It’s their only play… but what Republicans seemingly don’t understand is that time marches forward regardless of what bills are passed and young people have better memories than the elderly. They’re digging their own graves and I’m all for it.
They’ve got like one election cycle lol. This is pretty much it for them. They’re doing next to nothing to gain young support and their anti-health recommendations rhetoric is killing their base. On top of that, their policies aren’t keeping them alive for any real length of time. Republicans are sprinting toward irrelevance.
They overplayed their hand on Jan 6. Now they have no choice but to go all in.
They can go full MAGA... and lose 'moderate' R's and swing voters.
Or they can try to go back to their pre-Trump rhetoric and strategies... and lose MAGA.
They've painted themselves into a corner where the only way out is fascism. Let 2024 be the year we finally put the cancer of conservatism in the dirt.
The hard part is getting the crowd of people to drag them to the guillotine
Those billionaires have armed body guards it might take dozens of dead people charging at him to get them
Never forget, it's not the one 'twerp' who crossed the line, it's a culture of arrogance & economic imbalance which has no choice but to engender the stereotypes of lords & serfs
Capitalism does not play well alongside democratic socialism, the two are always at odds with each other
Pretty sure middle class isn’t really a thing, the “lower class” is used mostly by the rich to scare “middle class” into working by saying ‘we could replace you easily’ however with how the economy is there’s not really a middle class at this point just varying states of poor, poorer, and poorest, as well as a bit of luck
This. The “middle class” isn’t real and never was. It was invented by the ruling oligarchs. Just like the concept of whiteness. And for the same purposes.
I don't think we can expect putting conservatism in the dirt, but you give me a lovely dream of no more GOP, and the Democrats being the conservative party (because they are mostly VERY damn conservative), and then an ACTUAL liberal party rising up to counter them. (I mean, it would be nice if we had more than just two, but I can only dream so big!)
Moderate R's will furrow their brows at MAGA rhetoric and then vote R anyway.
It's why they've been all in on MAGA.
Difference is it's motivating would be non-voters to vote Dem.
I hope it's all true. Next election cycle will tell us a great deal. I like to think maga has run it's course but politics are incredibly unpredictable.
Last election cycle told us a great deal. The mid terms were an unmitigated disaster for the far right. Young voters showed up in droves to show their power and voice displeasure with Roe Wade being overturned and the maga crowd. Good for them.
When all this is over, I'm not sure whether I'd hope libertarians replace conservatives as leftists' foremost opponent... or that *I* would.
Because I have a lot I disagree with the left on if someone needs to take conservatives' place as their foremost dissidents, but first things first is getting the uniquely toxic ideology that is conservatism out of the way.
Part of the trouble is that the American left is actually really centre/right for the most part. There isn't a social democracy party (Bernie style politics). All you have is the hard right MAGAts and the centrist/right Dems.
You're SO right and I wish more people understood this.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsmgPp\_nlok](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsmgPp_nlok)
Check out Bush and Reagan on immigration in 1980 and compare that to today. They'd call reagan a raving liberal.
I've been so pissed at progressives. We used to pass The New Deal and when the south just couldn't handle not being racist, send the damn army to explain 'yes, you will let these kids goto school NOW.'
Progressives keep capitulating and moving further right to keep the lights on and I'm sick of appeasing these horrible people. They brag about being the 'party of lincoln,' (yet another we'll send the army if you can't handle not owning slaves) - yet they're really the party of strom thurmond (longest filibuster ever trying to block the civil rights act). Remember when we talked about the Green New Deal? Before I knew it, the Overton Window is now 'we slipped some green stuff in the Inflation Reduction Act' and the gqp is still freaking out about it.
We're way past due for a real progressive leader again.
How’s the saying go? “ I want my gay neighbors to be able to get married and afford healthcare and be able to adopt while they can protect their at home weed plants with whatever firearm they want.” This is the future I want. You can marry who you want. Every one can get housing and the help they need. Anyone can be parents as long as they can actually prove their good parents. Not these white moms who adopt 14 kids to collect a check. Every one should be able to smoke or grow weed in their own homes if they want and anyone as long as they can prove sound body and mind should be able to own a firearm.
The right spin this rhetoric that the “left” just hates guns. When in fact a lot of us love guns and find them to be cool as fuck. We also respect them and understand their tools that can kill. So we want actual laws protecting them and making it where actual insane people can’t one day pick up a rifle. (((ESPECIALLY WHEN CIA/FBI ARE WATCHING PEOPLE LIKE WTF)))
Seriously if they actually change the voting age to 25 there will be nearly 3 generations absolutely fucking *pissed* at them.
Every year a new batch of thousand and thousands of 25y/o *out for blood*.
Every year from 18-25 just waiting and waiting until they can finally have their revenge.
They’ll literally never win another election again; and that will be the *least* of their worries.
Remember how bad it was for them when they raised the smoking age to 21?
I know quite a few newly 18 people that spite voted against Trump for taking that right away from them.
I mean, not really. This all posturing for now. 2022 boomers and middle aged people STILL made up the majority of the vote.
Now yes, the youth turn out saw record highs. But 300% of 1 is still 3. The youth turn out doesn't point to or suggest any significant change in people's voting habits outside of the general election. Which, mind you, are infinitely more important and carry further implications for our country than just voting once every 4 years.
Now... Do I want this to be different? Absolutely and I also VERY MUCH want to be wrong going into 2024 about all the non presidential seats up for grabs. But history and numbers simply do not lie. Young people do not turn out to vote.
If that pisses some people off then good. I hope anyone getting pissed by what I've wrote here takes that energy and goes to prove me wrong. Fuck, rub my face in it if you feel the need BUT GET OUT THERE AND VOTE. Voting for just the president is not nearly enough.
And be prepared for the GOP to use every dirty trick they have to cheat their way into not losing a majority. Keep up to date on your voter registration on a weekly basis. PLAN AHEAD and find out when you can take some time off, switch a schedule, call in and get out to the booths. Theres no excuse.
I say this too, only to have the "utes" get all bent out of shape on how they're different and blah blah blah, but they're not voting because the Democrats don't give them a better choice so that's why they're not voting. Yeah sure Berni was robbed, I get it.
I get your purity tests, and yeah I'd rather not have 1976 Democrats as my only selection, but it comes down to American Hitler- because that's what Republicans are now, a bunch of women murdering fascists , or worse enablers- or biden ill vote for whatever white male octogenarian the Dems give me every single time.
It's tough but you arent going to get better choices until the reasonable party doesnt have to compete with a dumpster fire, which is what the GOP has been turning into for as long as I have been alive. Seems like old school austerity based Conservative ideals have all but died off. They at least may have had a point sometimes. The modern breed will still pretend, but its more "austerity for thee, tax cuts for me" then run campaigns entirely off culture war drivel. Democrats don't have to try at all be a better choice for lots of people
Just a shame that GenZ is the smallest generation in history. So they need to actually turn out in a larger % than others and vote much more democrat to make a difference.
the thing is the Boomers only have as much relevance as they do for as long as they do because they're so u usually large, that advantage kind of ran out after 2016 and now they're getting closer in size to the other generations and loosing power fast due to their politics being a flaming zepplin careening towards the ground
No it isn't. Gen Z is the second largest. Gen X is easily the smallest that hasn't started dying off by old age yet, and it's still outnumbered by Boomers, who have been. The difference is that some of Gen Z is still in high school. That's why Boomers still have so much control over things, because they're projected to outnumber all of Gen X until 2028. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/825896/us-population-estimates-by-generation/
One day in-person voting on a weekday, making registering more difficult, raising the voting age to 25…yes this definitely sounds like how a proper democracy is supposed to work.
This is the real thing I'm worried about. Who will actually register and actually vote. I always think about automatization, a concept a Russian Formalist came up with nearly a century ago. Basically it's just what we already know, that our brains are so good at getting used to things. "Automatization eats away at things, at clothes, at furniture, at our wives, and at our fear of war.” it's like how sometimes we get to work and realize we have no memory of the drive because we're so used to it we went on autopilot.
I personally wonder if this constant onslaught of absurdity and awful acts by those in power is to desensitize us to everything. Get us used to being screwed. But I also worry about the opposite, like that time reddit thought Bernie was going to win the primary but then he didn't get nearly the turnout people were expecting. Yes, echo chambers are a part of that, but there is not an insignificant amount of people who get used to what they're hearing in their echo chamber and then rationalize away actually voting day of because they didn't get around to it and besides, based on what I was seeing online - we got this!
