Millennials get a lot of flack for everything from selfies to politics. This is nothing new- every generation had something that their elders poked fun at. There is nothing enormously absurd or surprising about this particular intergenerational change. There is, however, one myth that needs to be debunked.
I hear a lot of people that millennials are lazy- you want to get an education without drowning in debt? Affordable healthcare? Safe and affordable housing? Receive the social security you've been paying into?! How dare we? But this isn't all about laziness, it's about compassion.
Voting for a candidate who supports debt-free higher education will not affect me. I will hopefully have graduated before that would come to pass. But I'm not going to say, "I trudged 12 miles through the snow to a college that spent four years burying me in debt." No, I want better for the students that come after me.
Had I been old enough to vote for President Obama in his first term, my favorite part of the ACA- the part that allows you to stay on your parents' health insurance until the age of 26- would not have affected me for long between the passing of the ACA and me turning 26. But would I still want that for my younger siblings? For strangers? Absolutely. I am lucky enough to have well educated parents with good health insurance. I do not plan on needing public health insurance any time soon. But do millions of others need it? Do those millions of other people matter? Absolutely. I would pay out the ears if it meant that i was playing a part in saving lives. Will that fund some lazy adults? Maybe. But if it also means helping innocent children and adults with dangerous preexisting conditions and subsequent medical bills out the wazoo, I'll call that a win. Because I hope my fellow Americans would do the same for me.
I personally have health insurance. If I needed to go to a gynecologist, get a mammogram or vaccine or even prenatal care, I could go to a doctor and most of my bill would be covered. The rest I could afford to pay out of pocket. I personally have never needed to use the services of a free clinic. I have never needed a health service that myself or my family could not provide for me. I'm not bragging, I'm recognizing my privilege. And I'm recognizing that my personal needs and experiences are not universal. This does not mean that no one else has to choose between food and medical care. This does not mean that no one else has nowhere else to turn but their local Planned Parenthood for prenatal care or education. This does not mean that everyone could afford STI testing or treatment out of pocket. This does not mean that everyone has somewhere besides their local health department to turn to for vaccines for their children. I never have and hope to never know the level of hardship and need that so many Americans face on a daily basis. But this does not make their experience any less valid than my own.
Minimum wage is another hotly debated topic in America and I can't claim to know every single detail, effect, and repercussion, but then again neither can most of you. But what I can say with certainty is that my fellow human beings deserve to make a livable wage when working their hardest full time, regardless of occupation. College tuition and cost of living are exploding across the country, and so is poverty. As much as many of us fight to get an education and salary far beyond minimum wage, many do not have that ability whether through choice or circumstance. If we want fewer people reliant on "government handouts," we can't expect our fellow Americans to continue living at or below the poverty level despite full time work.
Demanding equal pay does not make me a young, whiny feminist. I adore and am grateful for women's rights activists of the past. But their work is not finished.
In 2014, every single Republican voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2014. Every. Single. One. Forget being your mothers, daughters, and sisters. Women are people. People who it has been decided again and again deserve less than what they work for.
With the impending repeal of the Affordable Care Act and defunding of Planned Parenthood, women can be charged more for health insurance under the assumption that these women will eventually give birth and cost them more. Your incubation potential will be considered a preexisting condition. Women will no longer receive low to no cost birth control or be guaranteed the right to pump or breastfeed in the workplace. Congress recently voted not only to repeal the ACA but voted against any requirements that its replacement include many of its important components.
Fun game: try this interactive calculator to see how various ACA replacement plans could affect YOU.
Don't love Obamacare? Okay. Want to replace it? Show us what you've got! Thinking of repealing it with little to no solid alternatives? Try again. It's our job to be aware of and fight changes that would move our country backwards rather than propelling the move toward equality that was supported by the ACA.
Working towards equality for the sake of others and making positive changes that we may never even feel the effects of is not selfish. It's not lazy. It's compassion. It's recognizing that our personal privilege is not a universal experience.
