In 1964, Bob Dylan intoned “Don’t criticize/What you can’t understand/Your sons and your daughters/Are beyond your command”. His words marked the tension between communities of different ages operating at different wavelengths. Dylan was an advocate for change, a public icon inciting judicious moralism in an age of emerging individuality. Whereas communal attachments waned during the shift towards individualism in the ‘60s, these ties are being rekindled in the digital era. Today’s Canadian youth have the paradoxical fortune of growing up in this age. Our accelerated media climate disconnects the Luddites from the tech savvy while simultaneously opening new arenas for dialogue.
Voting
While we may interact differently than our elders, we’re nevertheless equal components in Canadian society. One person equals one vote. Democratic forms of government give citizens power over who runs our country and how that official goes about doing so. This process is the foundation of our social and political system. Intuitively then, Western history’s leading figures express voting as the most essential political act a citizen engages in. As generation Y, we’re destined to inherit the legacy of choices made now, making our voting decisions even more salient.
The Democracy Project, a large study pioneered by The Innovative Research Group and commissioned by The Globe and Mail examines recent youth voting trends. Although more than 80% of youth surveyed express concern with low voter turnout while acknowledging the duty of citizens to vote (89%), 35% feel that their vote would not make any difference. 73% of those surveyed cite that no politician asked them to participate directly. Essentially, the study localizes a direct correlation between expressing a desire to vote and being politically knowledgeable . If candidates don’t sufficiently cover issues relevant to young people, then how can they expect youth to pay attention to them, or anticipate support from our demographic?
Unsurprisingly, Canada experienced its lowest voter turnout in history in the 2008 general election . When political campaigns fail to pique our interest we show our apathy by not voting. This degrades the quality of Canadian politics. A key strategy should be making important political issues relevant to youth electorate. The next stage is to reflect on recent events and recognize patterns. If the pattern is one of decreasing voter turnout, what proof do we have that young people are in fact politically conscious?
Youth in growing numbers participate in alternative forms of politics, rejecting conventional voting practices in favour of more global frameworks. That is, generation Y’ers are moving away from traditional legislative organization. We comment on and link stories online, and share our ideas through text and instant messaging. We develop online forums that transcend national boundaries, organize rallies and community engagements, and disseminate information we find relevant through online platforms like Twitter and Facebook. To many young people, these activities can be more fulfilling and political than casting an anonymous vote.
Recent G20 protests in Toronto, however, mark an unusual contradiction. Young people turn up in droves for certain political demonstrations yet feel disinclined to vote. What’s wrong with Canadian politics seems to be what’s wrong with Western politics in general – a fundamental disconnect exists between leaders and the electorate, particularly those 25 and under.
Well, why? In 2005, Lauren Langman argued that transnational corporations with increasing global market-share not only reap massive profits but also gain power that overshadows state governments. Hegemony of this kind doesn’t rest well with younger generations growing up with the environment and technology on their minds. With corporate power influencing even governments, voting can appear less essential, even futile. Our rigorous individualism also resists the order to get in line. But we may at once be disenchanted from unresponsive political structures yet remain focused on critical issues. Our participation then becomes individualized in the everyday as opposed to radical anti-state or cultural politics . A blog post, for example, is more accessible and engaging for most young people than tossing Molotov cocktails on Bay Street.
New forms of engagement offer novel routes to political activism. Dissent critical to democratic society finds young people participating more frequently through these channels. In this sense, subversion and resistive voting are essential aspects of informed and democratically engaged youth. However, new weapons must be added to that arsenal. It’s simply not enough to stand united in criticism. Rhetoric is effective only when meaning and purpose are behind it. And recognizing a problem is a critical first step. The next one is to dig deep and find a better alternative.
Paying more attention to global forces of change that affect voting like political pressure and economic factors enable us to see the instruments by which functioning nation states change. Now that we recognize such tools, stepping up our education, engaging the present and putting aside some of the rabid self-entitlement that accompanies individualism will enable a more informed youth voting body. If global frameworks and theatres of change signify current youth trends, then young voters can play a pivotal role in challenging and recreating the Canadian political landscape.
Informed, Not Reformed
Media often regard youth with suspicion and cynicism. News outlets regularly lament that apathy is the defining ingredient of our political diet . This perspective misses the point. As Alison Loat suggests, disaffected youth are really symbolic of a more general malaise about the fabric of public life in Canada . Pushing this problem onto the shoulders of youth alone removes blame from the cultural and political architects who began it. However, explaining reasons for this malaise is more productive than pointing fingers in one direction or another.
One rationale is that our culture values ignorance. As argued by Larry M. Bartels of Princeton University, “the political ignorance of the [American] voter is one of the best documented data in political science”. Henry Giroux, a cultural theorist at McMaster University, goes on to explain that this type of ignorance is meant to depoliticize the public while also encouraging subjects to participate in their own oppression. In essence, it aims to create ‘cheerful robots’ . Transcending this ignorance requires a dedicated effort.
Celebrity culture is a second issue. Distraction plays a significant role in edging citizens away from engaged politics. It’s just not possible that we all become VP by the age of 28 like all our favourite TV show characters . Try looking up ‘UK Politics Yahoo’ (first hit) on YouTube for a satirical and sobering treatment of the 2010 UK election from the perspective of some British youth. The question of relevance again comes into play as a strategic link between political knowledge and active, engaged voting.
Relevancy begins with awareness. For example, a friend of mine recently declared that she would rather watch Spongebob than the news. If Spongebob is a suitable alternative to current events, then there’s something wrong with how these events are presented or with our perception of their importance. A lack of interest in what’s happening around us leads to a similar indifference to political process.
Aging politicians now in power have a more limited future than generation Y. Their tenuous grasp on the world of youth and new media signifies that older generations currently only achieve fringe association and connectivity with ours. Prime Minister Harper waving around an iPhone and talking about Twitter and Lady Gaga, for instance, would be about as meaningful as a lonely moose trying to mate with a lawn ornament. Making politics more relevant to young voters promises a more interconnected democracy and stronger Canadian polity.
The world doesn’t change if everyone sits around waiting for someone else to do it. Or if it does, that change will not be in our favour. We have to pay attention to what takes place in front of us and reclaim voting as a monument to our generation’s active engagement in politics.
Tired of feeling irrelevant? Start a blog. Design a webpage. Read a book, begin a discussion and encourage debate. Don’t like the two-party system we seem to have adopted? Study political science. Lobby your local councillor. Become a politician. Don’t like a candidate’s policies? Vote him out of office.
The beauty of our political system is having choices. It doesn’t work if we don’t make any.
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i-source: www.apathyisboring.com
ii-Fields, Andrew. Youth Voting Behaviour in Canada, 2009.
iii-Langman, Lauren. Virtual Public Spheres and Globalized Social Movements, 2005.
iv-Harris, Wyn & Younes. Beyond apathetic or activist youth, 2010.
v-If critics lament that youth are disengaged from and apathetic towards politics, they should take note that much of the research currently being done is by youth themselves.
vi-Loat, Alison. Let’s not blame youth for general voter apathy, The Globe and Mail, 2009.
vii-Giroux, Henry. The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism, Truthout, 2010.
vii-Clemens, Chris. Facebook wall post, 2010.
