What’s going on? Why are things the way they are? Answers to these questions are complicated and contested, but one significant factor is undoubtedly the agenda of the leaders installed by American voters. And who, by and large, are those voters? The elderly: in 2016, the turnout rate of seniors was 55% greater than that of people under the age of 29. What does that produce? A government 55% more committed to the interests of old people—people who are guaranteed healthcare, who own their homes outright, who will not have to live through the coming climate catastrophe. Their interests are, in many ways, directly opposed to yours and mine. Resource distribution is zero-sum; every dollar saved by a tax cut is a dollar directed away from programs like Pell Grants or universities like CCNY. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Just as our present circumstances are the product of decisions made by those who came before us, our decisions will impact all those still to come. This semester, in the run-up to the 2020 election, we will be challenged to identify and engage with one of the numerous pressing issues being debated in the political sphere. By the end of our time together we will become not only better writers, but better citizens as well.

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