Today’s political climate must be one of the most unpredictable of its kind. Democrats and Republicans have been found to have little to no trust in each other, and disagreements in the house, resulting in the inability to pass meaningful bills. Therefore, younger generations are putting their foot down to get the change we all deserve.  

It is easy for millennials to be thrown under the political bus due to accusations of naivete. But do boomers know Millennials and Gen X have been found to be more educated on public policy, worldwide issues, and other crippling nationwide matters?  The younger generations have been brought up in a time of technology where uncertainty is made certain through research. We are surrounded by social media outlets, news stations, and other major search engines. This has resulted in the younger generation’s opting to fact check, clarify miscommunications online, and share personal political opinions. We are one of the first generations to see where government money is going, policies that will affect our kids, and the emergence of distinct civic activism. Millennials and Gen X are less likely to trust corporate institutions, have little to no religious affiliations, getting married later than past generations, and have very little faith in the federal government. Congressional members have promised change, revisions to our policies, and have shown sympathy; but until we see the changes we have been promised, we don’t believe what they have to say in terms of reform. 

I took it upon myself to attend Bernie Sanders’ rally in Boston Common. Along with witnessing the rally, I began to observe the various populations found at the rally. While there was were older generations, there was a stronger representation of college students and even younger. Both Sanders and Warren aim their presidential campaigns towards younger generations. We are the ones that are getting passed the torch at the end of all of this, and the policies that are set in place are going to be ones that are going to break our country. Millennials and Gen X are passionate about the policies that were approved and revoked by our president. We are the ones that will be alive the longest to reckon the consequences that Congress has imposed on our country.

More specifically in today’s presidential race, I think it is easy to say we are at a crucial point to see change. We are in a crippling national student loan debt, inaccessibility to healthcare, jobs, and proper public education in urban districts. Besides our world is in the process of another mass extinction with its severe global warming, pollution, and serious influxes in temperature. The candidacy for president today is aimed more towards millennial and Gen X issues that we are going to have to face. We are going to be stuck with the national debt, the decline in Earth’s beautiful creatures, and the inequality in public services.  

Now is the Time.

The rise in political activism in the youth is growing at exuberant rates. We are surrounded and influenced by exemplary models such as Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Bana Alabed, Claudette Colvin, and the list continues. We might be perceived as the greatest country in the world, but on the inside we are weak. Instead of arguing about real-life issues, our president today is more concerned with his Twitter account and bolstering his ego. The new wave of political activism in youth is stemmed from an interest of do better and be better.  We are a very vulnerable country in terms of our political infrastructure. We are not only afraid for our country, but I speak for the rest of the generations when I say that we are seeing real-life conflicts, and it is our time to reverse the damage and begin the triage process. As Bernie Sanders had said at his rally “the only way, we win is together”. This statement is nothing but true. We can all individually sit back and watch things unfold for the worse, or we can grab the fear and combine it with our interest to make a real change in our country. We are not afraid to get involved in our community, political climate, and stick our feet in the mud. If we don’t become proactive, we are going to be stuck in a lifetime of public inequities.