All over North America the young have been turning away from the political process as it is practised today. Is this because they do not care? Maybe for some but my conversations with my children suggests another reason.
My children who are 26 and 23 have become very cynical about the process. They see politicians surrounded by spin doctors who make an art form out of not making a clear statement. They see their future being mortgaged with deficits that they will have to pay for so that seniors today can have more drugs. They see their issues about the environment ignored or giving short shrift and therefore risking their future. They see the stranglehold of the oil cartel and cannot understand why we do not do more about sustainable energy. After all they will have to pay. They see their issues about the costs of university education bound up with neoconservative claptrap about the market.
If they were to get involved how would they? I doubt that many are lining up in the summer to go to a Strawberry Social. They want to have a real voice. They need a mechanism to get connected that fits how they communicate which today meas mainly the electronic media.
The party or the candidate that understands how to use this channel well, who speaks their truth and listens to their issue will get supported by the young.
The weblog is a start.
This is brilliant! I intend to check this site frequently as the election approaches.
Posted by: Erin | September 02, 2003 at 04:32 PM