Any time we lose an election, there inevitably follows a lot of soul-searching. What did we do wrong? Was it the success of the other side, the failure of ours, or both? Many, many diaries here on DKos have attempted to explore that issue.
Here is the one I want to focus on. The following is a graph of the percentage of voters by two age groups: Under 30, and 60 and over.
The 2012 election party that I attended was a young, Democratic, mixed-race crowd. We watched and cheered as Blue states went blue, and we booed every time a Red state went red. But when it came to Senate results? Hell, you would have thought that the TV wasn't even on. On several occasions I was the only person in the room cheering when a Democratic Senator won. (This was an overwhelmingly Democratic crowd, remember.) It became glaringly obvious: The only election that some of them cared about was the presidency.
Fellow Millennials, this is unacceptable.
It is unacceptable that many of us feel that simply electing a Democratic president is enough.
It is unacceptable that many of us would let cynicism turn into a decision not to vote.
It is unacceptable that many of us whose votes have still not been suppressed would not cast those votes.
It is unacceptable that most of us show practically zero participation in local politics. More on this in a minute.
It is unacceptable that many of us care more about the latest music, fashion, movies, video games, or sports teams than we do about issues that actually affect people's everyday lives.
It is unacceptable that many of us feel that because we are winning on LGB [sic] and recreational pot issues, that counts as enough to say that the United States is on the right track. Why? Because those are the ONLY two major issues where we're making progress. Women's reproductive freedom? See all the anti-choice laws being passed around the country. Civil liberties? What Edward Snowden revealed to us is just the tip of the iceberg. The environment? You do know you're going to have to live in a climate-changed world, right? Race? Oh my...where do we even begin with that one.
One thing that the elderly generation tends to get right, which we tend not to, is political participation. Showing up at the voting booth once every four years is not going to cut it. We live in a post-Citizens-United world, and if we the citizens keep allowing our voices to be silenced, the voices that dominate the political sphere will more and more be the ones who willingly and eagerly kick the reasonable voices to the curb. So my charge to my fellow Millennials is this: Start paying attention to and participating in all levels of government to the degree that you are able.
Look, I know it can seem daunting. But you gotta start somewhere. Attend your city council or county commission meeting on a monthly basis--more, if you can manage. If you see any notifications for a local road project open house, or an emergency school board meeting, or anything of that nature, book that event and go. Unless you have a personal emergency, or you have a class or work during that time (and it can't be rescheduled), and you absolutely cannot do so, go. But don't be sitting back and complaining that your government won't listen to you if you're able to participate in it but choose not to.
P.S.: For anyone who feels offended because this feels like an "attack" on Millennials, good. You're one of the people I needed to reach. First of all, in case you didn't see my repeated use of the first-person plural, I AM a Millennial. Second, this isn't an attack, not even close: It's simple honesty. (You do remember honesty, right?) Secondly, if you don't like this tone, then what the hell are you doing on DKos? I toned this down quite a bit from what I really felt like saying. And by far the most infuriating comments I have seen have been the ones accusing others of being "too harsh," or that we need to "settle down." Settling down is exactly what we DON'T need to do and what got us into this mess in the first place. Hell no. Be peaceful, but be assertive. We need to start cleaning out the shit in our communities, our states, and this nation. And we don't have time to complain about doing it. Otherwise, that pile of shit is just going to get deeper.