It has been a tumultuous year in terms of politics, to say the least. Even those who claim to be relatively uninterested and disconnected from the political world can’t seem to ignore what is happening all around them. However, I’ve noticed that a lot of these people who claim to be disinterested in paying attention to the news, or even voting, tend to be millennials.
The good news, from what I can see, is that millennials aren’t entirely unaware of what is happening in the world around them. According to Pew Research Center, millennials more increasingly identify as liberal than any other generation before them. This is quite apparent through the increasing support for LGBT+ rights, women’s rights, climate change awareness, and much more. With that, it’s not surprising that during the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton won the youth vote with 55 percent of millennial voters.
Yet, only 50 percent of eligible millennials actually voted in the election. This might not seem so surprising, as many maintain the attitude that their “vote doesn’t matter anyways.” This is obviously quite frustrating; imagine how different the results would have been if more millennials had voted.
Their vote did matter. Although this point might seem futile as it has already been 10 months since the election, I believe that it still stands, because the youth today seems to maintain this same mindset for politics in general. Maybe you told yourself that nothing bad could ever happen to you. War will never break out. People will never lose their rights. But in the 230+ days that Donald Trump has been in office, damage has been done.
The Director of the Environmental Protection Agency is a climate change denier. DACA recipients are looking at having their entire lives ruined and being sent to a country they’re not even familiar with. Transgender individuals are looking at being banned from the military. White Supremacists have become so emboldened that they now walk the streets spouting hate without any masks on.
What I’m trying to say is that politics are so crucially important to be aware of and it will end up affecting you eventually. We are not doing ourselves any favors plugging our ears and wearing our rose-colored glasses. We need to stop letting the older generation decide our future for us, because we are the ones who live with the repercussions.
It can be discouraging when you feel like you’re too small to have any impact on this world, especially when you’re under the age of 18. But what I’ve learned in trying to expand my worldview, is that your voice matters. We are the ones who are going to lead the free world someday, and there are already such young people out there, trembling with bravery and making a difference. I’m not saying that you have to dedicate your life to politics, but don’t stand down and let yourself live life unaware. Take time to learn about the issues surrounding your own country and beyond, because it matters. I feel like this above anything, cultivates powerful empathy. Because I cannot tell you how many ignorant comments I have seen towards transgender and gay individuals, or about women’s healthcare, or climate change, just because said person wasn’t informed about what they were talking about. Imagine what a difference it would make if these people read the news or took time to learn about these things.
It might be easier and less depressing to not read the news every day, but there has never been any benefit to remaining ill-informed. Even though devastating things are happening every single day, I believe in today’s youth’s ability to inspire a “revolution” of sorts. We are definitely growing in size, and it gives me hope. I hope that it can give you some hope, too.
