I have seen a lot of videos recently floating around the Internet designed to show how little college students know about our government, history and politics. Every time I see one of these videos I experience a little bit of embarrassment for my generation, and I cringe as yet another student fails to answer correctly a question like, "Who won the Civil War?" But I also harbor a significant amount of anger towards those who are making the videos. The clips displayed are specifically selected to entertain viewers, and to portray the millennial generation as ignorant and entitled.
We millennials are getting a really bad reputation. A Time magazine article called the millennial generation "narcissistic, overconfident, entitled, and lazy." And you know what? I get it. I understand how we might come across that way to previous generations. But what you have to understand about us, is that we have grown up in a vastly different world than any of the generations before us. Today's high school students probably don't have memories of a world before 9/11. This year's college graduates don't remember what the world was like before the technology boom. We're facing a world where global terror threats have become the norm and where technology allows the NSA to spy on American citizens. We're facing a highly competitive job market and most of us will leave college either unemployed or underemployed. A college degree is now expected for any major job market, and graduate degrees are slowly becoming worth what a bachelor's degree used to be. As of 2013, average student debt in was around $35,000.
In addition, millennials are the most diverse generation yet. We have a variety of views on different issues across the board on politics. We're also more likely to not identify with either political party.
You know what that means? You need our vote.
A line I've heard several politicians use in regard to the 2016 election is that it's "a generational choice." This election is going to define a new era of American politics. So politicians and the older generations alike need to be looking towards those who will define the next 50 or so years of American politics. Millennials. The "selfie generation" is all grown up now and voting, and the leanings of the 18 to 23-year-old voting group could define 2016.
So, don't write us off. Don't label us as ignorant. Don't assume we won't be at the polls. Don't pretend that the opinions of the younger voters have no real value or impact on politics. Give value to the issues that have value to us. You can judge us as lazy or narcissistic all you want, but do not stand ignorant of the one thing that we truly are: the future.
