Everything Tagged with 'politics'
“Oh, Grow Up”?
John Boehner and Barack Obama engage in a very public battle over the timing of a speech, each side aiming thinly-veiled vitriol at the other, and the New York Times editorial board (rightly) decries it as political spectacle. But under what headline does the newspaper title and run the piece?
“Oh, grow up.”
The subtle, even unintentional implication here is that this type of petulant behavior is only and naturally the purview of children – whom you by definition incriminate when you suggest something isn’t “grown up.” I have known and worked with many children, my friend, and not one of them has been nearly as petty and arrogant as John Boehner. One simply does not just act like he does by virtue of being a child.
So, to the New York Times: instead of labeling this behavior as “childish” or ascribing it to those who need to “grow up” or “act their age,” let’s stop demeaning kids and label this behavior what it really is – plain immaturity. It’s as simple as that.
Maturity and age are two very separate, independent things.
The Millenial Generation and Political Discourse
Maegan Carberry responds to the pessimistic belief that young Millenials, who showed up in full force in 2008 to vote Barack Obama into office, have since stopped caring:
Many say that the historic election was an isolated moment in time and that momentum has plateaued, but 2008 was the beginning of something that will manifest itself in the coming decade, starting with November’s midterm election, to 2012, 2014 and beyond as our nation’s demographics shift toward majority Millennial voters. It was the arrival of a generation that has since taken action to support our values system and vision for the future. We are often criticized as disappearing acts, or celebrity-crazed misanthropes who want the posters for our walls more than we respect the politics.
I don’t believe we disappeared. We went to work on the issues we care about. I don’t believe we disappeared. We went to work on the issues we care about. We demanded marriage equality, participated in the health care debate, fought for the rights of our peers who are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, called for an independent energy future, demanded fiscal responsibility, rallied for access to higher education and pushed for a more transparent government free to utilize the digital tools that are unique to our communications.
This is absolutely true from my experience as well. I’d say this ‘departure’ from politics isn’t actually a sign of us not caring anymore, but rather us showing our skepticism of top-down mechanisms of social change. We still care; we just want things to be done differently, in ways that are connected and in tune with the local level, and we want to be involved in that change. We’re a Grassroots Generation; we’re not going to sit idly by and entrust the well-being of our futures to politicians and corporate-sized nonprofits. We’re going to get out there and make change ourselves. Look no further than youth-led (and radically successful) organizations like Invisible Children and Krocket Kids for proof of that.