Politics without future

Do young people care about voting?

If you’re under 35, you may have gotten some variation of this problem once or twice in the past year. Most people cannot agree on a consensus. Some think it’s the everything app X or the Chinese spy app TikTok that’s making teenagers uninterested. Or that we don’t understand the basic freedoms that America offers, like the 72 oz. Big Gulp or colored vapes.

It’s not that superficial. Yes, we care about voting. You can stop reading now.

I am joking.

While my generation cares about voting, it’s not in the way pollsters, politicians, journalists or older generations think. Young voters are demanding more from Democrats, rather than conforming to old and limiting ideas about what national politics is. Despite constant expulsion from the party structure, young Americans are pushing the envelope on our most important issues.

Young people’s votes, traditionally a key support of the Democratic coalition, are less represented than ever in Harris’ campaign. Traditionally right-wing policies break And border wall They became the main talking points of the campaign, with the youngest members of the coalition remaining outside the tent.

His open support for Israel’s massacre in Gaza has been questioned at the election level Michiganand yet refused to take meaningful action to stop the murder. Youth activists Before he was arrested, he protested climate policy outside his Brentwood home and refused to budge an inch.

Not only has he failed to raise our concerns, but the party has openly disdained addressing them. As if young people should fall in line just because there’s no Donald Trump.

Nationally, America’s youngest voters are motivated not by compelling policies on our important issues like health care, climate change, and demilitarization, but rather by a sinister assumption.

One crisis leads to another, and little change occurs from Democrat to Republican despite well-organized campaigns aimed at taking action on the most salient issues, such as climate change, disarmament, and health care.

The failure is not because young voters want more. This is entirely the fault of American politicians and both parties, who are beholden to defense contractors, private insurers, and energy companies.

A brief history of the youngest voters

It’s worth looking at when the idea of ​​”young voters” became so popular and how America’s youngest voters have shifted historically.

I’ll go after you, usually Democrat.

“Youth” as a political force has its origins in 1960s San Francisco. Many people have written many in-depth studies of the Bay Area in the 1960s (Malcom Harris Palo Altoin my opinion, one of the best) but the current idea of ​​​​young people as a political force came to the fore in the turbulent period of that time.

Unwashed longhairs flocked to the Bay from across the country to pursue a vague idea of ​​freedom spurred by the Beats, Merry Pranksters and LSD. Their protests for free speech and Civil Rights, as well as their organizing against the Vietnam War, eventually coalesced into a coherent political bloc demanding change.

However, America did not give 18-year-olds the right to vote until 1971; This is somewhat ironic considering that at this point 18 year olds have been dying in Vietnam for several years.

In the 1970s, young voters were divided between Republicans and Democrats. in 1980 children shook hard It’s for Regan’s dopey America First project, but in the late ’80s and early ’90s, young Americans attracted Democrats’ attention.

according to US Election Assistance CommissionThere was a marked decline in 1992 and 1996 (I guess Clinton wasn’t that popular with young people, although that’s surprising). Remarkably, 1992 also marked a decline in national GDP and an “economic downturn,” the so-called economic crisis. Huge increase in unemployment It goes until the election.

But according to the information from the authorities, those damn kids slowly returned there. non-profit database StatistaIt is owned by the large German advertising firm Ströer. The voting percentage of those aged 18-24 increased gradually in the first two elections of the new millennium.

There was another decline from 2008 to 2012 (it’s unclear why, because nothing major like a global recession occurred then), then a steady climb to a high of 48 percent of registered voters aged 18-24 in 2020 . It’s as if some cataclysmic political shift occurred between 2016 and 2020 (like the election of a right-wing reality TV star to America’s highest office).

Pew Research Center It shows the under-30 crowd was small for Democrats in the 2018 and 2022 midterms and a larger contingent in the 2020 general election.

However, the idea of ​​“young voters” has been around as an amorous political buzzword for as long as I have experienced the last election with increasing enthusiasm. It is not clear who exactly he is tucker carlson or Jake Tapper they mean it when they say it, and the phrase seems very appropriate for anyone under 35, conservatively, or under 43, more liberally.

