To Whom This May Concern,
It seems to me that there is no way that millennials can win. The older generations in America are either groaning that we don't care enough about what is going on within the political system, or they're fussing over the fact that we have too many opinions that they don't agree with. Can you guys make up your minds?
I am not sorry for having a political opinion, nor will I ever be. I am not uneducated, and I'm sick of being invalidated because of my age. Whether you are conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between, I think that it's fair to say we've all experienced the frustration of being condescended upon for our beliefs. Just because I'm a young adult does not mean I'm clueless as to what goes on in the House and the Senate. Quite frankly, I'm sure that most of my generation is more up to date about what's going on in the government than any of the older folks saying we haven't got a clue. Times are changing gramps, and you've got to keep up. My age does not define my awareness of my surroundings or my intelligence. I'm beginning to think that growing up doesn't necessarily make everyone wiser.
You're more than welcome to challenge my opinions and beliefs maturely, but when you're old enough to be my grandfather and you're commenting on my Facebook posts about how stupid I am, I can't say I'm going to respond nicely. The world of social media has opened up many opportunities for people to find out information fast about our politics and laws, but it has also allowed for a great deal of misinformation. People place too much trust in Facebook memes, and are quick to believe just about anything. Can you believe that Obama sent a muffin basket to *insert foreign leader here* in apology for *insert tragedy here*? Sounds absurd, but slap that in bold font on a picture of him and I promise you that it'll spread like wild fire because people are gullible. The ones rapidly sharing these bogus posts are not usually millennials either, but we are everyone's favorite scapegoat for the things going wrong in our country. Us damn millennials just had to do this, or that, or think this. It's just all our fault, obviously. We're basically just destroying this great nation, apparently.
No matter what your opinion is, there will be someone older to disagree. They can't decide if they want us to be educated and invested in politics, or if they want us to butt out because we don't want to follow the original US Constitution word for word. Sorry to break it to you, but I'm going to be living in America for much longer than you will, so I'm going to fight for the America that is best for my generation. So please, stop patronizing us and listen; if you stop being stubborn about the idea that young people are intelligent, you might just agree with some things.
Sincerely,
A college kid who cares about what comes after
