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Here’s Why Gen Z Voters Might Opt Out in 2024
(www.teenvogue.com)
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this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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politics
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Refusing to vote for an imperfect candidate in order to stop a fascist takeover doesn't sound very smart. "We can't have our specialest most perfectest prezzy so lol get fukked every1."
Neither does ignoring their concerns and saying they should just vote for Biden because he's not trump.
It's true, and they should.
But we have literal decades of evidence showing that "what are you going to do, vote Republican ?" Is a bad strategy and if we want engagement we need to actually do things or at least try
Think of it this way
By the next election one choice isn't eligible anymore, and the second will likely be so buried under court cases he won't be able to.
So it's more of a "finish what was started" and hopefully by the next election we'll finally have some new people to worry about.
4 years is a long time...
And we literally just used that excuse 4 years ago and are going to have the exact two candidates...
And history shows we'll likely still have to pick between two elderly out of touch white men in another four years.
One will probably be actually evil again, and the other will likely think changing anything is too rash of a decision and things are changing to fast already.
The entire point of running for office is getting people to vote for you, that's why the party places so much importance on large corporate donations.
But when a moderate candidate can't get voters energized because they're too pro business and won't help Americans, suddenly it's the Americans fault.
Maybe we should re-evalute if "bringing millions from corporations and billionaires" is really more important in a candidate than "people like this person and want to vote for them".
We keep running historically unpopular candidates in the general and then getting mad they're not popular with voters.
Why keep doing it over and over again?
Because these corrupt politicians deliver big time for their donors. For recent examples, just look at the massive $2 trillion in tax cuts for the rich and corporations Trump passed. That was pretty much his only legislative accomplishment. And then Biden made those cuts permanent. (Ok, not exactly, he raised them back up a small amount by closing a couple loopholes but not close to what they were pre-trump).
If the established power structure won’t allow outsiders to run, and the donors always get what they want, I ask this question instead:
Why would things ever change from here?
kinda hoping for buried in more than just court cases...
The problem is there's too many people hoping for the perfect candidate, who will champion their progressive vision, who will guide us into a utopian future. People want their vote to feel good.
But that's a pipe dream. That person only exists in fiction. Real politics is messy, because it's a group endeavor, and you will inevitably have to get your hands dirty if you want your voice heard, or else lose your voice to people who are glad you stayed silent.
To be fair the specific US system of democracy is a lot shittier than most other Western systems of democracy. There is a lot of reform that can and should be done on it.
The issue is that Gen Z has clocked onto "to what end?" The GOP is going to run a fascist in every presidential election for at least the next decade, maybe until the party collapses. This is the second election in a row where Gen Z has had to "suck it up because democracy is at stake." They're not idiots, they have a strong suspicion that they'll be told to suck it up again in the election after. Is it any surprise that they're not interested in a system that has told them to shut up and do as they're told?
Its especially rough to ask Gen Z to vote for the guy who amped up our oil production to record levels. We cant afford to wait 4 more years on climate and Biden doesn't give enough of a shit about the climate. He was utterly inadequate to the moment 4 years ago, and he hasn't gotten better. I'll still vote for him but centrists you've fucked us, thanks.
Yes it is because there is an alternative... And that alternative isn't a good one.
It's easy to not give a F when you live at home and work just to buy fun stuff for yourself.
So you mean everyone? Who doesn't live at home and doesn't buy fun stuff for themselves?
I walked into that one. Meant to say live with parents. And I did mean work just to buy fun stuff. It's different for a lot of young adults but I think most of their paychecks go towards recreation instead of necessities.
Okay, thank you for clarifying. I remember being young and having less responsibilities, I made significantly less money than I do now but nearly everything I made went towards recreation aside from my cell phone bill and saving for a car. I didn't actually start building a real savings till I was in my early 20's when I finally made enough to move out.
Anecdotal, I know, But I think it's important to keep in perspective that young adults are new to spending and saving, and because they're young and have no experience, we don't yet trust them with big responsibilities, so they get entry level, low paying jobs to start out with. They might not get savings options for retirement, and barely make enough to bother with it, honestly.
But being new to making money at that age, part of that process is learning to spend and save responsibly. That usually means a few years of just recreational spending and maybe a few minimal bills before reality sets in and they take on more responsibility. I don't think that's a bad thing, a lot of that recreational money from younger people props up all kinds of industries.
Would it be great if we all saved from a young age, Absolutely! The sooner the better. But at that age, young adults still gotta grow up a little bit before they really think about that stuff. And personally, I think they should take that extra freedom and lack of responsibility and spend it with their friends, before life and other responsibilities get in the way.
Nothing against their spending habits. I think it's good for your early experiences with working, usually poor, get offset by the fact more of that income is disposable. As you get older though you'll see less and less disposable income (as a percentage) and you pay greater attention how politics can affect your standard of living.
The problem is, I'm almost 40 and have been hearing this my whole life. And the Democrats keep moving further right.
Biden is the most progressive US president in modern history. Maybe still not as progressive as you'd like, but nevertheless Democrats are slowly moving to the left, not right.