It has been over a week since the United Kingdom came to a vote to leave the European Union. After campaigning two major political points about more money being put towards the National Health Service and a cut on immigration, one of the hosts on Good Morning Britain asked Leave campaigner Nigel Farage if he could guarantee that the 350 million pounds they send to the EU each will go towards the NHS. Farage replied with this:
"No I can't, and I would never have made that claim, it was one of the mistakes the Leave campaign made."
Once this was said, a lot of backlash occurred, most of which came from Britain’s youth on social media.
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When the referendum on June 23 took place, about 75 percent of people under 25 voted “Remain,” and when the results were announced, they were shocked. The Guardian predicted that because of the referendum’s outcome, there is a possibility that a recession is in store for the UK, meaning there will be limited funding for university, and that it will limit where the youth of Britain can have a job.
Jack Lennard published an editorial on Vox about how “betrayed” he feels by the vote’s outcome, and this is why:
“This is a final middle-fingered salute to the young from the baby boomer generation. Not content with racking up insurmountable debt, not content with destroying any hopes of sustainable property prices or stable career paths, not content with enjoying the benefits of free education and generous pension schemes before burning down the ladder they climbed up, the baby boomers have left one last turd on the doorstep of the younger generation.”
So, why is it important that some British youth feels upset that his vote was overshadowed by a different generation?
It is important because this generation has to live with this decision longer than the generation that dominated the vote.
Not to say that certain votes made by certain people do not matter. Voting is an important aspect of freedom of speech, and everyone is entitled to their own ideas and beliefs. However, the British Millennials will now have to deal with the consequences of one decision made by a generation that will barely be affected by it. The British Millennials are the ones who have to deal with the Leave campaign not keeping their promises and having their futures completely altered by this very outcome.
In my own experience, I have heard and seen multiple older people comment on how they believe that youth today are apparently clueless and only care about the wonders of technology. First, without technology our generation could not advance and discover new ways of learning, so caring about these “wonders of technology” seem to be a good thing for us. And second, the Millennials are not clueless. In fact, our generation is adapting to so many new ideas that generations before us could not have imagined. This response is biased, of course, but it is true. And it will be true for the generations after us. This is how society evolves- new ideas create new technology, which then creates new methods of learning, which also creates more new ideas.
For the British Millennials, adapting to this outcome will not be easy, especially with everything that is to come with this result. There is even a petition being shared around the Internet to call for a second referendum, so maybe there is a chance that their voices can be heard again, but a bit more louder this time.
Despite the crazy, and yet spicy, memes that we share, the catchy songs we blare on our phones, and crave for new technology that we have, we are still a strong generation with wonderful ideas that deserved to be heard. We are the future leaders of tomorrow, and our generation’s voice is too loud to silence.
To learn more about what the European Union is, the results of the referendum, or to find answers to any other questions that you may have, check out this blog called A Guide For the British EU Referendum.
