blind party loyalty, bi-partisianship, ultra conservatives, ultra liberals...

[Keith P]

Quesion: Why do arguments always amount to "republicans this" or "democrats that"?

What exactly is it you hope for? One party rule? Democracy ceases to exist then you know.

I think American's REALLY need to be reminded of this again. Carry on.

[Dionysos]

Originally Posted by Keith P

Quesion: Why do arguments always amount to "republicans this" or "democrats that"?

What exactly is it you hope for? One party rule? Democracy ceases to exist then you know.

I think American's REALLY need to be reminded of this again. Carry on.

Because news organizations don't give any context to anything, so nuanced policy arguments are lost on the majority of Americans.

[zcwilly]

Because both parties tend to vote along party lines, not individually. That can often lead to bitter divisions.

[Funkenstein]

What Jonny said and I'll add the following:

The huge stink made with Gore/Bush 2000 made the nation recognize (since it still hasn't truly REALIZED) the power of the Electoral College. The fact that youth are not as involved with the process to power as say even the Yuppies of the 80s or even the power-hungry "Puppies" of the Internet boom 90s says more than enough.

All they know is Red and Blue. They barely recognize Green (unless it is legal tender or "illegal" goods, LOL).

Whatever their parents are, they end up becoming until they hit college and develop stoner or radical friends.

/shrug

I weep for the future.

[Dionysos]

Roof, every generation the youth aren't 'involved' in the voting process. Most hippies didn't vote when they were in their 20s either. This has been S.O.P. for decades.

[Ash]

I think John Edwards is an idiot.

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Dionysos

Roof, every generation the youth aren't 'involved' in the voting process. Most hippies didn't vote when they were in their 20s either. This has been S.O.P. for decades.

Know of a site where I can get voting numbers for Americans aged 18-24 between the years of 1980-1990 for comparison to 1990-2000?

I could almost see a possible decrease (no matter what those fools at MTV thought "Rock the Vote" was doing) for participation by young Americans.

[Dionysos]

Originally Posted by Rufus P. Funk

Know of a site where I can get voting numbers for Americans aged 18-24 between the years of 1980-1990 for comparison to 1990-2000?

I could almost see a possible decrease (no matter what those fools at MTV thought "Rock the Vote" was doing) for participation by young Americans.

http://www.census.gov/population/www...mo/voting.html ?

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Dionysos

http://www.census.gov/population/www...mo/voting.html ?

I'll be damned. Let me dig through real fast.

Thanks for the quick linkage.

/online dap for Black History Month

EDIT: Instead of posting another entry, I decided to add to this one.

1980-1984 was the HEIGHT of participation. The young numbers are not very promising for registered age voters from within the bracket I was referring to and it speaks volumes about this. I wish there was a way to change it other than beetch-slapping people into doing it every other two years so that when the fourth shows up, we have a REAL representation of the will of the people.

MMS (makes me sad).

[Dionysos]

Originally Posted by Rufus P. Funk

I'll be damned. Let me dig through real fast.

Thanks for the quick linkage.

/online dap for Black History Month

Give the dap to Google, you lazy teatime.

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Dionysos

Give the dap to Google, you lazy teatime.

Check the edit, beetch. If you don't want the dap, you won't get it.

/unpays for lunch at Cornershop Bakery

[Dionysos]

Alright, let me rephrase for accuracy then: Every election, people overestimate young voter turnout. It's always "this time <insert candidate here> will really bring them out!" followed by "OOPTH".

[Adam D]

Originally Posted by Keith P

Quesion: Why do arguments always amount to "republicans this" or "democrats that"?

What exactly is it you hope for? One party rule? Democracy ceases to exist then you know.

I think American's REALLY need to be reminded of this again. Carry on.

When you're talking about what's being done, sometimes it is a matter of what a particular party is doing.

However, that ultimately fuels a false sense of division between the two parties. The mainstream media has an easier job making a 30 second story out of something if they can use party names than if they try to articulate specifics. In addition, this country really loves its identity politics. That goes not just for politicians and the media, but for the people, too.

It's hard to live in a culture of 30 second commercials and 30 second news stories if you can't play off of loaded identities. Republicans good, Democrats bad. Old people smart, young people dumb. White people work, black people are lazy. Ford good, Chevy sucks. It's all the same way of boiling a discussion down to the least common denominator.

[Adam D]

Originally Posted by Rufus P. Funk

1980-1984 was the HEIGHT of participation. The young numbers are not very promising for registered age voters from within the bracket I was referring to and it speaks volumes about this. I wish there was a way to change it other than beetch-slapping people into doing it every other two years so that when the fourth shows up, we have a REAL representation of the will of the people.

MMS (makes me sad).

In general this country has really low voting turnout. It's not a problem that can be directed to one source, it's a cultural problem. Voting, or any sort of political engagement, is not strongly encouraged. Political scientists trump it up to voter apathy, but I don't believe it's a matter of people not caring. When people say voting doesn't matter, that's more a reflection of politicians not following through on the issues that matter to them than simply not caring. But that's not the accepted line of thinking. If political scientists seriously considered that perspective, they may have to consider that there is something problematic in the way our government functions. They don't want to do that.

When you add into the discussion why young adults have low turnout, suddenly there's cognitive dissonance. Political science contends that people vote in greater numbers as they age because they begin to have families, make more money, own property, investments, etc. and all those things are more affected by what the government does and so they are driven to vote. It makes sense in a lot of ways. A 25 year old with no kids is going to care less about the education system than a 35 year old with two kids. A 22 year old living in an apartment cares less about property taxes than a 32 year old that owns a house.

Even sociological theories agree with this. Young adults tend to have less responsibilities and pay more attention to pop culture and other less serious topics than older adults who think more about their families, their future, their career, etc. To that extent, high voter turnout from young adults is likely always going to be less prominent than higher age brackets.

Nonetheless, even an 18 year old fresh out of high school working at wal-mart still has a lot of issues in common with older counterparts. E.g. health care, wages, taxes, or policing. It's not unimaginable that they could also have concerns about larger issues like the environment, foreign threats, etc. But mostly these are issues that aren't legislated on often in a way they would benefit, and if they are addressed at all, it's usually by administrative sectors that voting doesn't directly effect.

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Adam D

In general this country has really low voting turnout. It's not a problem that can be directed to one source, it's a cultural problem. Voting, or any sort of political engagement, is not strongly encouraged.

Maybe just living in the South or dealing with having a nurse for a mom and a lawyer for a dad, but I was told that people died for my rights, so it was pushed there heavily.

When I got to high school, my History/Government teacher was a retired Army commander named T.J. Gaines. He also instilled that he went to war so that we (speaking to our class, not just black youth) could vote.

I don't know. I just hate that apathy cop out.

10 minutes to possible run down a ballot and maybe a good hour of research online for a candidate's stance and position to see if it mirrors your own.

I'm only 29 and I've had a chance to vote 3 times. Until I die, I intend to.

/flys American Flag