everyone understands” to stir up ideas with different ethnic groups, find consensus, and seek changes.
For me, communication beyond the stratosphere is the embodiment of the spirit of a democratic society, and it is also an action that must be practiced by me at the age of 19 on the journey of becoming a qualified citizen.
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About the Author:
Wang Shan, Ah Shan, studying in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of National Taiwan University, is a YouTube creator and Podcaster. He loves languages, movies, reading, art and travel, and aspires to become a cross-cultural media person. In addition to immersing himself in the film world in his spare time, he also pays attention to British pop culture. Selected for the Youth Film Troupe of the Golden Horse Film Festival, and served as a jury member for the Munich Children’s Film Festival.
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