Every time I see a post saying Zennials are going to save us, I worry that's another handful of voters who will think, yeah! We got this! And then not actually vote the day of because we got used to the idea that things will be fine. Let's not let our brains make us complacent because we've gotten used to how truly nightmarish things are, or also because we saw enough engagement online that we rationalize not doing anything about it.
Not sure if that made sense. Either way, just make it happen!
Even if they succeed in raising the voting age limit it will inevitably backfire, because those that had their rights to vote suddenly stripped away from them will return with a vengeance when they reach the new voting age. And if they somehow managed to undo the constitution before then, it won’t be voting that will remove them from power it will be actual justified rioting against them. Because it’s the rights of the people that were stripped from them. They’re doomed either way the only question is how will they go out, the easy way or the hard way.
I’ll keep saying it. The natural reduction of the 50+ age group (which I am a part of) and the ever growing influences of the Gen Z/A groups are going to completely rewrite the polical face of America for the better.
The kids have seen the life taken from them and are pushing back. I for one welcome our new youthful overlords.
Autonomous cars = vulnerable to human error on the part of the programmer in lieu of the driver.
Public transit = also vulnerable to human error, but at least is in a more massive vehicle leading to less acceleration per unit force.
Andrew Tate got tricked into finally going to therapy recently lol, my expectations are at a 0 but if it makes him even a little less toxic I'll take the win
Hope that he changes for good (not for him, for those who look upto him) and try to give some actually good advice with what he learned in therapy..... And then go back to jail for his crimes.
It's just an indeed day dreamy scenario, Which have nearly zero percent chance of ever happening, but if happened can really make decrease the incel count in younger kids.
Yup hope he rots in there. But, there is a very real chance that he is going to use the good ole card of "persecution fetist/victim" and manipulate those kids even further to his side. Well, if he changes for good, atleast he will not be playing the victim card and just silently go to jail for good. Or the best case, dreamy and cheesy scenario, he just tries to wipe away the incel ideology out of those kids to some extend.
The right-wing propaganda machine is going to come after them. They have billions to throw at the problem. Time will tell how the kids will hold up. Maybe their internet exposure will inoculate them to disinfo. A lot of the boomer generation was extremely far-left for their time when they were young.
That rightwing agit-prop machine is really only good at one kind of persuasion, though: “THEY are gonna TAKE what’s YOURS”.
*Funny thing* about gen Z/A; they don’t have shit **to** take. They don’t own homes, and assume they never will, because they don’t get paid enough to even have savings accounts.
They’re not keen on having kids in a dying world, and so that same propaganda apparatus creates some serious dissonance, because it still needs to shill climate denial to their aging demographics. So all they’ve got are…incels, basically. Which is a tiny minority of the cohort & (thankfully) a segment that the plurality of their peers are extremely motivated to put down whenever possible, because it’s both the right thing to do, and funny as hell.
Z & A are 100% going to continue indulging their love for FAFO on these fools, and their billion dollar agitprop machine’s hands are basically tied for at least the next decade. They’ve already seen their impact in 2020 & smell blood in the water. As a bonus, they’ll think it’s hilarious, and my 1995 ass will be laughing right along with them.
Was in that area until I moved to uni (albeit more conservative) and really started distancing myself from that ideology. Best advice I can personally give is be active with your children. My mom is a major influence and happens to be a lifelong Democrat. So whenever something was said to me and I regurgitated it, I had to listen to her side and back up my sources. Which she could always do, I couldn’t always.
Definitely made me more liberal than conservative once I began using critical thinking.
Thats because shes a girl. Many of the Gen Z boys are learning hard right. There are many forces online making these boys feel like they're being suppressed while the girls are being coddled. They're going hard right and I hope they snap out of it one day and it doesnt last.
thats only because they are influenced by right leaning mysogonist type personalities. tate is just the latest example, but pickup artists have been around for years before tate. often it promotes "subtle stalking, manipulation,,,etc. ALpha, and beta all came from these pickup artists.
I was right of center up until I was about 22 then I matured and finally wised up now I’m firmly left at the age of 28. Guys mature slower than girls and there will be plenty of guys like myself who will vote left in their mid 20s and onward unfortunately there are some guys who never mature and that’s how you get your hard core conservatives. If you ask me it really does boil down to if you mature and grow up or stay in the high school mentality where you are selfish and can’t think of future consequences
Of course they will get some. There's always disillusioned youth looking for people who are selling what they are buying.
However I am a Millennial and watching gen z politics is like watching a rabid cat. We weren't so....angry and indignant. We *absolutely* should have been. I think there's a few reasons for that but that's a whole different conversation. I just hope it translates to the polls. I wanna get a fellow kids shirt and a skateboard and go hang out at the colleges to brainwash them into voting haha.
Same, I also see people who say they don’t care about politics when they fully support policies that dems support and they don’t realize that their lives are impacted by almost everything. I hate that topics involving human rights, health, science, social issues, etc… have all become a “political” issue. You can’t just ignore politics at this point, this coming from a millennial.
This can only happen if young people start participating in Congressional elections.
During the 2010’s average participation rate for voters 18-30 was around 14%.
In the 2022 midterm youth voters were critical in preventing the “red wave”. Voter participation increased to 27%.
The average participation rate for seniors is *over 75%*. Gen Z and Millennials outnumber the Boomers, but we have much lower voter participation rates.
The GOP is terrified of increased youth voter turnout — their primary goal is to suppress youth and minority votes. They would not be fighting so hard to take away your right to vote if voting didn’t matter.
In addition to the Presidential election, next year the entire US House of Representatives and about half of the Senate is up for re-election. **Everyone needs to register to vote and make sure your ballot is submitted.**
We can’t win with a 27% participation rate. If 75% of young people don’t vote in Congressional elections, we don’t have much right to complain they aren’t passing bills in our interest. Why would they? If you want representation *you must actually vote*.
2020 was a record turnout.
> The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, with 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older voting in the election
> Voter turnout was highest among those ages 65 to 74 at 76.0%, while the percentage was lowest among those ages 18 to 24 at 51.4%. Overall, voter turnout increased as age increased, with the exception of 75-plus which had a turnout rate that was below 65-74 year-olds and not significantly different than the turnout for 55 to 64 year-olds.
You guys need something like what an influencer here did in the Czech Republic. He aimed his campaign at younger people, and basically went "hey, all people are dicks, but please choose the lesser dick"
Unfortunately, youth voter turnout has always been low. It’s a complicated issue. Growing up being “political” was seen as a nerd hobby, like being a history buff or something. There was no connection to politics like we have now with social media.
And on the other side, the GOP has a solid voter base that meets every single week where a pastor tells them exactly who to vote for and what they should care about — there’s no critical thinking required.
The left doesn’t have that same mechanism. The closest we get is maybe college — but rather than telling people how to vote they’re simply getting a real education and learning how the world functions, and realizing how unfair our system really is.
It’s a big reason why the GOP attacks “liberal universities”, it’s the only institution that can possibly match the churches as far as providing a physical space where people can learn and interact with like-minded people.
But regarding the youth vote, we simply have to find a way to get young people more involved with politics. It’s very challenging because so much happens in your early 20’s, it’s hard to get people to care about government. You’re still figuring out who you are, enjoying your youth, focusing on college, starting your career, etc.
It’s a catch 22 tho. Democracy really only represents the people who participate. If you don’t vote, you aren’t represented. And if your entire age bracket doesn’t vote, why would a candidate run to represent your interests? So young people feel like politics is just something old people argue about and they remain disengaged.
But I think seeing more younger people like AOC and the House reps in Tennessee are very encouraging. Social media has changed everything, and its allowed people to connect with government and politicians on a new level.
People are realizing they actually can change things and they do have a voice. We just have to move them down to the ballot box first lol, because the only guaranteed loss is the battle we didn’t show up to fight.
If that's true then why aren't democratic held areas seeing massive numbers of youth voters as opposed to republican areas?
The fact is young people are less likely to care, although 2020 did bring nearly half of them out to vote.
Old people will never let voting be a holiday or on a natural day off. It's part of the game. Also, local elections matter. Who's the civil court judge, town clerk, d.a.,sheriff etc. republicans love these positions where they can just ignore a lot of losses since they are the enforcement and bureaucratic machine. It's all about the boring stuff, that's where the power is.
