Tonight, Markos Moulitsas, the founder of Daily Kos, gave a talk to Williams College entitled "The Stateof the Nation" about political activism and participation of Young people in American Democracy. I was fortunate enough to attend the event, and having never heard him speck, I was impressed with what he had to say.
He opened his speech by discussing the myth of the apathy of young people in politics and the myth of youth and political activity over new media such as blogs. He mentioned that, surprisingly, the average age of a Daily Kos and other rpolitical blogs is in the mid-40s, and more people over 60 than under 30 write on Daily Kos. He also discussed that although the story of youth inactivity in politics, especially in elections, has had some truth in the past, it is not true anymore. He mentioned how young votes were critical in the Democratic takeover in 2006, and the amount of young voters tripled in Iowa caucus earlier this month. However, he mentioned how its easier to view the youth movement as insignificant because it is easier to continue to listen to these myths, and its is in the interest of the media gatekeepers to continue to believe that there is no real threat to their power or influence.
He also discussed the differences in political activism from to day to years past. He mentioned how in the 60s in 70s, activists needed to get on the news in order to get noticed and make change. However, with today's fragmented media, one can make a difference without needing to appeal to the media giants. Today's activists set up blogs and form coalitions in order to enact change. In this way, Kos says, these are more effective in that these tools are can last much longer than the movements and marches of the 60s. These tools allow this generation to mainstream politics and activism, which allows us to keep up with politics and activism for our entire lives, unlike the movements in the 60s, when the hippie generation grew up and abandoned their politics.
Markos discussed how the gatekeepers of the media is coming to an end, and how my generation can use these new tools to actually enact significant and lasting change in our country.
That is the gist of what he talked about. It was an excellent talk, followed by an often humorous Q and A session, where he seemed to be more in his element. It was definitely worthwhile, and I was glad I could attend.
© Kos Media, LLC
Site content may be used for any purpose without
explicit permission unless otherwise specified.
Privacy Policy
Powered by Scoop.
Permalink | 13 comments