What will it take to wake up the youth of America (18-19-20-21 yr. olds)?

[Dawgs]

Unfortunately, I think the only thing that will work would be another draft.

[ktowntennesseedem]

1. I was thinking the same thing.

And by the time they get that letter from the draft board it will be too late. I just hope that if (or when!) the draft comes we will at least go through a long period with a serious threat of a draft; maybe that will wake up enough people.

Oh, wait a minute! I forgot that we are about to scale down the troops in time for the '06 elections. With freedom and democracy on the march and with all our troops coming home within the next 15-20 years, we won't need any draft; silly me!!! :sarcasm:

[speedoo]

2. I agree.

If you threaten them with a few years dodging bombs and bullets in Iraq, they will understand what's at stake.

It's sad, but true.

[noamnety]

3. It would take:

More stores selling magazines like Yes! and less magazines like Seventeen. Or more magazines like Seventeen focusing on issues that affect youth other than this season's hair style.

More pop culture heros speaking out about causes consistently, not just during presidential elections, and teaming with local youth.

More media attention on youth who are successfully making a difference in the world.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I agree.

Republicans want a draft, but they're not stupid. They realize that a draft will mean the death of them.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I don't know

i wasn't able to visit my brother and his brood for Christmas due to car trouble. They are all solid Dems, and Brother was in Viet Nam and saw the folly of politicians played out-I just don't know if his kids are politically active or not.

My local peace group is going to meet early in the New Year to plan actions. There are some folks that come that are a bit younger than the rest of us old fogeys-might ask them what we can do, locally, to get more younguns intersted in their future.

[DanCa]

6. A draft would be the ticket unfortunately.

However I think anyone who votes for a war should "support it" in blood and our treaure. I wonder how many 21 year olds voted for Bush last year but wont spend a dime on phone cards or they wont enlist themselves.

[meganmonkey]

7. My 20-ish neighbor is in the Guard now

and will likely be going to Iraq soon (last I heard, anyway). I can only hope he wakes up every morning and comes home safe. If he succeeds in that, I imagine he will have woken up in the figurative sense as well. But right now, according to his dad, he sees the world as black-and-white, good-and-bad. And he thinks we are good and 'they' are bad. So that's why he is fighting.

:(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. When I saw your post I thought the same thing.

Most of the progressive/antiwar events I've attended lately have been populated mostly by old farts like me -- old farts who were activist college students during the Vietnam War. In those days you'd seldom see anybody at a march or protest who was over 30. Now it seems like just about everybody's over 50. The draft was an enormous issue, obviously, since not only was the war a disaster, but the people who were forced to fight it were mostly poor and/or minority kids who couldn't afford to go to college and get a deferment (or five, if you were Dick Cheney), or join the National Guard and then go AWOL, like Bush. When your very own ass is on the line these issues become a whole lot more immediate.

I wish more young people would realize how important this and get involved, even if they aren't in danger themselves.

[rickrok66]

9. Talking to our youth

Hi Dawgs,

I am worried about the same issue. We need to starting growing future democrats now.

Democrats and other progressive groups need to reach out to the youth in this country (more like 12-21 aqe group). That generation sees the world very differently.

There is a good article on this generation and how corporate America is marketing to them. It is in one of the recent American Way airline magazine's and is titled "Billion Dollar Babies"

For example, they are concerned with access to multimedia and the internet. They want access to music, videos, and information on a free high speed internet, but with no invasions of privacy. These kids want their civil liberties protected and they don't want extra fees (no internet taxes).

A lot of what the article stated falls in line with what my son believes.

Many of these kids are far more tolerant than past generations. According to the article, they also aren't as cliquish as other generations. They tend to float from group to group without attaching a label to themselves (like "jock" or "nerd").

If you look at some recent albums like Green Day's American Idiot, System of a Down's Mesmerize, and Rage Against the Machine's albums, you can see that the message is getting to this generation, but no one is following up.

This generation is better networked than most CEOs. I know kids who regularly play online with kids from Germany, England, and South Korea - it no big deal to them. They can also talk to each other while they are playing. Most of these kids can use IM, email, and cell phones better than most IT workers.

