Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
I had about given up talking politics here, but this changed me, PLEASE read this EVERYBODY
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17565507Read my comments and Mister Ed's at the link, but this was Mister Ed's response to me whining about people under the age of 29 not voting more than one in four (27%) in the last election and how we are all running out of time for them to wake up:
It is they who are running out of time. They're facing an existential threat, and they know it.
And therein lies part of my answer.
Survival instinct is the strongest emotion that humans have. Right-wing propagandists know this, and they exploit it shamelessly. They create existential fear in their listeners, and then present themselves as the only ones who can protect them. In this way, they harness the tremendous power of the survival instinct.
The existential threat that climate change and related issues pose to my twentysomething daughter and her peers is not imaginary. It is stark and it is real, and they know it. It haunts them - even those who try not to contemplate it.
What's missing, for many of them, is the belief that they can save themselves by voting. I'm not talking about a belief that we will save them if they'll only vote for us, but rather, a belief that they can empower themselves, and save themselves, by voting. If we can make that connection, we'll be serving them well.
And therein lies part of my answer.
Survival instinct is the strongest emotion that humans have. Right-wing propagandists know this, and they exploit it shamelessly. They create existential fear in their listeners, and then present themselves as the only ones who can protect them. In this way, they harness the tremendous power of the survival instinct.
The existential threat that climate change and related issues pose to my twentysomething daughter and her peers is not imaginary. It is stark and it is real, and they know it. It haunts them - even those who try not to contemplate it.
What's missing, for many of them, is the belief that they can save themselves by voting. I'm not talking about a belief that we will save them if they'll only vote for us, but rather, a belief that they can empower themselves, and save themselves, by voting. If we can make that connection, we'll be serving them well.
I dont know how to do what Mister Ed is suggesting, but someone must.
I thank Mister Ed for making me have a little hope, not much but a little.
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Unprecedented.
It's like the threat that overseas wars confronted us with, BUT A WAR AT HOME, IN SCHOOLS.
They don't have the experience of throwing the bastards out of power.
Of course, it's hit-or-miss, but "Perfect is the Enemy of Good". We old-timers have learned to persevere through losses.
Speak earnestly to young people. Encourage them to vote and ask their friends to vote.
This generation of school kids will be the greatest generation ever.
