Hi everybody,
Well, that post the other day about Bush got me down, but it's important to realize that thankfully, that's in the past now. And since then, I've read two articles that have warmed my heart and fueled a growing sense of optimism I've been having about our country's direction. One article talks about the nature of activism today, the other dismisses the notion that youth, that is, my peers, are apathetic when it comes to politics.
Alright, on the first article. The fact that the protesters aren't taking to the streets like they were in the '60's means that nobody really cares anymore, right? Not according to what this article finds. The world is different today than it was back in the '60's, so doesn't it make sense that the activism would change, too?
The study finds that instead of focusing on huge national issues, today's youth activists choose to pool their, well, our, efforts in a more productive way to make changes in our communities. The author suggests that today's youth generation is getting into battles they can win, as they put it, "Learning the art of the possible."
Perhaps this methodology of changing things in your own midst is a wise one. If a vast majority of young volunteers change things in a positive way in their own schools or cities, then soon the whole state or country will start to reflect this. As an old saying goes, "If everyone kept their front yard clean, the whole world will be free of garbage." I don't remember the exact words, but the words were to the same effect.
In 1989, 66% of college students reported doing volunteer work during their last year of high school. In 2004, 83% of college students reported doing this. There have been many more institutionalized opportunities to get involved with helping communities. I had to do 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate from high school.
At first I was peeved at the prospect of "having to"do something, because I generally don't like being told what to do. But I grew to like doing the volunteer work that I did with my church, which was taking an hour every week to help young kids get their homework done. I developed such a knack for it that I continued to help out after I completed the 40 hours I needed to graduate. Indeed, I have continued after I graduated.
Additionally, the article notes that in the 2004 election, they say, a new generation of politically-involved youth was created. These articles were written a few years ago, so they say youth voters continued to grow in the 2006 midterms, when the first woman ever to become speaker of the house assumed that role.
But the articles were before the 2008 election, which obviously took the youth involvement to a whole new level. This past election has seen the first African-American elected to the highest office and to recieve the highest calling of all, made higher still by all the crises we face. So along with the rise of youth involvement, we also saw a more diverse makeup of non-white males getting into these offices.
Anyway, onto the next article. The article sets up the myth for us that all youth are largely apathetic on politics, that we are largely self-centered. The author flatly rejects this image, and again, 2004 is pointed to as the beginning of this upsurge. This was also before 2008 or even 2006.
Youth (my generation, currently college-age) sees political involvement in a different way than previous generation. Today's young activists are wearing bracelets and using the internet for political discovery and action.
Even the President of the United States, now, has caught on. Barack Obama owes a large part of his success to having utilized the internet, and thus mobilizing the younger generation, for his campaign. Now, as president, his administration has used the internet to make information more widely accessible to the public, perhaps for his goal of "transparency."
Also, I am pleased to announce that I am not alone in this blog. According to the article, there are 917,999 others like me (young people with politically-themed blogs), and this was in 2006. I wonder what a similar early 2009 study would show.
The article also busts the myth that young people are all democrats. While 66% of the 18-25 demographic voted for Obama in 2008, this doesn't mean they're democrats, it just means they voted for Obama. This article states that while those of what they're calling the "Millenial Generation" want to get involved, we are skeptical of party politics and partisanship.
The article says that this is a positive thing, which it is, because politicians will have to work more on the issues that are important to us. I think it's always a positive thing to keep some critical distance from the whole party thing. Too often one party starts calling the other bad, and vice versa. You know what I'm saying, the conservatives attack the liberals, the liberals attack conservatives, and it becomes more of a pissing match than a way of bringing about change.
As one person noted in the political science class I am now taking, and for which I read these articles, said,"There's too much drama in politics." Everybody chuckled at such a frank assessment, but it was true. It was one of those things that was even more funny because it was true.
Another observation from that class concluded that my generation's consensus was that there was too much partisanship, too much meanness in politics. According to the study, we seek authentic solutions to these issues. This is one of the reasons I created this blog, was to hear some of your ideas on the issues.
Anyway, I hope these stories make you, the reader (or Reeder) as heartwarmed by these findings as I was, and let me know what you think, if you have any stories or experiences on the subject, I'd love to hear them. I should have plenty more ripe blog material from this poli sci course, so stay tuned!
This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.
