Is My Generation Forgetting the Power of the Youth Vote?

I am a member of the “don’t trust anyone over 30” generation that came of age in the 1960s. We thought we were a force to be reckoned with. We knew what it was like to have our elders insult us, yell at us, dismiss our vision or blame us for society’s woes.  It’s no fun to listen to insults, especially those that roll off the tongue without remorse.

And now it seems that at least some of us have forgotten those days. Witness the recent remarks by such eminent and experienced politicians as Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and former House Speaker Newt Gringrich, now a Republican candidate for President.  

In a recent Senate hearing on Internet privacy, Sen. Rockefeller went beyond questioning Facebook’s Bret Taylor to generalize that all people in their twenties lack social values. The offhand remark apparently evoked nervous laughter around the room, but no apology, clarification or backpedalling from Rockefeller.

The biggest reaction came in the hours and days following the remark, and came from young people on Facebook and in the blogosphere.

We older folks don’t want to lose what we’ve gained but that shouldn’t mean leaving younger generations to fend for themselves.

As for Newt Gingrich, he's running for President and yet he apparently feels no compunction about dismissing a whole segment of potential voters. How? By publicly recommending that before they cast a vote, young voters should be required to take a test.

Wait a minute, that rings a bell. A poll test? Isn’t that how Black voters were barred from exercising their constitutional right to vote for an entire century after the Civil War? 

It gets worse. Some states are going beyond insult to add real injury. According to the Fair Elections Network, at least 10 state legislatures are considering or have passed photo identification and other laws that are likely to suppress or disenfranchise the youth vote. (Check out a video from North Carolina.)

On the national level, the attack is less direct but just as costly. Some Congressional leaders have reassured senior voters that they won't be affected by proposed plans to gut Medicare.

These leaders apparently see the interests of younger voters as insignificant—so insignificant, in fact that it's not necessary to note that these plans will place a huge burden on younger generations. To pay for equivalent health coverage by retirement age, today's 20-year-olds would need to save an additional $624,400 of their own money, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

I understand that we older folks don’t want to lose what we’ve gained—including a social security check and Medicare with guaranteed benefits. But that shouldn’t mean leaving younger generations to fend for themselves.

How can we, the civil rights generation, stand idly by when young voters who are just beginning to flex their political muscles are disenfranchised, robbed of the entitlements they’ll pay a lifetime for and stripped of their dignity, their aspirations and their rights?

Jan Richter is editor of the SparkAction Update, our weekly e-newsletter that offers a cross-cutting review of news, ideas and actions in the child and youth field.