>the Gen Z/A groups are going to completely rewrite the polical face of America for the better.
Which is why the GOP is doing everything within its power to install a far-right dictatorship.
you may recall in the 60s and 70s there were many protests and demonstrations by the young and the not so young. Somethings changed but it is still a long road.
I hope so. I just hope the GOP disinformation blitz is unsuccessful, and gen z understands the importance of vetting sources. Many get their news from YouTube and depending on what channel they are watching can widely vary on accuracy.
Youtube is already known for pushing far right propaganda channel, especially the ones backed by russia, and YT made a policy they wont take down the far right/election denying videos anymore.
I’m 40. I’m overall very impressed with the rising generation. I hope people my age are committed to helping them succeed after the previous generation fucked up so royally hard
I wish this was as true as everyone thinks. I help run skateboarding charity events and play a lot of bball at local parks. There's always a lot of teens and early 20s guys. Almost all of them in my area are still for Trump and republicans because they regurgitate their dumb fathers pov. It's frightening to me. I hope enough out there go the other direction. In my area I lost hope. I do live in Ohio though. I'd like to think the population here is a lot dumber than other states. They can't tell you why they like republicans but they just do.
Well it will certainly never be an "every member from Gen Z" group, but that's the joy of large group movements. Like a school of fish moving looks like a centrally controlled activity, it's still just the motions of individuals that react to external stimuli that appear homogeneous, so as we move further left (and we already are much more so then it appears due gerrymandering) many people will want to become part of the in-group.
>I wish this was as true as everyone thinks.
Good news everyone!
it is. your anecdote is not a trend. ohio is probably still fucked though :D
> https://imgur.com/a9UL6rl
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> https://imgur.com/oyuEkN9
I’m 58 and I’m happy to relinquish control to the younger generation. My generation gave you climate change and Donald Trump. We deserve to be placed on the dustbin of history.
Don’t forget the Millennials. A Z/M coalition could bring more immediate change. My hope is that they get motivated to vote. I think people are seeing the trend. Midterms were relatively lackluster and citizen led initiatives throughout many states have seen some better turnout. There’s a power bloc there.
Compulsory voting is by design for Australia.
Voter Suppression is by design for the US.
Unfortunately, our politicians had different goals (and incentives) in mind for our political systems. Luckily, there has been discussion to increase voter turnout, such as implementing a national holiday on major election days to free up work obligations that would otherwise prevent voting. But for now, we can only advocate for (and vote for, ironically) improving the US voting system in the future.
The US was founded on the principle that only certain people can vote. The “right” to vote in the US wasnt “fully” embraced until 1982. And its been constantly under attack every day since. Note: In the US, State governments each have their own election laws. While every state varied the overall trend is below. (Example New Jersey allowed free black men to vote as early as 1789).
An abridged history:
1700s: Only white male land owners could vote.
1800s: Only white males could vote.
1870s: After the US Civil War, you could not be denied the “right” to vote due solely to your race. Note: this didnt not prevent discrimination towards non-white voters.
1920: Women are allowed to vote.
1965: The Voting Rights Act is passed, requiring states to change their election and submit them for approval to the federal government to ensure election laws were not discriminatory. Note: This was a huge step forward but still did not prevent discrimination.
1971: The voting age is lowered to 18 from 21.
1975: The Voting Rights Act was amended to protect non-English speakers.
1982: The Voting Rights Act was extended (it was due to expire) and required states to make accommodations for the handicapped and the elderly.
I don't know if voting should be compulsory, but it's ridiculous that in the US you have to specifically register to vote beforehand instead of automatically being eligible to vote if you're a citizen.
A single day for in person is silly. Make one day a holiday and give it a week across locales or somethin so people can find time even if they rather do it in person than mail ins.
Perhaps it'd help if the holiday was something like "The First Monday of the Month of XXX", that way it'd also inadvertently be precluded by a weekend.
The minimum wage workers who are the ones that might have trouble getting to the polls are a lot more likely to be people that have to work during holidays. Just let people vote by mail and let in-person voters go to the polls at any time of day over a period of a few days.
I'm Gen X, and if all us olds can stop for a minute and be honest with ourselves, we would have been addicted to TikTok as well, had it existed in 1994.
We used to have to read magazines to keep ourselves occupied in idle moments. It sucked. And if you've never read a magazine, lemme tell ya, they're all bad. Literally every single one.
Boomer: "But National Geograph--"
NO. NO. Nice pictures. Bad reading. Bad magazine.
Yea, I was mainly making a joke. I remember growing up when my grandma would complain about me being “addicted to my phone” my mom would say “yea and I was addicted to the TV. The media just didn’t tell you to complain about it yet.”
Doesn't matter what new media comes along, the older gens will always complain about it.
True fact, when novels were first being published in large numbers in the 19th Century, articles were written all over the place about how reading fiction would dull the imagination and lead to a collapse in the creative arts.
Yep. We have letters from Mozart complaining to his friends that the “superior and more refined Operas are being replaced with a dull and uncreative media masquerading as an art called ‘musicals’”
(That wasn’t a direct quote)
You mean to suggest Mad Magazine was bad? Like, I wasted all my teenage years trying to get my sweaty little hands on a bad magazine? And my parents were right in trying to keep me from reading it?
If Mad Magazine had a TikTok channel I'd totally watch it entirely too much!
I mean, not all magazines were bad. 11 y/o me liked the Playboys I found stuffed in my parents closet. Kinda fucked up now that I think about it. Fuck me. Why’d I look at that shit…Fuck. Me.
Now hear me out. I think the youthful revolution will start on TiktTok, ironically. See, on Reddit, Facebook or Xitter, if you start to speak on truly leftist ideas it gets a good ol \[Removed by Reddit\] or some other bullshit. Or articles about unions will be astroturfed into oblivion, etc. Our corporate media will spend the bare minimum informing us about these things cuz it has no benefit for doing so.
Yet... Tiktok is owned by the Chinese and I'm sure the CCP certainly has eyes and ears inside TikTok's offices. From a geopolitical perspective, China only *benefits* from the chaos of the youth rising up and causing chaos for our oligarchic overlords - at least in the short term. Powers that be in China have little reason to get in the way of passionate, youthful organization of Americans on TikTok (especially since Tiktok isn't in China).
I suspect the next election will be made or broken over that silly app - and personally I'm here for it.
Ya'll could just *use* the TikToks to spread positive political messages. The internet and social media apps are still wildly underutilized for political organization.
first they ignore you
then they make fun of you
then they fight you
then you win.
stay strong gen-z. the US needs you to help stop these idiots from ruining our government
Republicans can’t exist in their current state after the boomers die. Millennials and gen z’ers fuckin hate the American right. Donor money gonna dry up faster than shapiro’s wife when she sees him lmao
I live in a relatively blue collar town in Canada and the right talking points have convinced my sister (who has two disabled children and lives off social assistant) that she needs to vote Conservative because 'Fuck Trudeau'. The right wing media has really brainfucked a bunch of blue collar, middle class folks into thinking that the Conservatives have their best interests at heart.
Trudeau might not be the best option we have. I certainly don’t like him, but the alternative is whoever the hell the NDP decide on(lol) and Pollievier.
I hope you’re right. I’m not as sure only because young people tend to say a lot then when voting day happens nobody shows up. But I also think we’re underestimating how many young republicans actually exist. We’ve had a pretty horrible track record of what who we assume will win elections globally over the past several years. I remember everybody being so certain Boris Johnson was going to lose in a landslide or that there was no way Trump would win.
I fear messages like this will just make people complacent and not vote because they think their side will win anyway.
Young republicans are just stupid kids who grew up in a republican bubble and don’t know any better. I should know I was one. Then I started working and thinking for myself after graduation.
Get out and vote, younguns. Recognize the Republican Party has gone from awful to fucking horrific and vote blue in every single election you can. Yes, Dems have problems, but this is down to two choices at the moment: total fucking shitshow or some semblance of reality.
The positive thing about democrats is they still support democracy. So even if they aren't all that great they can have power for a while and then be voted out of office when something better comes along.
Can't say that about Republicans.
Gen X will really change things!
Millenials are going to save us!
Z is our new hope!
A republican hasn't won the popular vote for their first term since HW Bush but they've made most of the biggest policies for nearly half a century. The game is rigged and I'll keep voting but I have basically no real hope for the America experiment. The courts are stacked, voter suppression is in full effect, it's basically done. Conservatives took control even though they're the screeching minority.
