A New Generation to Govern

The manufactured debt debacle peeled back the curtain and revealed a truth we all feared: the governing generation can’t govern.
 
Governing has turned to 24/7 campaigning. Win or lose an election, the next day everyone wakes up and starts campaigning again. The mad race for dollars has turned our government into slaves of a free market system that's in direct conflict with the “we the people” premise of our Constitutional Republic. Couple that with the new mantra that corporations are people (will they be securing voting rights soon, too?) and the floodgates have nearly drowned out the few remaining voices of sanity and reason in Congress.

The only thing anyone agrees on with the “Debt Deal” is that no one won, least of all the American public. For the first time in history, campaign pledges became more important than the oath every Member swore to uphold the Constitution.

Most Americans are equally disillusioned with a government that seems bent on serving the desires of the few on the backs of the many. Young people, are particularly disillusioned—and in light of recent rants from the New Hampshire state Speaker of the House and Maine GOP Chairman, we should expect a generation of independent voters (if they vote at all). Loyalty is earned, and neither party has done a good job of earning that loyalty.

We have “thrown the bums out” in three separate election cycles and still things continue to get worse for the middle class, and particularly young people. The economic crisis has turned into long-term unemployment. Student debt is crashing down on a generation of college graduates who worked hard and held up their end of the bargain only to discover the promise of good jobs was a pipe dream they can’t even afford to smoke. Corporations rake in record quarters while rewarding the hardworking people who earned those profits with pink slips.

Young people have a unique opportunity right now to challenge the status quo and break up this generation of elected officials who can’t seem to see past their next fundraiser.

If young people in other countries can topple tyrannical governments, certainly Gen-Ys and Millennials can take back our democracy from the corporations who have bought shares in it at our expense.

Currently, there are only 9 members of the U.S. House of Representatives age 35 or under. In the Senate, there are two people age 40; no one younger. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, only 3.8 percent of state legislators are between the ages of 20 to 34. This leaves a lot of room to build a strong base of Progressive leaders at the state and national level.

Young people have a stake in building a sustainable, vibrant economy—we’re going to be the ones who benefit from it the longest. This creates a clear opportunity for young people to not only vote, but be elected to office where they have an actual seat at the table. These young people might even be our last hope to break beyond partisanship and find a path forward that includes a clean energy economy, reasonable student loan debt, a strong national defense, quality health care and affordable housing.

I believe Progressives must move beyond training and networking opportunities to actively encourage young people to run for office. It’s time we work to identify potential young candidates and then match those candidates with funding streams and donors so they can run effective values-based campaigns.

I've seen GOP efforts across the country that blatantly attack young people, suggesting they are not engaged enough or smart enough to vote. In fact, I live in the heart of the GOP “We Hate The Youth” camp. This breed of ALEC-trained legislators are changing the laws to effectively prohibit young people from taking part in their right to vote.

Maine youth are fighting back with a People’s Veto, but millions of Americans around the country will not be so fortunate when they go to vote next year. If we don’t get young people into the halls of power soon, there will be no rights, economy or jobs left for anyone to fight for.

Worse, there will be no means in which to ever vote the bums out again—whoever the bums happen to be, from whichever party.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at 33 years old, spawning two centuries of a new and vibrant democracy. It is time this generation of idealists step up to shape the next century or there will be no democracy left.

Diane Russell serves in the Maine House of Representatives and lives in Portland, Maine. You can follow her on Twitter at @MissWrite or at Facebook.com/DianeMarieRussell.