Weekly magazine IR encourages you to formulate a VR solution that would give a clear and absorbing insight into political decision making in Latvia. The main motivation of using VR in explaining these mechanisms is to put to use the medium’s first-person experience, thus showing that political decisions concern everyone, despite the popular misconception that “politics doesn’t affect me”. This type of experience could be very useful in schools as well in summer camps, where materials concerning this topic are scarce.

Political involvement in the Western world, including Latvia, is diminishing – many choose not to vote, only a small number of people are ready to join political parties, there are very few activists that take part in protests or other civic activities. The perception of politics as something complex and remote from everyday experience has become alarmingly popular. Especially young people tend to think that politics does not concern them. But it does – laws and decisions taken by the members of the parliament affects us all. Countless aspects of our lives depend on the decisions of politicians – how large part of their salary will my parents have to pay in taxes? Will my granny’s pension will be raised? Will there be free meals at our schools? For how many students the state will cover the tuition fees? It is us who choose and elect politicians who decide these matters.

The VR experience has to explain the mechanisms of our political system in a neutral way and show what we can do, in order to render these decisions more righteous and augment their positive impact on society. After all, the Greek philosopher Aristotle has said that a man is a “political animal” and this thesis is still relevant today. Only our opportunities to impact our lives and the surrounding world have become greater. This means that the responsibility surrounding the decisions we take individually and collectively is greater as well. Therefore it is important to be fully aware of that.