Sadly, the easy answer – that those labels are accurate – goes unchallenged. The common wisdom would have us believe that this generation, so self-involved, so easily distracted, just doesn’t care about the issues of the world. Through our silence, our generation concedes this contrivance.
Quite to the contrary, ours is a generation of higher education, of social entrepreneurs, of record volunteerism. We are Teach for America, we are Orphans Against Aids, we are Americorps. We hold more diplomas and degrees than any generation before us. Never has a generation stood at the brink and been more prepared to face what lies ahead than ours today. Only one obstacle impedes us.
Our generation is not apathetic, nor is it lazy or materialistic, but it is quiet – that is our great fault. No politician need trouble themselves with our concerns; no leader need govern with us in the back of their mind, so long as ignoring us carries no electoral penalty. We volunteer and study and work and worry, but we don’t vote, and thereby we exclude ourselves from democracy.
Frederic Douglass called the right to vote “the right by which all others are secured.” UT is a vibrant campus in the heart of the Texas capital, and yet student neighborhoods have the lowest voter turnout in Austin. When we ignore this critical democratic tool, lawmakers go on without us and we silence the voice of our entire generation. This problem, unless and until our generation steps up and embraces democracy, will only get worse.
Many students who don’t vote say they feel intimidated by and lost in the bureaucracy of democracy. As the pressures of college and career begin to close in on them, many simply tune politics out. National politics seem inaccessible, or simply corrupt, and a single voice can seem tiny in that enormous system.
But a single voice is exactly what we need. 100,000 students (half of them at UT) live in this city of 800,000. We as students are a political force that would be ashamed to be described as merely formidable. Imagine the impact we could have if we spoke up together. One-eighth of the city could overhaul city council; it could elect a mayor by a landslide; it could dramatically alter Austin’s political landscape.
In March, we could even have a national impact, with the Texas primary set to make or break at least one presidential nominee, and the youth vote expected to be a deciding factor. We felt tremors of students’ tremendous potential a few weeks ago, when thousands swarmed tables in the West Mall, Jester and on the Drag to register for the primaries. In a couple of weeks, many of those students will help settle a presidential nominee.
If there was ever a time for our generation to break this spell of political apathy, it is now. If you’re registered to vote, vote in the March 4 primaries and help decide a party’s future. If you’re not, register now and change the shape of city government on May 10. In November, make sure the new president has heard your voice.
Born in an age of ambition, surrounded by brilliance, but hindered by our silence, we look forward and must ask, “What kind of world will ours be?” Be a part of the answer.
-Justin Hubbard and Avi Selk
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