Since the November 8th election, pundits and observers have marveled at the immaturity and petulance of millennials who would dare to be upset and frustrated at the outcome of a fair election. In other words, they have been telling everybody to "suck it up, buttercup" and to stop being snowflakes.
To the conservative pundits and your ilk: You achieved your goal to portray them as frail and fragile with a proclivity for melting, but these claims are far from substantiated and I would like to take a minute to respectfully speak my mind in response. Trigger warning! You may want a safe space for this.
1. Protests
Let's start with what seems to be the issue that gets under your thick-but-obviously-thin skin the most: protests. You seem to get upset whenever anybody protests at anything unless those protests are "counter-protests", which are actually still protests but you don't want to admit it. The right to protest is as just as important as the right to vote, but you all aren't really a big fan of either. I know you get in a huff about attacks on the Second Amendment, but how about you stop attacking somebody's First Amendment right.
For a country that was literally founded on the basis of protests, we sure hate it when people protest. Many of you see the Hamilton cast's address to Vice President-elect Pence as a pompous lecture. As someone who attends pompous lectures fairly regularly, I can assure you that speech was more respectful and honest than many things I've heard in my life from both sides of the political aisle including this article. In fact, VPEOTUS wasn't even offended; you were. If you expected the diverse cast of a musical about an immigrant, anti-slavery Founding Father to not be political and not address the next Vice President of the United States, then "you must be out of your ******* mind," ( Hamilton: An American Musical).
2. Recounts
Next, there are the Jill Stein-funded recounts. "Hillary lost - Get over it!" is the oft-repeated phrase even though 43 states and D.C. permit recounts in close elections, and those benefit both Republicans and Democrats. Voting is the people's chance to speak, and officials need to make sure they are heard correctly. A recount, barring equal protection issues, is necessary in a nation of different election methods and aging machines. Recounts hardly ever change anything, but most responsible people double check everything before they officially finish it. And look! The vote hardly changed. You didn't lose a thing.
3. Our Generation
One of your favorite past-times is criticizing our generation, and granted, I enjoy doing that a lot, too, because sometimes we're the worst. However, it is ironic coming from your generation since you are the generation who raised us. We're the "generation that's offended by everything", "the participation trophy generation", and "crybabies". If you're going to cry about all of us getting a participation trophy when we were playing T-ball and peewee soccer, you probably shouldn't have given them to us. And, no, we aren't offended by everything; we just recognize that our culture has disrespected others for centuries and we're trying to change that. If us being offended offends you, that's pretty incongruous, right?
Our generation is pretty unique, just like the ones that preceded us. We're the children of immigrant, lawyers, doctor, blue-collar, unemployed, or adoptive parents and guardians who grew up in an age of technology where we could literally talk to anybody in the world instantaneously, so we've met a lot of people who have been through and seen a lot. So don't tell us that our generation hasn't gone through anything. I know people who have lost family members and friends to tragedy, whose families have been forcibly separated, and whose lives were severely impacted by the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. Everybody has their own stories and experiences. You know that, I know that, and we all know that. Let's stop comparing pain, shall we?
Listen, I'm not complaining about your coverage of the election results, the protests, or really even your assessment of our generation. I'm simply trying to remind you to actually listen to what we have to say before dismissing it almost immediately. I'm sorry if the generation that preceded yours did that to you, but I am imploring you to end the cycle. As scary as this sounds to both you and me, my generation will be in charge one day and, like every generation before us, will have to rectify your mistakes, honor the sacrifices you made, and also prepare our children for the future. This will be a lot simpler if we start working together now and don't give into this generational division that exists.
