According to dictionary.com, a millennial is: “a person born in the 1980s or 1990s, especially in the U.S.” The generation of millennials seem to have a bad reputation; we are often regarded as lazy, entitled, and out of touch with the world, particularly the political world.
Articles like “Millennial Workers: Entitled, Needy, Self-Centered?” by Jada Graves and “Millennials Frustrate HR Execs,” by Sean Bisceglia look into the traits attributed to our generation. Companies say we have unrealistic expectations about what a job will be like once we are hired, with specific regard to promotions. We think we are owed the job for going to college.
The baby boomers look at us and say we are entitled and narcissistic, based on our greatest contribution to the world: the “selfie.” We are a joke to the older crowd, who
view us as a generation of young people removing themselves from the reality they created who don’t care what happens. They see people who are more interested in partying or tweeting and picking out a filter for their newest Instagram photo instead of voting.
But has anyone stopped to think about what we tweet? It’s not all about the Dress and Kim Kardashian.
According to Aaron Moy’s article “Four Insights about Millennials on Twitter,” 53 percent of millennials tweet about current events but only one in four will show up to
the voting booths to cast a ballot.
We may not participate with rallies or signs, but we are very much aware of the political climate around us. The problem is, we just don’t like what we see.
Personally, I dislike politics. I dislike the bias of the parties. I dislike the judgment and the bad mouthing that our political system has become, and I dislike the
fact I can’t really ever seem to get a straight answer on what a politician believes.
I would describe my party affiliation as a politically agnostic, which is defined by Urban Dictionary as “One who is a registered voter and politically informed, but is basically indifferent and non-committal toward the popular political parties (Democrat or Republican in the U.S.). [He/she] Probably believes that the political parties are so ideologically similar and so mired in their own bureaucracy that they have outlived their usefulness.”
I remove myself from the political process, but not because I don’t care what happens in our government or am too lazy or out of touch to know who or what I am voting
for. I believe that our system is fundamentally broken.
In her article “Why Millennials Don’t Vote,” Danielle Chilton explains, “Voting is all too often viewed as an ineffective form of expression by Millennials. In a sea of millions of votes, it’s hard to feel like your solitary ballot really means that your voice is heard.”
And I agree.
Each political party is too busy attacking the other to come up with any real solutions, and even when an answer presents itself, our represented officials seem more concerned with tearing down the other side of the political fence to support what could be a positive change for our country. I don’t see any politician or political party
that I can say, “yes, I feel represented here.”
Our country will be inherited by the millennials, not the older generations who are currently in office: a generation that doesn’t take me, as a young person, seriously.
A generation that has no politician whose values reflects my own. A generation that, frankly, is screwing me over.
It seems funny that the most credible source of news to me is “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and not MSNBC or the “Today” show. I enjoy that the news is delivered
in both a way that is interesting and informative. I enjoy that Stewart criticizes both parties.
When reading up on current events, more often than not I start with a Buzzfeed article or do more research into a hashtag rather than scanning OregonLive.
I have discussions with my peers about what they think and force myself to listen to opinions I disagree with rather than shoot them down. I play devil’s advocate on issues to see the legitimacy of all sides of an argument.
Organizations like Rock the Vote look at how millennials get involved and try to find ways to increase voter turnout. Ashley Spillane, president of Rock the Vote, explains that millennials are “looking to take problems in real time and fix them.”
Whether it be tweeting about their political views or work in their community with a local startup or volunteering, we millennials care about the issues that matter to us enough to go out and do something about it.
Our involvement may not look like what the baby boomers think it should, but I think that is probably a good thing. Our system needs a change and the only way to change it is for us to find a new way to approach it.
So maybe we millennials are a bunch of passive kids who have a short attention span and spend way too much time on our phones, destined to live in our parents’ basements. Or maybe we are waiting for a time when our voices and opinions are represented in politics, allowing us to make the change we wish to see in the world, one bill at a time.
Or maybe we are just waiting for our time to make the change we all need to see in the world.