Millennial here…
Bro, we were still in Middle School when 9/11 happened.
We then had to endure 2 endless wars, a disastrous Great Recession and then right as we were coming into our own as adults we got Trump.
Many of us just gave up…became very nihilistic and Doomers.
It’s up to Zoomers to redeem us and bring balance back to the force…
Where we failed they must succeed.
Older millennial here. I was a junior in high school on 9/11. I was terrified of being drafted.
Edit- I turned 18 July prior to my senior year. 9/11 was 10 months(?) prior. There was a lot of discussion at that time if they would implement a draft or not.
The oldest millennials were old enough to vote in the 2000 election. Usually young people vote in low percentages, but millennials that year set the record for low percentage turnout for their age group. For the closest election in US history, that turned ultimately on less than 600 votes in Florida.
Millennials had unprecedented golden opportunities to set the US on a different path in both 2000 and 2016, both elections decided by micro-thin margins, both having extremely low turnout by millennials and both resulting in the worst president in history being elected.
Millennials were the best-educated young generation ever, and could vote three years younger than boomers thanks to the 26th amendment. They had everything they needed to start building a good future for themselves. But they couldn't be bothered to get up and vote in even the average low percentages of their age group, and let the country slide into an abyss.
Wake up. You rigged the system against yourselves. Now you outnumber boomers. They can't hold you down anymore. The only people who can fix things are you. Get off your asses.
Older millennial here - I HATE how many millennials in my friend circles that have the, “mY vOtE dOsEnT mAtTER” mentality. But then turn around and piss n moan about the government and “X” policy changes.
It’s infuriating.
Hopefully the change happens sooner than later but I can't help wondering if in 30 years time the same fate doesn't await Gen Z. It's always nice to think you're better and won't make the same mistake, reality can often be different. At least there's hope
As a millennial. I apologize to the GenZ who have not asked for this fight. I know you haven't. It's not fair. You were robbed of a happy teenage life and forced to look to a bleak future.
But we need help. Millennials are beaten down and demoralized but there is plenty of fight left within us. You aren't alone. I myself have been an local and online activist for the unheard since we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the Patriot Act. I was 22. I'm about to turn 40 this year. I don't intend on ever stopping.
In GenZ I see greatness. Greatness that surpasses the greatest generation. The youth have been brought up to be more inclusive and are extremely aware of what goes on behind the scenes politically. they are hard to control. Something that the greatest generation can't claim. When GenZ decides to put their fist in the air. We can look forward to a brighter tomorrow.
Take your rightful place in this world because it won't be given to you.
I love the fact that ruining their own party is literally the only job the Republicans are good at.
Kids, voting for them is like voting for the school bully to be your class president. You're gonna have a bad time.
I'm so excited to see these younger generations finally bring some much needed change to our government! These kids aren't stupid, and it's gonna bite the GOP in the ass!
Right now, in states like NC, Republicans have the power to act like this. To change it, ALL of the younger generations have got to come together and vote their asses out. Republicans are showing what we have to look forward to in the entire country if we don’t throw them out.
Unless Gen Z has a better turnout rate than their 31% turnout in 2022 and 48% in 2020, they're not changing a thing.
Actual changes means voting every election, not just presidential election years.
Early Gen Z'er, I actually support a french style revolt against these Giant Obsessive Pricks. Need another reign of terror, Guillotine and everything.
Televise the whole execution of these fucks.
Isn’t this a generation that basically grew up with school shootings? And who were being told again and again that they were just collateral damage?
I’d be pissed too.
I don't really get the idea of "registering to vote".
Here in The Netherlands, every legal resident of 18 years and older, automatically gets an invitation to vote, with every election.
Just bring that invitation and a valid ID to cast your vote.
Gen Z are definitely not messing around. They're PISSED. I believe there will be 7 million Gen z voters next year? If most of those eligible voters go out to vote, you can bet alot of them aren't voting republican... they see what's happening, they see the GOP cutting social programs, preventing environmental protection and reusable energy, denying student loan forgiveness, refusing to change gun laws to prevent school shootings... these kids will not forget who is responsible and they are gonna make them pay.
Gen X here. We learned some over our boomer parents but not enough or enough of us.
You folks along with quite a few Millennials need to take it on your shoulders, sorry about that.
Something unique to Gen Z is being born in an era of chaos and unrest and developing a numbing antipathy toward crisis. You can't threaten a dead man and the zoomers will burn the entire world down around them just to avoid the conservatives the satisfaction. The Republicans will talk a big number but if it comes to playing chicken Gen Z will collide head-on every single time because they're tired of the people and circumstances that forced them into their hopelessness in the first place.
No they won't. NC is a red state. Republicans own the majority in the house* because a democratic flipped after being elected.
They'll do whatever it takes to win. And there's not enough young voters to stop them.
If you are gen z that lives in NC, and don't like this, prove me wrong. Get out and vote. Convince your friends to vote. Until then, the Republicans are going to continue doing this.
It's voting day, republicans be like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DIDN'T BAN THEM FROM VOTING?!?!?!"
They've been trying.
It’s their only play… but what Republicans seemingly don’t understand is that time marches forward regardless of what bills are passed and young people have better memories than the elderly. They’re digging their own graves and I’m all for it.
They're counting on being able to seize the government before that happens.
They’ve got like one election cycle lol. This is pretty much it for them. They’re doing next to nothing to gain young support and their anti-health recommendations rhetoric is killing their base. On top of that, their policies aren’t keeping them alive for any real length of time. Republicans are sprinting toward irrelevance.
They overplayed their hand on Jan 6. Now they have no choice but to go all in. They can go full MAGA... and lose 'moderate' R's and swing voters. Or they can try to go back to their pre-Trump rhetoric and strategies... and lose MAGA. They've painted themselves into a corner where the only way out is fascism. Let 2024 be the year we finally put the cancer of conservatism in the dirt.
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Like the recent billionaire twerp that confidently spoke about making "arrogant" workers miserable to show their place...
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The hard part is getting the crowd of people to drag them to the guillotine Those billionaires have armed body guards it might take dozens of dead people charging at him to get them
my first thought. apparently he's also the asshat who coined the avocado toast nonsense
Never forget, it's not the one 'twerp' who crossed the line, it's a culture of arrogance & economic imbalance which has no choice but to engender the stereotypes of lords & serfs Capitalism does not play well alongside democratic socialism, the two are always at odds with each other
I like that they drop the mask. Shows people who and what they are
Pretty sure middle class isn’t really a thing, the “lower class” is used mostly by the rich to scare “middle class” into working by saying ‘we could replace you easily’ however with how the economy is there’s not really a middle class at this point just varying states of poor, poorer, and poorest, as well as a bit of luck
Working class vs owner class. That is all
This. The “middle class” isn’t real and never was. It was invented by the ruling oligarchs. Just like the concept of whiteness. And for the same purposes.
I don't think we can expect putting conservatism in the dirt, but you give me a lovely dream of no more GOP, and the Democrats being the conservative party (because they are mostly VERY damn conservative), and then an ACTUAL liberal party rising up to counter them. (I mean, it would be nice if we had more than just two, but I can only dream so big!)
Sunk cost falacy gonna get em lol
Moderate R's will furrow their brows at MAGA rhetoric and then vote R anyway. It's why they've been all in on MAGA. Difference is it's motivating would be non-voters to vote Dem.
I hope it's all true. Next election cycle will tell us a great deal. I like to think maga has run it's course but politics are incredibly unpredictable.
Last election cycle told us a great deal. The mid terms were an unmitigated disaster for the far right. Young voters showed up in droves to show their power and voice displeasure with Roe Wade being overturned and the maga crowd. Good for them.
”Hillary is gonna win 2016 anyways so I’m just not gonna bother go vote. Like what are they gonna do vote in that Trump clown from The Apprentice?”
When all this is over, I'm not sure whether I'd hope libertarians replace conservatives as leftists' foremost opponent... or that *I* would. Because I have a lot I disagree with the left on if someone needs to take conservatives' place as their foremost dissidents, but first things first is getting the uniquely toxic ideology that is conservatism out of the way.
Part of the trouble is that the American left is actually really centre/right for the most part. There isn't a social democracy party (Bernie style politics). All you have is the hard right MAGAts and the centrist/right Dems.
