Disillusioned, but politically energized youth
Salem, Mass., Nov. 7, 2016 — My first real taste of politics was in the fourth grade. I was in the race to become class president, running against my best friend, and I felt as if the pressure of the competition was going to crush me. I have a vivid memory of how I paced around the classroom before the votes were counted that makes me feel like becoming an actor would’ve been a better career path than journalism. I won the election and the privilege of sitting in boring lunchtime meetings and going on a single field trip, which was also boring, but I had been politically awakened.
Twelve years later, I unfortunately and cynically wish no one woke me up. I learned about the United States’ process and its inherent kinks and I felt disillusioned. In an election year, I’d figure my drive to focus on politics would increase, but I felt more disconnected than ever. I did not feel the connection between my energy for political involvement and the process itself, and possibly other young people felt the same way.
“Almost three quarters of Millennials (70%) have not heard directly from a campaign, even though past research and our data confirm that outreach by campaigns increases the likelihood that a young person will vote,” according to a recent poll conducted by the Tufts University Center for Information and Research on Civic Life and Engagement.
That disconnect between the campaigns and young voters may have impacted 26-year-old Salem State University student Luna Hamdi, who said she has not seen a targeted political ad from any campaigns this election cycle.
Hamdi, who voted in the 2012 election, looked back on how easy it was to make her decision, but this time around she said she feels “confused and angry.”
Despite her feelings, Hamdi tuned into the organized presidential debates to inform her opinions more, but only did so out of obligation.
“I watched them because I actually do want to know who’s going to run our country and I need to understand what’s happening,” she said. “I’m going to vote either way because my vote does count.”
Twenty-two-year-old Salem resident Krystal Henriquez felt less confidence in the weight and importance of her vote than Hamdi and focused on the electoral process instead.
“The process needs more light shined on it, and I think the average citizen should know more about how our presidents are actually elected,” she said.
Henriquez said she spends time doing her own research and fact-checking information so that she can form knowledgeable opinions.
“I think if we all had a better understanding of its workings, we might feel more confident in the power of us as individuals,” she added.
Richard Levy, an SSU political science professor who has taught for 23 years, said that many students feel a disconnect between their lives and politics.
“I don’t want to over-generalize,” Levy said, “but many students see politics as a somewhat not clean process. They don’t see a lot of stuff in between elections as politics. The linkage is frequently unclear.”
The linkage Levy referred to is between political policy and students’ everyday lives.
He’s right. I thought of political actions as distant from myself, as bipartisan catfights in Congress miles away from my personal bubble.
I reflected on how to create links between the lives of young people and politics, and what currently impedes us from having a better connection to political action. In my case, the disillusionment and disgust I felt when I watched political news media was enough to keep me miles away from politics, even though my drive to participate is high.
Henriquez said the focus on the negativity and bias is what turns her away from searching for political information from news media sources.
“There are always videos that focus on the negative, highlighting the childish fighting and petty comments, so it just makes the process sound shadier and shadier, and it just highlights what a mess it is,” she said, which she believes can damage young peoples’ perception of politics and politicians.
According to the findings of a study conducted a decade ago by Poverty Action Lab titled “Effect of Media on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions in the United States,” the informational content of any news article has a bigger impact on people than the liberal or conservative bias present.
Levy said it’s simply easier for the news media to focus on “personality rather than policy” because it sells better, but that may not have a good impact.
“It [news media] pushes peoples’ view of politics away from policy into personality and is potentially demoralizing and depoliticizing,” said Levy.
Hamdi said she wished news media would broaden her understanding of political processes and policies themselves because she does not have a clear understanding of how they work.
Levy agreed.
“Understanding what role people can have or not, and understanding how you’re effected by policy… it’s not that students don’t get it, it’s that it’s very obscure,” he said.
I took a piece of Levy’s advice the other day: I consumed media from many different biased sources and synthesized the points of view to form a more fair understanding of political topics. This illuminated that I engage in politics every day, and that I have some stake in how political policy impacts me, but it did not immediately cure my aversion to politics.
I thought no one would know how to cure the disillusionment felt by young people better than Professor Levy, a passionate political activist who has been involved in various political organizations for more than 40 years. He suggested that interested young adults channel the “pessimism of the mind and optimism of the will,” loosely quoting Italian writer and political theorist Antonio Gramsci.
“You look at the situation, and you get very disillusioned,” Levy said, “but the only way it’s going to change is if you analyze and understand whats making you disillusioned.”
Henriquez said she will continue paying close attention to the new presidency after the election and remain knowledgeable of how policy impacts her.
“It’s an important time for everyone to tune in,” she said.
I believe she’s right. It would be very easy to disconnect from politics more, but the only way to cure the disillusionment is to connect deeper, understand the connection, and make it stronger.
