Why would the youth of America ignore politics except to complain.?

Question

The majority of voters on election day are older people, the youth who have more to lose refuse to become involved and only want to complain. Minimum wage, marrige laws, abortion, taxes, all impact the lives of younger people and yet they are absent on election day.

Answer 1

I think it's for many of the same reasons that the average American (regardless of age) doesn't vote. I think there has been a loss of agency and a rise in dissatisfaction and distrust. and that this has only been furthered in the younger generation. Basically, election trends have been diminishing since the middle of the last century. The levels of trust that people have in government have all gone down in the same time period (Milkis and Nelson discuss these trends in the beginning of their book on the American Presidency).

I think it's safe to say that many of my older Gen-X friends first political memories are of Watergate. Not exactly a prime place to start if you want to instill feelings of goodwill towards political institutions into a generation. This attitude can and will spread to the younger members of the generation and even into the new one. I, as an older member of Gen-Y (yep, i'm that young) am very aware of growing up in a time where the weekly "War on --insert any and every moderately questionable noun or verb here--" (i.e. t.v. drugs, videogames, one-strap backpacks, Pokemon) seemed not only unwinnable but almost the "long arm" of mother. Look, I'm totally for responsible living and I think that there should be regulations and restrictions. But, the average 16 year-old is probably already fed up with the
parent(s) he or she already has and really isn't looking for the goverment to become another one. In essence that tactic wasn't effective (for better or worse) and my generation probably became even more disinfranchised in the process a la the "Hey why are they always picking on us?" line of reasoning.

And now the defense of my generation:

Having said all this, my generation is politically active. It's just not in the traditional way, so you have to broaden the definition a bit. We are more likely to donate to or volunteer at charities and aid organizations than past generations. We are more likely to overstep the bounds of traditional political catagories. Almost all my friends identify as liberal on one set of issues and conservative on another. We are more likely to be independants or support independant candidates than those who came before us. And we really do vote with our pocket books. I can't tell you how many people I know who don't buy from select stores because they don't support their policies. And, yes, we complain but it's often because it's the only way we feel heard.

Finally, there are many of my generation who do actively participate in politics. I'm one of them. I am studying Poli Sci in college. I vote. I even sponsor rallies for candidates. One of my closest friends is, as we speak, running for local election on real issues, not whining. And here's something really strange-- he and I are on totally different sides of the political spectrum but we're open to each other's views. Who'd have thunk?

Answer 2

America's Youth live in country where they are taught to be preoccupied with sex, their appearance, alcohol and drug use, and getting rich fast. Politics is viewed as something boring, and something that is not of interest to "cool, hip kids". I don't know how old you are, but I am 21. Most the young people I talk to have very basic opinions on politics, and might say something crude like "Bush sucks!" but really have no reasons to back it up. The problem with America is that we are bombarded on a daily basis by crap that doesn't matter in a global sense. Our top news stories usually involve Paris Hilton or Michael Jackson. Deliberate distractions like reality TV, mainstream music, and such all contribute to a collective "duh" face when one mentions politics. Walk up to a young person on the street. Ask them to name the second president of the United States, and I guarantee you the majority of the responses will be "Abraham Lincoln." But if you ask which contestant won American Idol last season, most of these kids will know it. Politicians don't want to get young people involved in elections. They've seen what the power of youth can do to a country--so much passion and energy. So most political events and issues are geared toward people my parents' age and older. Kids these days don't have time to worry about "crap" like that. They are too busy with IPODs and MP3 players and their cell phones and laptops and satellite televisions. They are taught to be self-centered and only look out for number one. Listen to rap music for instance. Now I don't want anyone calling me a racist, but just listen to the words. It's all about sex, drugs, money, fighting, and oh more sex and money. The kids brought up listening to this kind of music think that these are the goals they should look to attain in life. If hip hop had a more positive message, we would see a change in our youth's mindset.

I've got to stop, or I'll go on forever.

Answer 3

I agree, I am 21 years old and have voted in every elections that I have been able too. If you don't vote you don't have any right to complain about the people in office or anything else related to politics. Your right us young people need to get out and vote especially for things that we believe in. Young people today don't care about things like that, I don't know anyone of my friends that have a voters license or vote. Yet they sit around and complain about all things they think are wrong with the government. I think if we want to make a difference we need to vote and my one vote isn't going to do it!!!!

Answer 4

The majority of them feel voting is useless because the two party system restricts their choice. What they need to do is get more involved and start a fresh batch of politicians that they can believe in. Sitting out elections only lets others impose their ideas on you.

Answer 5

The issues, understanding them, trying to make sense of the obfuscation, doing the research into the people running for public office and various other issues is so complex that most young people just don't have the patience to wade through all of it.

That and if it isn't something that directly AND negatively impacts them then they just won't put the effort into it.

Speakeasy, you are soooooo right.

Answer 6

Because Leftists train them to complain rather than to gather information from broad sources to understand what is going on.

Historically, Leftists have used youth as a battering ram, getting them all worked up and angry (but not well informed) to try and overthrow or bully a society into submission.

We saw this in NAZI Germany as the Socialist Workers Party took power, the Red Guard in China, May Day in France in 1968, the recent anti-war civil disruptions in America and abroad...

Answer 7

Nowadays, the younger Americans have grown accustomed to having "it" given to them....

they easily see what is wrong, but have difficulty seeing what is going right.

Voting intelligently is WORK.... do you wonder that it is shunned by the youth...

and the young are easily swayed by fabrications and half-truths.... again, it is WORK to take the time to ascertain the truth of issues.

The young of today have grown up in a greed motivated society fueled by mindless consumerism...... results: a throw away society.... AND,

by NOT VOTING, they risk throwing away their most precious possessions: their FREDOMS and their RIGHTS..... that is truly sad.

Those freedoms and rights were fough for in order to establish them and they continue to be fought for in order to maintain them. VOTE!

Answer 8

the young people of any generation are not yet vested in what politics mean to them and their life. Once they become home owners or business owner or just work for a living that's when it will hit them to participate in politics.

Answer 9

because will when was the last time you listen and did something like change something that we want changed or voted on something that we cared about or why is it you have to be old like at least 40 to run for most offices and no one think like we do or care what we want although one day y'all will all be gone and maybe then the younger people will have a say because we will remember how y'all talked to us that is why we do not care to vote

Answer 10

I agree with DTB...the elected officials do not seem to care about the twenty somethings of this country...

It's hard to get excited about politics when politicians don't care about what you have to say

We know they don't care about us because they love to do things like cutt federal pell grant programs