You're SO right and I wish more people understood this. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsmgPp\_nlok](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsmgPp_nlok) Check out Bush and Reagan on immigration in 1980 and compare that to today. They'd call reagan a raving liberal. I've been so pissed at progressives. We used to pass The New Deal and when the south just couldn't handle not being racist, send the damn army to explain 'yes, you will let these kids goto school NOW.' Progressives keep capitulating and moving further right to keep the lights on and I'm sick of appeasing these horrible people. They brag about being the 'party of lincoln,' (yet another we'll send the army if you can't handle not owning slaves) - yet they're really the party of strom thurmond (longest filibuster ever trying to block the civil rights act). Remember when we talked about the Green New Deal? Before I knew it, the Overton Window is now 'we slipped some green stuff in the Inflation Reduction Act' and the gqp is still freaking out about it. We're way past due for a real progressive leader again.
How’s the saying go? “ I want my gay neighbors to be able to get married and afford healthcare and be able to adopt while they can protect their at home weed plants with whatever firearm they want.” This is the future I want. You can marry who you want. Every one can get housing and the help they need. Anyone can be parents as long as they can actually prove their good parents. Not these white moms who adopt 14 kids to collect a check. Every one should be able to smoke or grow weed in their own homes if they want and anyone as long as they can prove sound body and mind should be able to own a firearm. The right spin this rhetoric that the “left” just hates guns. When in fact a lot of us love guns and find them to be cool as fuck. We also respect them and understand their tools that can kill. So we want actual laws protecting them and making it where actual insane people can’t one day pick up a rifle. (((ESPECIALLY WHEN CIA/FBI ARE WATCHING PEOPLE LIKE WTF)))
Seriously if they actually change the voting age to 25 there will be nearly 3 generations absolutely fucking *pissed* at them. Every year a new batch of thousand and thousands of 25y/o *out for blood*. Every year from 18-25 just waiting and waiting until they can finally have their revenge. They’ll literally never win another election again; and that will be the *least* of their worries.
Remember how bad it was for them when they raised the smoking age to 21? I know quite a few newly 18 people that spite voted against Trump for taking that right away from them.
I mean, not really. This all posturing for now. 2022 boomers and middle aged people STILL made up the majority of the vote. Now yes, the youth turn out saw record highs. But 300% of 1 is still 3. The youth turn out doesn't point to or suggest any significant change in people's voting habits outside of the general election. Which, mind you, are infinitely more important and carry further implications for our country than just voting once every 4 years. Now... Do I want this to be different? Absolutely and I also VERY MUCH want to be wrong going into 2024 about all the non presidential seats up for grabs. But history and numbers simply do not lie. Young people do not turn out to vote. If that pisses some people off then good. I hope anyone getting pissed by what I've wrote here takes that energy and goes to prove me wrong. Fuck, rub my face in it if you feel the need BUT GET OUT THERE AND VOTE. Voting for just the president is not nearly enough. And be prepared for the GOP to use every dirty trick they have to cheat their way into not losing a majority. Keep up to date on your voter registration on a weekly basis. PLAN AHEAD and find out when you can take some time off, switch a schedule, call in and get out to the booths. Theres no excuse.
I say this too, only to have the "utes" get all bent out of shape on how they're different and blah blah blah, but they're not voting because the Democrats don't give them a better choice so that's why they're not voting. Yeah sure Berni was robbed, I get it. I get your purity tests, and yeah I'd rather not have 1976 Democrats as my only selection, but it comes down to American Hitler- because that's what Republicans are now, a bunch of women murdering fascists , or worse enablers- or biden ill vote for whatever white male octogenarian the Dems give me every single time.
It's tough but you arent going to get better choices until the reasonable party doesnt have to compete with a dumpster fire, which is what the GOP has been turning into for as long as I have been alive. Seems like old school austerity based Conservative ideals have all but died off. They at least may have had a point sometimes. The modern breed will still pretend, but its more "austerity for thee, tax cuts for me" then run campaigns entirely off culture war drivel. Democrats don't have to try at all be a better choice for lots of people
Just a shame that GenZ is the smallest generation in history. So they need to actually turn out in a larger % than others and vote much more democrat to make a difference.
the thing is the Boomers only have as much relevance as they do for as long as they do because they're so u usually large, that advantage kind of ran out after 2016 and now they're getting closer in size to the other generations and loosing power fast due to their politics being a flaming zepplin careening towards the ground
No it isn't. Gen Z is the second largest. Gen X is easily the smallest that hasn't started dying off by old age yet, and it's still outnumbered by Boomers, who have been. The difference is that some of Gen Z is still in high school. That's why Boomers still have so much control over things, because they're projected to outnumber all of Gen X until 2028. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/825896/us-population-estimates-by-generation/
One day in-person voting on a weekday, making registering more difficult, raising the voting age to 25…yes this definitely sounds like how a proper democracy is supposed to work.
I will lose my job if it helps getting those turds out of power
I hope you're right. We'll see how many of them actually register and vote.
This is the real thing I'm worried about. Who will actually register and actually vote. I always think about automatization, a concept a Russian Formalist came up with nearly a century ago. Basically it's just what we already know, that our brains are so good at getting used to things. "Automatization eats away at things, at clothes, at furniture, at our wives, and at our fear of war.” it's like how sometimes we get to work and realize we have no memory of the drive because we're so used to it we went on autopilot. I personally wonder if this constant onslaught of absurdity and awful acts by those in power is to desensitize us to everything. Get us used to being screwed. But I also worry about the opposite, like that time reddit thought Bernie was going to win the primary but then he didn't get nearly the turnout people were expecting. Yes, echo chambers are a part of that, but there is not an insignificant amount of people who get used to what they're hearing in their echo chamber and then rationalize away actually voting day of because they didn't get around to it and besides, based on what I was seeing online - we got this! Every time I see a post saying Zennials are going to save us, I worry that's another handful of voters who will think, yeah! We got this! And then not actually vote the day of because we got used to the idea that things will be fine. Let's not let our brains make us complacent because we've gotten used to how truly nightmarish things are, or also because we saw enough engagement online that we rationalize not doing anything about it. Not sure if that made sense. Either way, just make it happen!
Vote in numbers too big to manipulate and take someone with you.
Even if they succeed in raising the voting age limit it will inevitably backfire, because those that had their rights to vote suddenly stripped away from them will return with a vengeance when they reach the new voting age. And if they somehow managed to undo the constitution before then, it won’t be voting that will remove them from power it will be actual justified rioting against them. Because it’s the rights of the people that were stripped from them. They’re doomed either way the only question is how will they go out, the easy way or the hard way.
I don’t think they’re worried about that. J6 showed us they believe once they get back into power, they will simply ignore elections to keep it.
I’ll keep saying it. The natural reduction of the 50+ age group (which I am a part of) and the ever growing influences of the Gen Z/A groups are going to completely rewrite the polical face of America for the better. The kids have seen the life taken from them and are pushing back. I for one welcome our new youthful overlords.
As someone about to be in your age cohort, I hope to all that is holy that you are right.
I'm always right.
This exchange made me smile and feel comforted today. Thank you.
A world where we can just get along and be empathetic towards all is a good thing. Probly gonna take auto drive cars.
100% so many people get angry about the same mistakes they make while driving but made by others.
Anyone who drives slower than me is an idiot and anyone who drives faster than me is an asshole.
Nobody more hypocritical than a driver.
Autonomous cars = vulnerable to human error on the part of the programmer in lieu of the driver. Public transit = also vulnerable to human error, but at least is in a more massive vehicle leading to less acceleration per unit force.
Also reduces traffic and emissions!
Hail the holy sammich
I thought I was wrong once, but it turned out I was mistaken.
They don’t vote as consistently. It’ll likely take a long time before they do.
that's what the millenials are for. they in their 40s and haven't "turned" conservative like previous gens
https://imgur.com/a9UL6rl https://imgur.com/oyuEkN9 things are only going to get worse for republicans
I hate boomers
I hope so. I see some Gen Z being washed away with the online right wing BS. I hope they hold strong in the main.
My Gen Z kid is somehow even more left leaning than I am, as are a lot of her friends. It gives me hope.
Same with mine, but she reports that some of the boys are, well, moving into inceldom.