Generally, the term “young voters” is used derisively by politicians or similar pundits in an attempt to influence college kids and young professionals. Whether this initiative will work or not depends on the conditions of the country rather than the politicians or parties.

Young voters now

The latest survey data highlights two notable trends. First of all, young voters are turning more to Harris. Second, young voters who express their views on national elections have made up their minds long before the vote is taken.

A brief analysis of recent polls shows that the youngest voters still tend to lean toward the Democrats. A. tassel research Before the 2024 election, 51 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 were likely to vote, while 62 percent of voters ages 25 to 34 were likely to vote. But critically, this survey highlights that more than 70 percent of these groups voted in 2020 and more than 85 percent voted in 2022 in the midterms after Dobbs’ decision.

recently Harvard The survey of 18-29 year olds goes a little further, noting that Harris has a “31-point lead over former President Donald Trump among likely voters in a multi-candidate matchup,” with 74 percent of younger Democrats approving. Absolutely” vote for Harris.

Data obtained from both Pew Research analysis The Harris-Trump matchup from early October provides a more nuanced understanding than “kids don’t vote.” According to Pew data, 82 percent of voters are confident they support either Harris or Trump.

All of this underscores Harris’ policies, even though the youth vote still remains reliably Democratic. not interesting larger portions voters.

With this in mind, Democrats argue that: already exists He has enough voters on his side to win the election. It’s an assumption that, beyond being arrogant, seems to undermine the basis of the “orange man is bad” argument.

Kids run the show

The Democratic Party’s failure to engage new groups of young voters encouraged grassroots organizing.

Despite the Democratic administration’s commitment to Israel right to self defense The Independent movement, composed mostly of young students in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, was beaten back during the Michigan primary. Same ones now young activists They are expected to bring the Harris campaign to its knees without meaningful policy change.

This reflects a key expectation among Democratic Party officials that young voters will line up. Faced with a choice between a senile predator and a reactionary prosecutor, kids will likely vote for Harris.

While this may be true in some states, what is more remarkable is that the Democratic Party is willing to make this bet. The conceit that young voters will line up because they have nowhere else to go is a risky bet, but the logic is clear.

Ostensibly in opposition to pro-business Republicans, Democrats cannot engage with the youth-oriented left wing of their own party. Doing so would undermine the institutional relationships that the party had rebuilt following the move away from organized labor in the mid-1970s.

For example, three of Kamala Harris’ top 10 contributing donors in the 2024 cycle are Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital and Alphabet Inc., according to the nonprofit. Unlock Secrets.

Thus, the concerns of young voters are ignored. Instead of accepting our fate and marching with the rotten Democratic Party, young people are forcing the issue.

In the face of massive corruption takeover, my generation and younger people are pushing back against incompetent politicians and rotten grassroots organized political parties. In the Bay Area, Jewish Voices for Peace, AROC and other nonprofits have been demonstration and protest Against the Americans and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Eighteen Each of the 26 protesters who participated in the April march were charged with misdemeanors and felonies on Monday, October 21. It is worth noting that SF DA Brooke Jenkins is the Director of Public Affairs. Lilly Rapson He was a former director at AIPAC from August 2016 to May 2019.

Extinction Rebellionan international environmental justice group, has organized activities at companies that finance and insure fossil fuel extraction.

Workers in medical centers throughout the Bay Area They organized strikes to fight for better healthcare plans and fair living conditions.

While these pushbacks against America’s political failures are meaningful, they are not enough to enact the changes necessary to make life fair or even prosperous for future generations. As we have seen, existing parties and politicians will not kneel to the will of the people.

Pressing the issue politically requires organizing internationally among colleagues. Of course, it is a big project, but it is not impossible with the development of instant communication and connection.

Beyond misty idealism, a better future for our generation is not only possible, it is the only other option. The real losers of America’s shift to the right will not be grizzled Boomers or stale Gen Xers, but the youngest Americans who will have to live with this terrible future. We can do something better for ourselves, but only by working together.