You want to know why the youth don’t vote? Because they know it’s a sham.
1. The electoral college has prevented and, unless I move to a different state, will probably always prevent my vote for president from counting.
2. Young people people have always known politics and government is for the Business, not for the People. This is one reason why Nader appeals to many young voters yearning for change.
3. They have no faith in the voting process, particularly after Florida 2000. It does not build help matters if we go to a paperless trail using Diebold voting machines and the chairman and CEO of Diebold has a letter sent out to raise funds for Bush with the ominous phrase: “I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.” (free New York Times, free subscription required, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/politics/campaign/12vote.html?th).
4. Too people have tried to tell them WHO to vote for—their church, their parents—and too few have encouraged them to just VOTE.
5. A lack of awareness of how national policy can influence their lives. Young people have issues too, although they may seem trivial compared to Iraq and the economy. But they do into larger issues—access to M-rated video games is a First Amendment argument; intellectual property rights violations stand to put an entire generation in jail if fully prosecuted—which many argue shows problems with the current law. Senator John McCain is arguing, I believe, for cable channels on an a-la-carte basis instead bundled channels: cash-strapped young people who are only interested in watching a few channels might like that option if it very comes to fruition—I’m sure the cable companies will be fighting that one though. Many are concerned about civil rights, cyber issues, environmental concerns, and of course, the same things other voters care about—jobs, education, and health care. These are the folks who would be drafted if a volunteer force was not deemed sufficient; wouldn’t it be a shame if they didn’t even bother to show up at the polls to tell their politicians how they felt about mandatory service?
It’s late, very late, and there’s so many more reasons. Basically, I’m just really irritated at the “we’ll deliver Ohio for you” from the head of Diebold. I’ve seen how easy it is to hack that machine on TechTV. How I love my cable.
Most of this is understandable, but isn’t there an extent to which it boils down to the old “Homes, we don’t ‘relate’ to voting”?
Granted, the system is corrupt: corporate interests, especially with Bush, hold too much power over the process; the Electoral College is outmoded; the process, obvious especially after the vote of 2000, is woefully flawed. But, while a lack of awareness is a reason, it’s not an excuse: The News Hour on PBS may not seem as entertaining TLR, but it is, well, substantive and it is free. Anyone can tune in, and it doesn’t even require the premium cable.
That lack of connection seems like simply a lack of perspective to an old codger like me: access to M-rated video games is a First Amendment issue, but how many non-voting young people can even see that?
Believe it or not, politicians do pay attention. But they only pay attention if you actually register and if you actually vote. It would send a powerful message, after all, if even 10,000 young people in, say, an otherwise Republican plains state demanded to be registered as Greens.
And last, if young whipper-snappers are tired of being told how to vote, why don’t they start thinking for themselves? Do they have to be told to do that too?