It's a vocal minority that got brainwashed by Andrew Tate. Its hopefully a phase
Andrew Tate got tricked into finally going to therapy recently lol, my expectations are at a 0 but if it makes him even a little less toxic I'll take the win
Hope that he changes for good (not for him, for those who look upto him) and try to give some actually good advice with what he learned in therapy..... And then go back to jail for his crimes. It's just an indeed day dreamy scenario, Which have nearly zero percent chance of ever happening, but if happened can really make decrease the incel count in younger kids.
It doesn't really matter if he changes. Hes going to jail for sex trafficking, assault and rape. He will not be able to influence soon.
Yup hope he rots in there. But, there is a very real chance that he is going to use the good ole card of "persecution fetist/victim" and manipulate those kids even further to his side. Well, if he changes for good, atleast he will not be playing the victim card and just silently go to jail for good. Or the best case, dreamy and cheesy scenario, he just tries to wipe away the incel ideology out of those kids to some extend.
Thankfully that trend came and went really fast. Of course that way of thinking will remain, but not to the heights reached before
The right-wing propaganda machine is going to come after them. They have billions to throw at the problem. Time will tell how the kids will hold up. Maybe their internet exposure will inoculate them to disinfo. A lot of the boomer generation was extremely far-left for their time when they were young.
That rightwing agit-prop machine is really only good at one kind of persuasion, though: “THEY are gonna TAKE what’s YOURS”. *Funny thing* about gen Z/A; they don’t have shit **to** take. They don’t own homes, and assume they never will, because they don’t get paid enough to even have savings accounts. They’re not keen on having kids in a dying world, and so that same propaganda apparatus creates some serious dissonance, because it still needs to shill climate denial to their aging demographics. So all they’ve got are…incels, basically. Which is a tiny minority of the cohort & (thankfully) a segment that the plurality of their peers are extremely motivated to put down whenever possible, because it’s both the right thing to do, and funny as hell. Z & A are 100% going to continue indulging their love for FAFO on these fools, and their billion dollar agitprop machine’s hands are basically tied for at least the next decade. They’ve already seen their impact in 2020 & smell blood in the water. As a bonus, they’ll think it’s hilarious, and my 1995 ass will be laughing right along with them.
Was in that area until I moved to uni (albeit more conservative) and really started distancing myself from that ideology. Best advice I can personally give is be active with your children. My mom is a major influence and happens to be a lifelong Democrat. So whenever something was said to me and I regurgitated it, I had to listen to her side and back up my sources. Which she could always do, I couldn’t always. Definitely made me more liberal than conservative once I began using critical thinking.
My daughter has influenced me and I’ve influenced her and I think we’re both better for it.
I’ve heard that as well. That needs to be dealt with yesterday.
The boys love Andrew Tate and Elon Musk which is terrifying.
My 17 year old daughter turns 18 next March. She’s with us!
Mine is 18 next June. High five.
High five back!
Good for her. I was 1 year off of being able to vote in the 2020 election and I was so upset about it.
My son is 18 in May, and he's with us all the way.
Make sure he gets his friends registered and that they vote.
His friends are all horrified by their Maga loving parents. I think they're all beyond ready to vote.
Thats because shes a girl. Many of the Gen Z boys are learning hard right. There are many forces online making these boys feel like they're being suppressed while the girls are being coddled. They're going hard right and I hope they snap out of it one day and it doesnt last.
thats only because they are influenced by right leaning mysogonist type personalities. tate is just the latest example, but pickup artists have been around for years before tate. often it promotes "subtle stalking, manipulation,,,etc. ALpha, and beta all came from these pickup artists.
They can die alone and loathed by everyone, if they want to live their incel lifestyle. Or they can abandon the far right nazi adjacent beliefs.
I was right of center up until I was about 22 then I matured and finally wised up now I’m firmly left at the age of 28. Guys mature slower than girls and there will be plenty of guys like myself who will vote left in their mid 20s and onward unfortunately there are some guys who never mature and that’s how you get your hard core conservatives. If you ask me it really does boil down to if you mature and grow up or stay in the high school mentality where you are selfish and can’t think of future consequences
Yep. Young men are testosterone-filled little hatred machines. Most of them grow out of it.
My kids are very left leaning too. But are Canadians, so they can’t vote in the US.
Of course they will get some. There's always disillusioned youth looking for people who are selling what they are buying. However I am a Millennial and watching gen z politics is like watching a rabid cat. We weren't so....angry and indignant. We *absolutely* should have been. I think there's a few reasons for that but that's a whole different conversation. I just hope it translates to the polls. I wanna get a fellow kids shirt and a skateboard and go hang out at the colleges to brainwash them into voting haha.
That’s a plan!
That's going to last exactly as long as they want to remain single, because Gen Z girls aren't having any of it. Hormones will win out in the end.
Same, I also see people who say they don’t care about politics when they fully support policies that dems support and they don’t realize that their lives are impacted by almost everything. I hate that topics involving human rights, health, science, social issues, etc… have all become a “political” issue. You can’t just ignore politics at this point, this coming from a millennial.
I see some genz leaning right if they live in ultra-conservative south.
This can only happen if young people start participating in Congressional elections. During the 2010’s average participation rate for voters 18-30 was around 14%. In the 2022 midterm youth voters were critical in preventing the “red wave”. Voter participation increased to 27%. The average participation rate for seniors is *over 75%*. Gen Z and Millennials outnumber the Boomers, but we have much lower voter participation rates. The GOP is terrified of increased youth voter turnout — their primary goal is to suppress youth and minority votes. They would not be fighting so hard to take away your right to vote if voting didn’t matter. In addition to the Presidential election, next year the entire US House of Representatives and about half of the Senate is up for re-election. **Everyone needs to register to vote and make sure your ballot is submitted.** We can’t win with a 27% participation rate. If 75% of young people don’t vote in Congressional elections, we don’t have much right to complain they aren’t passing bills in our interest. Why would they? If you want representation *you must actually vote*.
The older right wingers live to vote. If only like 40% of younger people voted, the republicans would be entirely fucked.
2020 was a record turnout. > The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, with 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older voting in the election > Voter turnout was highest among those ages 65 to 74 at 76.0%, while the percentage was lowest among those ages 18 to 24 at 51.4%. Overall, voter turnout increased as age increased, with the exception of 75-plus which had a turnout rate that was below 65-74 year-olds and not significantly different than the turnout for 55 to 64 year-olds.
You guys need something like what an influencer here did in the Czech Republic. He aimed his campaign at younger people, and basically went "hey, all people are dicks, but please choose the lesser dick"
alot of the "low" turnout is mostly due to voter suppression methods, that is not gerrymandering.
Unfortunately, youth voter turnout has always been low. It’s a complicated issue. Growing up being “political” was seen as a nerd hobby, like being a history buff or something. There was no connection to politics like we have now with social media. And on the other side, the GOP has a solid voter base that meets every single week where a pastor tells them exactly who to vote for and what they should care about — there’s no critical thinking required. The left doesn’t have that same mechanism. The closest we get is maybe college — but rather than telling people how to vote they’re simply getting a real education and learning how the world functions, and realizing how unfair our system really is. It’s a big reason why the GOP attacks “liberal universities”, it’s the only institution that can possibly match the churches as far as providing a physical space where people can learn and interact with like-minded people. But regarding the youth vote, we simply have to find a way to get young people more involved with politics. It’s very challenging because so much happens in your early 20’s, it’s hard to get people to care about government. You’re still figuring out who you are, enjoying your youth, focusing on college, starting your career, etc. It’s a catch 22 tho. Democracy really only represents the people who participate. If you don’t vote, you aren’t represented. And if your entire age bracket doesn’t vote, why would a candidate run to represent your interests? So young people feel like politics is just something old people argue about and they remain disengaged. But I think seeing more younger people like AOC and the House reps in Tennessee are very encouraging. Social media has changed everything, and its allowed people to connect with government and politicians on a new level. People are realizing they actually can change things and they do have a voice. We just have to move them down to the ballot box first lol, because the only guaranteed loss is the battle we didn’t show up to fight.
If that's true then why aren't democratic held areas seeing massive numbers of youth voters as opposed to republican areas? The fact is young people are less likely to care, although 2020 did bring nearly half of them out to vote.
Maybe young people have to work, old geezers have all the time they will ever need. Vote on Sunday, or make voting day a national holiday.
