“There’s a point in everyone’s life that they form their own beliefs and ask ‘do I really hold this affinity because I really feel that way, or just because it’s all that I’ve known,’” senior political science and philosophy major Danton Moyer said. “Once you go through that process of self discernment you really empower yourself to do something you care about.” Moyer believes that college is the time to do this.
If everyone in the millennial generation registered to vote and actually went out and did it, they would have the largest voting population in the United States surpassing the Baby Boomers.
So why don’t they care? Why aren’t millennials exercising their right to vote?
“Even though the millennial generation gets criticized all the time for not caring about politics, I think we have great potential,” Moyer said. “Our generation has a good understanding of what will help us.”
With tools like social media and smartphones keeping the internet at people’s fingertips, the millennial generation is the first to really experience such a unique opportunity to get informed stay informed.
Politicians have Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for their followers to not only stay on top of what politicians are doing, but to even reach out and voice their own opinions directly to them (or whoever is managing their account).
“I’m paying more attention because I’m registered to vote,” Sam Viera, sophomore criminology major, said. “I’m mostly seeing everything on my internet feeds and then I look more into it from there.”
Knowledge is power and being an informed voter is the first step.
“You get a vote and it will make a difference. If you have people voting but they don’t understand what they’re voting for that’s terrible,” sophomore math and IST major, Max De Nadi, said.
He is an international student here at Cabrini so he is viewing America’s way of government from an outsider’s perspective.
“There’s never too much major change [in America] because there’s no compromise,” DeNadi said. “In Europe it’s all about doing whatever works at that time.”
Millennials need to step away from the ideals of their parents and start forming their own. Their generation’s needs are different from that of their parents. College debt and tuition, gay rights and immigration are just a few of the big topics politicians are debating during the upcoming election.
Millennials are also more accepting of different subgroups within society.
“Sometimes parents are still stuck in their old views and those views don’t necessarily apply to what’s going on now like new technology and student debt,” Viera said. “Young people should step up and voice the issues they’re having and make suggestions on how to solve problems.”
“Young people should vote because it’s our future now. We need someone who understands the modern struggles we’re going through like debt and student loans. We need someone relatable,” Viera said..
“The American dream is to do better than the last generation. Sometimes doing that means stepping away from all you’ve known,” Moyer said. “It’s our time. It’s time to make society reflect what we want. Society should be something that we like.”
