Cynical Millennials

by Greg Wright

It’s election season in America. Negative campaign ads fill the airways. Primaries, caucuses and debates are hot topic news items. So close are the elections that the Senate won’t even consider a replacement for late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia.

So what if President Obama has nearly a year left in office — the people expect politicians to stop solving problems and start acting in their own political interests!

Actually, Americans don’t really expect much of politicians. Any politicians — regardless of political affiliations.

People’s disgust with politics is palpable. The only people that Millennials trust less than the TV and news media covering Congress, is Congress.

A recent Pew Research poll found the share of people not wishing to be affiliated with either major party continues to increase.

“Based on 2014 data, 39 percent identify as independents, 32 percent as Democrats and 23 percent as Republicans. This is the highest percentage of independents in more than 75 years of public opinion polling,” said the study.

Not only are Americans becoming less interested in party politics, they are becoming less interested in deciding who leads the country.

Not since 1968 has more than 60 percent of the population voted. Since then the number has hung around the low-to-mid 50s. Voting was meant to be the way to ensure that people held sway over the politicians, but for decades nearly half the population has been choosing not to vote.

A very unscientific survey, conducted by myself for this article, found some interesting results when I asked Millennials if they voted in the last presidential election and what their reasoning was.

The Nays

Four veterans who today who would all describe themselves as ‘politically informed’ responded to the survey.

Of the four surveyed all four veterans did not vote. At the time of the election two of them were not even slightly interested in the notion that they could literally choose their own boss.

“I wasn’t involved in politics at the time,” said former Marine and college student Jake Karcher.

“I didn’t start caring about politics until a few years ago,” said the veteran Stefan Anderson.

The other two said they would have voted but weren’t registered to vote in time.

Three other Millennials responded that they did not vote. Two agreed that they didn’t think it mattered who was elected. The other pointed that voting doesn’t always matter because Al Gore won the popular vote but George Bush still won the presidency.

For those that didn’t vote, a mixture of cynicism and or indifference was the recurring theme.

The Yeas

Three responders say they did vote. The reasons they voted are telling.

One voted out of need and practicality. Job security and health care coverage.

“I was just coming out of college and I didn’t have a job,” said Christina D’antoni. “Healthcare was a really important issue for me.”

“I always vote but that year was definitely important,” she added.

One voted for social progress and political reasons.

“I wanted the progress that Obama had started to continue,” Matt Lanning said. “Maintaining his incumbency was crucial.”

The third “Yea” was probably the most definitive summation of the collective Millennial attitude toward American politics.

“I forgot who I even voted for and why I voted for them,” she Kelly Klein. “I wasn’t a fan of either candidate though.”

Here’s a person who is compelled to operate in a system they want to see work, but without the care to remember whom they are choosing, because as the “Nays” said, voting isn’t seen as a way to actually influence change.

Here’s why

The post 9-11 America is not the land of liberty and freedom Millennials were taught it was. Domestic spying, the invasion of Iraq and rapid police militarization have all occurred with bipartisan support.

Since the Great Recession started in 2008 Millennials have entered an economy built off part-time labor, corporate influence has taken control of Washington D.C. and no one has been held accountable for the home mortgage scam that caused the recession.

Add climate change and college tuition to the list of concerns and it’s easy to see why Millennials think voting won’t resolve their issues.

Though both parties have very different opinions on what cultural and equality rights we should extend to immigrants, LGBQT or minorities, the current political system is responsible for many of the injustices we experience every day.

While America is becoming more independent, many analysts have also noted that the Millennial generation is more libertarian and/or progressive than previous generations. With the likelihood of a Bernie Sanders diminishing each day and the Libertarian Candidate, Gary Johnson, far from the spotlight it’s becoming apparent that Millennials may have no one to represent them on a number of issues that they care very deeply about.

Millennials have plenty of reasons to be cynical.