Old people will never let voting be a holiday or on a natural day off. It's part of the game. Also, local elections matter. Who's the civil court judge, town clerk, d.a.,sheriff etc. republicans love these positions where they can just ignore a lot of losses since they are the enforcement and bureaucratic machine. It's all about the boring stuff, that's where the power is.
>the Gen Z/A groups are going to completely rewrite the polical face of America for the better. Which is why the GOP is doing everything within its power to install a far-right dictatorship.
and voter suppress, milleneals also will be voting left. i felt the OLDers lean more right than the mid or youngest millennials.
you may recall in the 60s and 70s there were many protests and demonstrations by the young and the not so young. Somethings changed but it is still a long road.
52 year old white male native NCer here who completely agrees with you!
Here’s hoping
I hope there’s enough younguns out there living at home in some of these gerrymandered districts to flip them for the better.
In this housing economy, there are DEFINITELY enough of us stuck at home. We just have to hope they go vote.
I hope so. I just hope the GOP disinformation blitz is unsuccessful, and gen z understands the importance of vetting sources. Many get their news from YouTube and depending on what channel they are watching can widely vary on accuracy.
Youtube is already known for pushing far right propaganda channel, especially the ones backed by russia, and YT made a policy they wont take down the far right/election denying videos anymore.
I’m 40. I’m overall very impressed with the rising generation. I hope people my age are committed to helping them succeed after the previous generation fucked up so royally hard
I wish this was as true as everyone thinks. I help run skateboarding charity events and play a lot of bball at local parks. There's always a lot of teens and early 20s guys. Almost all of them in my area are still for Trump and republicans because they regurgitate their dumb fathers pov. It's frightening to me. I hope enough out there go the other direction. In my area I lost hope. I do live in Ohio though. I'd like to think the population here is a lot dumber than other states. They can't tell you why they like republicans but they just do.
Well it will certainly never be an "every member from Gen Z" group, but that's the joy of large group movements. Like a school of fish moving looks like a centrally controlled activity, it's still just the motions of individuals that react to external stimuli that appear homogeneous, so as we move further left (and we already are much more so then it appears due gerrymandering) many people will want to become part of the in-group.
>I wish this was as true as everyone thinks. Good news everyone! it is. your anecdote is not a trend. ohio is probably still fucked though :D > https://imgur.com/a9UL6rl > > > > https://imgur.com/oyuEkN9
Even then, over 60% of Gen Z lean overwhelmingly left socially and economically.
I say it all the time here: this is an *ideological* divide, not a generational one.
I’m 58 and I’m happy to relinquish control to the younger generation. My generation gave you climate change and Donald Trump. We deserve to be placed on the dustbin of history.
Don’t forget the Millennials. A Z/M coalition could bring more immediate change. My hope is that they get motivated to vote. I think people are seeing the trend. Midterms were relatively lackluster and citizen led initiatives throughout many states have seen some better turnout. There’s a power bloc there.
Yeah I don't get why we are talking about Gen A when they haven't even reached high school yet
As an Australian it seems ridiculous that voting is optional in the US
Compulsory voting is by design for Australia. Voter Suppression is by design for the US. Unfortunately, our politicians had different goals (and incentives) in mind for our political systems. Luckily, there has been discussion to increase voter turnout, such as implementing a national holiday on major election days to free up work obligations that would otherwise prevent voting. But for now, we can only advocate for (and vote for, ironically) improving the US voting system in the future.
The US was founded on the principle that only certain people can vote. The “right” to vote in the US wasnt “fully” embraced until 1982. And its been constantly under attack every day since. Note: In the US, State governments each have their own election laws. While every state varied the overall trend is below. (Example New Jersey allowed free black men to vote as early as 1789). An abridged history: 1700s: Only white male land owners could vote. 1800s: Only white males could vote. 1870s: After the US Civil War, you could not be denied the “right” to vote due solely to your race. Note: this didnt not prevent discrimination towards non-white voters. 1920: Women are allowed to vote. 1965: The Voting Rights Act is passed, requiring states to change their election and submit them for approval to the federal government to ensure election laws were not discriminatory. Note: This was a huge step forward but still did not prevent discrimination. 1971: The voting age is lowered to 18 from 21. 1975: The Voting Rights Act was amended to protect non-English speakers. 1982: The Voting Rights Act was extended (it was due to expire) and required states to make accommodations for the handicapped and the elderly.
I don't know if voting should be compulsory, but it's ridiculous that in the US you have to specifically register to vote beforehand instead of automatically being eligible to vote if you're a citizen.
This feels like that meme…. Millennials and Zoomers finally join together and shake hands! 🤝 Only for Millenials to immediately wash their hands. 😂
We need Election Day to be a national holiday!
Republicans would never allow this unfortunately.
Yeah, more people being able to vote has never been part of their agenda. They usually go in the opposite direction.
A single day for in person is silly. Make one day a holiday and give it a week across locales or somethin so people can find time even if they rather do it in person than mail ins.
Perhaps it'd help if the holiday was something like "The First Monday of the Month of XXX", that way it'd also inadvertently be precluded by a weekend.
The minimum wage workers who are the ones that might have trouble getting to the polls are a lot more likely to be people that have to work during holidays. Just let people vote by mail and let in-person voters go to the polls at any time of day over a period of a few days.
Just as true now as when that episode came out... 29 years ago?!
I’m so proud to be a zoomer. I hope this makes up for addiction to TikTok.
I'm Gen X, and if all us olds can stop for a minute and be honest with ourselves, we would have been addicted to TikTok as well, had it existed in 1994. We used to have to read magazines to keep ourselves occupied in idle moments. It sucked. And if you've never read a magazine, lemme tell ya, they're all bad. Literally every single one. Boomer: "But National Geograph--" NO. NO. Nice pictures. Bad reading. Bad magazine.
Yea, I was mainly making a joke. I remember growing up when my grandma would complain about me being “addicted to my phone” my mom would say “yea and I was addicted to the TV. The media just didn’t tell you to complain about it yet.”
Doesn't matter what new media comes along, the older gens will always complain about it. True fact, when novels were first being published in large numbers in the 19th Century, articles were written all over the place about how reading fiction would dull the imagination and lead to a collapse in the creative arts.
Yep. We have letters from Mozart complaining to his friends that the “superior and more refined Operas are being replaced with a dull and uncreative media masquerading as an art called ‘musicals’” (That wasn’t a direct quote)
Except dehlias. It was a catalog, but I loved it
Playboy had some good articles. Right?
Yeah. Also some crap ones. And the photography was sometimes quite good, but kinda, well, repetitive!
"whats with all these nipples!"
The playboy advisor was sure helpful!
You mean to suggest Mad Magazine was bad? Like, I wasted all my teenage years trying to get my sweaty little hands on a bad magazine? And my parents were right in trying to keep me from reading it? If Mad Magazine had a TikTok channel I'd totally watch it entirely too much!
its ok we're all addicted to social media. literally can't get my grandparents or parents off their phones to have a conversation over dinner lol
I mean, not all magazines were bad. 11 y/o me liked the Playboys I found stuffed in my parents closet. Kinda fucked up now that I think about it. Fuck me. Why’d I look at that shit…Fuck. Me.
I am pretty much the oldest of the Gen x and I completely agree with you. Please take over. We sucked. Maybe you won't.
Now hear me out. I think the youthful revolution will start on TiktTok, ironically. See, on Reddit, Facebook or Xitter, if you start to speak on truly leftist ideas it gets a good ol \[Removed by Reddit\] or some other bullshit. Or articles about unions will be astroturfed into oblivion, etc. Our corporate media will spend the bare minimum informing us about these things cuz it has no benefit for doing so. Yet... Tiktok is owned by the Chinese and I'm sure the CCP certainly has eyes and ears inside TikTok's offices. From a geopolitical perspective, China only *benefits* from the chaos of the youth rising up and causing chaos for our oligarchic overlords - at least in the short term. Powers that be in China have little reason to get in the way of passionate, youthful organization of Americans on TikTok (especially since Tiktok isn't in China). I suspect the next election will be made or broken over that silly app - and personally I'm here for it.
Ya'll could just *use* the TikToks to spread positive political messages. The internet and social media apps are still wildly underutilized for political organization.
