When Donald Trump was first elected President in 2016, I didn’t know enough about anything to love or hate him. But the radicalness of his Presidency forced me to take a cold, hard look at our government. And that served as the catalyst for my intensive passion for politics. January 6, 2021, has helped me realize how important our role is in government and politics. And in having an emerging, critical awareness of the world, it comes with a deep curiosity, and responsibility.

Still riding high off the new year and Biden’s victory, nothing seemed too unusual that January morning. I had already known Trump was holding a rally that day because of my Twitter feed, but it was also my Twitter feed that kept me updated when Trump’s supporters made their way from the Ellipse to the Capitol. I can’t tell you exactly what I was thinking while following the coverage, but I can tell you what I was feeling: an unsettling mix of confusion and apprehension. I also wish I could tell you what the insurrectionists were thinking, aside from echoes of Trump’s inciting messages.

Within 10 minutes of receiving live updates, I became enveloped. It was all I could focus on. There was footage actively coming out of Capitol Police officers and barricades being swarmed and toppled. I also remember the first notification I got that shots had been fired, and someone was critically injured, perhaps dead.

It was scary. It felt like I had been watching the downfall of democracy, watching the white supremacists take over, and win. But what’s scariest to me now, reflecting on everything that’s happened, aren’t the white supremacists or QAnonconspirators; it’s the general public’s detachment from all of it.

When the Capitol was being broken into, it felt like that was the only thing happening in the world. It felt like if I had looked away for more than two seconds, I’d miss one of the biggest moments in history. And I thought that feeling was universal. But as time goes on, I can feel the public’s interest slowly dwindling. It feels like barely anybody cares anymore, and that’s deeply concerning.

I understand some people’s capacity for politics only holding but so much; it’s a stressful thing to enwrap yourself in. But, earlier I mentioned that with an awareness of the world comes 1responsibility—that responsibility is to know your history, lest you be doomed to repeat it. And part of knowing your history is knowing your government and its workings. Every rioter present at the Capitol should’ve been arrested and indicted on the spot. It proved a very clear disparity between militant response in the Black Lives Matter protests that took place the year prior. Why weren’t the same levels of force, if not more, applied to the Capitol mob? Especially when Jan. 6 proved itself to be way more threatening than any racial justice protest.

If people paid more attention to Washington, the country would benefit greatly. There is no such thing as ‘ignorance is bliss’ in politics. The facts are out there; it’s up to us to find them and form our own judgments, and to then do something about the corruption and wrongdoings. I believe these are intrinsic responsibilities American citizens hold. It’s the only way a democracy can function, and right now, democracy is on its last legs in this country. So we could stand for a good revitalization, and we’re the only ones who can supply that.

For every step forward, the country takes five more steps back. A line was crossed on Jan. 6 and if we, as a society, pardon or disregard it, it sends a dangerous message to those who participated, and to democracy as a whole. Don’t allow our government to be tyrannized by extremists. Don’t let violent zealots hold our Congress hostage.

I came across an Atlantic article that said Jan. 6 was just practice for something else. Something bigger. Radicalized Americans are already on a power trip—what will happen if we give them more leeway? What will happen if we ignore our government? What will happen if we ignore democracy? What will happen if we forget Jan. 6? It’s questions like these that alarm me, so I pose them to you.