With all this rambling, what am I saying? The kids are all right. They are receiving messages and reading everything on the net. They are better networked than any generation ever in human history. They are not your father's Democratic Party. When they start voting in a few years, I think the elctorate will shift to a kind of libertartian tilt (don't tread on my internet and don't tax it either).

When Hilary and Joey Lieberman start the war on "MTV video games", it just turns them off.

If we don't reach out to them, someone else will.

I hope this Monday morning rant give you some food for thought.

[Golden Raisin]

10. Bring back the draft.

It's the proverbial pail of ice water in the face for parents and kids alike.

And bring back "Civics" or "American History" (or whatever you want to call it) and make reading, studying, discussing and knowing about the Constitution & Bill of Rights mandatory in high schools across the land.

[zanne]

12. I agree--bring back "Civics"

And bring back discussion about social issues. I remember many lively debates in high school.

[Bushies gotta go]

11. What it is going to take

Sadly, is that the fundies start messing with music and video games even more than they aready have, trying to regulate what that generation can listen to or play. IMO, that is the only thing tht will wake the youth up.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

13. At 14 years of age

I am politically active. And pessimistic. My generation is REALLY ignorant about politics. SOmething has to be done.

[AndreaCG]

16. Good for you though

Maybe you can start a club if you already haven't?

[evlbstrd]

14. As the parent of a twenty-something and a teen,

I see things a little differently. They are both very aware of the political atmosphere in this country. The twenty-something cried after the 2004 election, her first one. The teen occassionally parrots crap he got from a kid who watches Faux, but I set him straight right away, and point him to reliable sources. He won't stop to read it, but he'll listen.

They may not be out "on the barricades," but they talk with their peers while they go about the business of being students and just growing up. I wouldn't worry too much about them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Some are aware; some aren't.

As the aunt of a 17- and a 19-year old, and speaking only as such, I have to say that my nieces seem completely unaware of and/or completely apathetic about anything outside their little world of school, clothes, celebrities and dates. They sneer at and blow off anything that smacks of politics or activism with an eyeroll, a sneer or a shrug. When considering colleges, they both rejected certain schools as having too many "liberal hippie-types." And these are both smart kids with very high grades. But they are well-off, white, upper-middle-class suburban kids who not only have little exposure to anything outside that world; they don't want to be exposed. They don't want to go to colleges with students who aren't like them, either economically, racially or ideologically. It starts with their parents, of course; but I'm afraid there are a lot of kids like my nieces out there, and I don't know what could motivate them other than something extremely drastic. I was also a well-off middle-class white kid, like many of the other Vietnam-era activists. Why did we defy the mainstream? Probably because of the draft.

[evlbstrd]

19. They are products of their environment.

I was also a Vietnam era teen. But I raised my kids in what's called "the urban core" in our city. That alone made them much more aware of the world around them. They also went to the polling place with me every election, from the low turnout local ballots to the off-year and Presidential elections. They've heard me yelling at pols and pundits on the teevee over the years. It's a sad fact that many parents choose to "protect" their babies from the harsh realities we, and especially our children, are facing.

[pocket]

15. sadly, we need the draft

our merc army allows the youth to be too complacent

[Hyernel]

18. Combat....

...and the distinctive sound of an AK-47 being fired in their direction.

These kids play WWII video games on their XBox's and they think dying is just something that takes a few moments and then you get another life.

[Selatius]

20. Crushing poverty gets the revolutionary spirit flowing

Actually, that's an answer that will get any people regardless of age up in arms. Just look at the mobilization of the poor in Venezuela behind Hugo Chavez or what's happening right now in Bolivia with Evo Morales.

[welshTerrier2]

21. maybe the same as it will take to wake up the rest of us

how many adults are interesting in discussing politics?
how many adults are well informed on the issues of the day?

is it fair to say that 18-21 year olds are even less interested in safeguarding their democracy than the rest of us? perhaps ... but the greater point is that Americans have been lulled to sleep ...

putting emphasis on the younger crowd seems to miss the greater point ... we have a country where almost half of those of voting age don't vote at all anymore ... the two main parties preach and preach and preach and still don't reach these people ...

something is truly broken in our democratic institutions ... it would serve both our party and our country better to focus on these things instead of focussing on the youth ...