So today is the day that Britain heads to the polls, places an X in the box and elects a new gover.... Blah, blah, whatever. The bitter truth is, you might not vote today. In fact, you probably WON'T, as some 75 per cent of 18-24 year olds decided not to exercise their democratic right in 2010.
But Rick Edwards wants you to change your mind, right here, right now.
Yeah, heat does politics too!
The E4 presenter and MIC aficionado (by the way, yes they are EXACTLY like you think they are, and no, he isn't mates with any of them) is the author of *None Of The Above*and feels very passionately that we ought to at least head to the polls, even if we go just to trash our paper.
"People ask why I've written a book about politics. The implication is, 'What does a youth presenter know about a serious subject like this?', but a lot of young people who might not ordinarily read a book about politics might just read a book about politics by the bloke off of E4," declares Rick.
"I'm not doing it because it's a job, or I get paid, but because I genuinely care about getting young people into politics. A lot of young people have messaged me to say they weren’t going to vote, but now they’ve read the book and are really excited about voting - that's why I wrote it"
Speaking at Salon London, Rick explained why we can feel so disassociated from politics. "To quote Tinie Tempah, 'All the main parties are pretty similar'. People can't tell them apart. There are differences but they are not expressed in a way young people understand." And what many of us can fail to recognise is that all those things we give one about - education, apprenticeships, jobs, homes - are rooted in politics.
"People think young voters are apathetic but they are actually highly engaged with the issues - they just don't realise the issues are political," says Rick.
"It's the responsibility of the politicians to educate young people, to make those links between issues and the political process clear."
Speaking about why young people choose not to vote, Rick says: "Young people say they don't have enough information to make a choice, or that they are not represented, or that they don't think their vote will make a difference. These are all people who are let down in some way by the system. The problem is that young people not voting is having some petty nasty effects on government policy."
So what do you do today, if you have a polling card and the station is on your way home? "Don't stay away, go and vote," urges Rick.
"If you engage with politics early, you will get into the voting habit. If you don't know who to vote for, spoil your paper. That HAS to be taken into account, and if enough people do it, it WILL be recognised as an active form of protest."
There you have it – if you want to make a difference, right now is the time to do it. "This is a very exciting time for our democracy," says Rick. "No one knows what’s going to happen at this election - but we can make a difference."
Whaddaya waiting for? Get down the booth and make your mark. You never know where it might lead.