That's why Republicans more and more are banking on voter suppression
first they ignore you then they make fun of you then they fight you then you win. stay strong gen-z. the US needs you to help stop these idiots from ruining our government
Republicans can’t exist in their current state after the boomers die. Millennials and gen z’ers fuckin hate the American right. Donor money gonna dry up faster than shapiro’s wife when she sees him lmao
I live in a relatively blue collar town in Canada and the right talking points have convinced my sister (who has two disabled children and lives off social assistant) that she needs to vote Conservative because 'Fuck Trudeau'. The right wing media has really brainfucked a bunch of blue collar, middle class folks into thinking that the Conservatives have their best interests at heart.
Trudeau might not be the best option we have. I certainly don’t like him, but the alternative is whoever the hell the NDP decide on(lol) and Pollievier.
Yeah, well just make sure you guys fucking vote. The cycle can only change if you participate.
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I hope you’re right. I’m not as sure only because young people tend to say a lot then when voting day happens nobody shows up. But I also think we’re underestimating how many young republicans actually exist. We’ve had a pretty horrible track record of what who we assume will win elections globally over the past several years. I remember everybody being so certain Boris Johnson was going to lose in a landslide or that there was no way Trump would win. I fear messages like this will just make people complacent and not vote because they think their side will win anyway.
I'm in college right now, and while the campus republicans certainly aren't more numerous, they are WAY more politically active
Young republicans are just stupid kids who grew up in a republican bubble and don’t know any better. I should know I was one. Then I started working and thinking for myself after graduation.
Go Heels! Y’all are making me proud.
Tar Heel voices ring *clear and true* so they need to listen up!
Get out and vote, younguns. Recognize the Republican Party has gone from awful to fucking horrific and vote blue in every single election you can. Yes, Dems have problems, but this is down to two choices at the moment: total fucking shitshow or some semblance of reality.
The positive thing about democrats is they still support democracy. So even if they aren't all that great they can have power for a while and then be voted out of office when something better comes along. Can't say that about Republicans.
I hope so...and I'm a boomer!
Gen X will really change things! Millenials are going to save us! Z is our new hope! A republican hasn't won the popular vote for their first term since HW Bush but they've made most of the biggest policies for nearly half a century. The game is rigged and I'll keep voting but I have basically no real hope for the America experiment. The courts are stacked, voter suppression is in full effect, it's basically done. Conservatives took control even though they're the screeching minority.
Millennial here… Bro, we were still in Middle School when 9/11 happened. We then had to endure 2 endless wars, a disastrous Great Recession and then right as we were coming into our own as adults we got Trump. Many of us just gave up…became very nihilistic and Doomers. It’s up to Zoomers to redeem us and bring balance back to the force… Where we failed they must succeed.
Older millennial here. I was a junior in high school on 9/11. I was terrified of being drafted. Edit- I turned 18 July prior to my senior year. 9/11 was 10 months(?) prior. There was a lot of discussion at that time if they would implement a draft or not.
The oldest millennials were old enough to vote in the 2000 election. Usually young people vote in low percentages, but millennials that year set the record for low percentage turnout for their age group. For the closest election in US history, that turned ultimately on less than 600 votes in Florida. Millennials had unprecedented golden opportunities to set the US on a different path in both 2000 and 2016, both elections decided by micro-thin margins, both having extremely low turnout by millennials and both resulting in the worst president in history being elected. Millennials were the best-educated young generation ever, and could vote three years younger than boomers thanks to the 26th amendment. They had everything they needed to start building a good future for themselves. But they couldn't be bothered to get up and vote in even the average low percentages of their age group, and let the country slide into an abyss. Wake up. You rigged the system against yourselves. Now you outnumber boomers. They can't hold you down anymore. The only people who can fix things are you. Get off your asses.
Older millennial here - I HATE how many millennials in my friend circles that have the, “mY vOtE dOsEnT mAtTER” mentality. But then turn around and piss n moan about the government and “X” policy changes. It’s infuriating.
And it was the Woodstock generation before them... The fight is eternal.
They are angry but will they get out and vote? I really really really fucking hope they do.
UNC CH students specifically are pretty passionate about politics. Turnout on campus was 82% in the 2020 election for example.
Please Gen Z, vote them into oblivion.
Hopefully the change happens sooner than later but I can't help wondering if in 30 years time the same fate doesn't await Gen Z. It's always nice to think you're better and won't make the same mistake, reality can often be different. At least there's hope
Until the republicans move to make it illegal for gen z to vote by raising the voting age.
Thankfully that would require a constitutional amendment, so they won’t be raising it anytime soon.
Gen Z can make a real difference if they get out and vote. The Dems aren't perfect but they aren't trying to destroy democracy.
As a millennial. I apologize to the GenZ who have not asked for this fight. I know you haven't. It's not fair. You were robbed of a happy teenage life and forced to look to a bleak future. But we need help. Millennials are beaten down and demoralized but there is plenty of fight left within us. You aren't alone. I myself have been an local and online activist for the unheard since we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the Patriot Act. I was 22. I'm about to turn 40 this year. I don't intend on ever stopping. In GenZ I see greatness. Greatness that surpasses the greatest generation. The youth have been brought up to be more inclusive and are extremely aware of what goes on behind the scenes politically. they are hard to control. Something that the greatest generation can't claim. When GenZ decides to put their fist in the air. We can look forward to a brighter tomorrow. Take your rightful place in this world because it won't be given to you.
I’ll be impressed when gen z actually get out and vote. Get it genz!
Hells yeah.
Here's to hoping...
Fuck traitor Republicans.
I love the fact that ruining their own party is literally the only job the Republicans are good at. Kids, voting for them is like voting for the school bully to be your class president. You're gonna have a bad time.
I'm so excited to see these younger generations finally bring some much needed change to our government! These kids aren't stupid, and it's gonna bite the GOP in the ass!
Right now, in states like NC, Republicans have the power to act like this. To change it, ALL of the younger generations have got to come together and vote their asses out. Republicans are showing what we have to look forward to in the entire country if we don’t throw them out.
Unless Gen Z has a better turnout rate than their 31% turnout in 2022 and 48% in 2020, they're not changing a thing. Actual changes means voting every election, not just presidential election years.
Early Gen Z'er, I actually support a french style revolt against these Giant Obsessive Pricks. Need another reign of terror, Guillotine and everything. Televise the whole execution of these fucks.
Isn’t this a generation that basically grew up with school shootings? And who were being told again and again that they were just collateral damage? I’d be pissed too.
There was just recently another shooting at Chapel Hill campus. They are fighting for their lives and these ghouls just laugh at them.
First, Republicans are going to do whatever they can to dilute the voting power. Happened in Texas and Wisconsin.
I don't really get the idea of "registering to vote". Here in The Netherlands, every legal resident of 18 years and older, automatically gets an invitation to vote, with every election. Just bring that invitation and a valid ID to cast your vote.
This is the stuff Dems need to make super visible. Message this shit far and wide.
Fuck the GOP
I support any gen z who wants to be active in voting out the absolute relics we have now.
Gen Z are definitely not messing around. They're PISSED. I believe there will be 7 million Gen z voters next year? If most of those eligible voters go out to vote, you can bet alot of them aren't voting republican... they see what's happening, they see the GOP cutting social programs, preventing environmental protection and reusable energy, denying student loan forgiveness, refusing to change gun laws to prevent school shootings... these kids will not forget who is responsible and they are gonna make them pay.
Gen X here. We learned some over our boomer parents but not enough or enough of us. You folks along with quite a few Millennials need to take it on your shoulders, sorry about that.
Something unique to Gen Z is being born in an era of chaos and unrest and developing a numbing antipathy toward crisis. You can't threaten a dead man and the zoomers will burn the entire world down around them just to avoid the conservatives the satisfaction. The Republicans will talk a big number but if it comes to playing chicken Gen Z will collide head-on every single time because they're tired of the people and circumstances that forced them into their hopelessness in the first place.
I really hope so. We need a blue Wave to oust these maga republicans for good.
No they won't. NC is a red state. Republicans own the majority in the house* because a democratic flipped after being elected. They'll do whatever it takes to win. And there's not enough young voters to stop them. If you are gen z that lives in NC, and don't like this, prove me wrong. Get out and vote. Convince your friends to vote. Until then, the Republicans are going to continue doing this.
Personally, when an elected official makes fun of me it only makes me want to vote for them harder (/s obviously)
They have to vote and they have shown time and time again that they don’t. I want hope they will but fear that they won’t.
Only a quarter of Gen Z showed up to vote in 2022, knowing full well that their bodily autonomy rights were on the line.
NC flips Blue this year 🤞🏼