What do the Gen Xers and Gen Yers think about politics?
As a result of observing many Town Hall meetings and two recent nomination get togethers I am appalled at the lack of response to politics by anybody other than the old! Political opinions are like stinky feet: everybody has them and some smell worse than others. Consequently all should participate in Civics, but don't. Commenting on the age of the audience of political events is a dangerous thing as one is likely to offend those who think they are ageless and also those who usually don't mingle with older folk easily. But one cannot avoid the topic - it is rare to find a person of younger-middle age at any of these events. They are are elsewhere and those in that demographic will readily tell you that they don't have time, or the inclination to get involved. A lot of sympathy goes to the candidates for the Liberal nomination, who are running around trying to cater to their grandparents' generation - a difficult task. It is tough for callow youth to understand the generational difference and I wish them well, although the phrase, "Don't teach your father how to procreate" comes to mind.
It is telling, that in this age of modern politics, Andrew McFadyen has a Marketing Director on his campaign team. This guy looks about twenty five years old and I am sure that he has degrees coming out of his ying-yang and is eminently qualified to sell soap, but what will he be doing to encourage his generation to get involved in politics?
I am young enough, if I live as long as the National average, to see this question answered - what will the political participant of the future look like when the present political activists, whose average age appears to be seventy three are gone?
It is telling, that in this age of modern politics, Andrew McFadyen has a Marketing Director on his campaign team. This guy looks about twenty five years old and I am sure that he has degrees coming out of his ying-yang and is eminently qualified to sell soap, but what will he be doing to encourage his generation to get involved in politics?
I am young enough, if I live as long as the National average, to see this question answered - what will the political participant of the future look like when the present political activists, whose average age appears to be seventy three are gone?
9 comments:
The gross media has done such a thorough hatchet job on politics and it's practitioners that it's not surprising our younger generations have turned to far more innocuous pursuits, like text-messaging each other. Updating the pessimistic poet - the world probably won't end with a bang , but with an unread text message.
The reason young people do not get involved or engaged in politics is that even when their voice is heard, the agenda is driven by the grey hairs running the show. Even with a youthful candidate such as McFadyen, he is being endorsed and his campaign driven by the old OLD guard, as he constantly reminds everyone. So though he may be young in years, his campaign is aged in scope! The majority of young people do not vote because they are not engaged, and politicians as usual do not engage youth because they dont vote. So rather than looking at the age of the candidate, we should look at the age range their message is aimed at.
Some of us on the left have been worried about this for some time as we have watched our own gang go grey over the last few years.
I wonder if the 2nd poster, Anon. doesn't have a telling point - that it's still the oldsters running these shows despite the younger age of some of the candidates. That would turn me off if I was a 20 or 30 something wanting to get involved.
Here's a question: is it the same in the cities or are they able to attract younger people? The population of Toronto that I know is certainly activist, but may not be representative. Does anyone have an opinion about that?
When people feel powerless to make any changes, sometimes they make a conscious decision to just not care anymore, and quit trying.
This is why the disadvantaged don't vote, and may be why more and more people have failed to get involved in politics. Our elected officals have not exactly given us any reasons to trust them, so what's the point? They lie to us, do the opposite of what they promise, or do nothing at all.
So why bother? They will do what they want anyway, and we can't do a damn thing about it.
I find it surprising that Ms. Rudd was able to attract a younger demographic to her event, especially considering the 20(?) year age gap between Rudd and McFadyen. My son showed me their facebook pages and I think I am impressed that Ms. Rudd is using such a site. I believe I am around the same age (does anyone know the actual age of the candidates?) and I thought I was ahead of the crowd because I read the newspaper, blogs, etc online.
McFadyen is young but has an older team, Rudd is older but perhaps has a younger team? It shows that they are both trying to bridge the age gap and I think that is a positive thing.
I haven't had time to attend an event for either of the candidates so I believe I will make up my mind at the nomination meeting.
I can safely say the choice has been narrowed down to two considering that Ms. Herrington has yet to make any effort to get her message out there. It suggests disorganization and a lack of committment, so I say too little, too late for her.
A wine and cheese event attracts mostly seniors. The young go to a different event, like a volleyball tournament Andrew McFayden hosted last weekend. My daughter attended, and she was glad to see a politician taking interest in her generation.
They vote and Canada wins. Just look at what Obama did.
I'm not a fan of McFadyen and I was not a fan of Christine Stewart either. Her views were not as liberal as I would like to see in my liberal MP and I can imagine that the apple does not fall from the tree. For that reason I did not attend his event. I heard his speech was read off a sheet of paper so I can't imagine that I missed much; he doesn't have any chance of unseating Norlock from what I've heard. I would have liked someone in the East over a Cobourg candidate, but Herrington seems to have missed the boat. I'm not all the way sold on Rudd, but I'm about 70% of the way there.
I'd like to reply to the last comment by "Anonymous"...
I find it really interesting that instead of going to an event to learn about a candidate and see him/her first hand, that you're happy to go with second-hand information. Why don't you simply find out Andrew's stance on gay marriage, abortion, etc? In fact, I was talking with a man at the wine and cheese who had flat out asked McFadyen's stance on gay marriage - and his answer was about as Liberal as you can get.
To the previous comment on volley ball... Hosting a volley ball tournament for a handful of young people and calling it political youth engagement is as asinine as saying give kids a basketball and they will stay off drugs. McFadyen comes across as the typical cold, arrogant, know it all teacher. Something that would guarantee Norlock a sound victory in the next election. So stop wasting your breath and our time... we need someone with legitimate experience (whether it be political or community involvement). We have two fine female candidates who will connect with voters, rather than simply read a canned speech of woe.
Post a Comment