Gen Z Can’t afford to withdraw from politics
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There’s a thousand things that make Gen Z angry. The two major political parties in the country have not yet put our concerns at the forefront as we welcome a new administration and a brand new year. Our voices have also not been given priority in the national discussion, which is understandable considering our lack of representation. According to NBC News the 119th U.S. Congress was the third oldest in the history of our nation. December races for committee posts, which were viewed as a litmus for future Democratic Party leadership, yielded very few appointments for those under 40. In the recent election, the GOP attracted a growing number of young voters (especially men), but has not fully engaged them in formulating their platform. They are the ones who will inherit this country, but they are not involved in its future. Numerous headlines praise our activism and predict radical political change once we reach adulthood. We have led student movements to fight for climate change, for racial equality, and for the use of social networking as a tool for social justice. We’re opinionated, informed, and growing rapidly as a portion of the electorate: In the 2024 election, more than 40 million members of Gen Z were eligible to vote, with 8 million having turned 18 since the 2022 midterms.
Yet, the overall youth share of the vote in presidential elections (14 percent in 2024) has steadily declined since 2016, when it was 19 percent, and 2020, when it was 17 percent. In November 2016, only 42 percent (out of the eligible 18-29 year old voters) showed up to vote, down from about half four years ago. Our votes are missing, and we’re an undisputed force in American politics. Disillusioned and disaffected with a broken system, some are tuning out entirely.
When I spoke with peers over the summer, I witnessed it firsthand. One girl, who was sitting at a picnic with friends of similar interests, winced while scrolling through her phone. Since we can remember, the headlines of the news have been dominated by two graying men. We were always reading about another one of Joe Biden’s gaffes, or Donald Trump’s alarming remarks praising foreign dictators. While the sardonic humor of TikTok edited videos featuring both candidates set to Chappell-Roan songs entertained us for a time, our patience began to wear thin. Someone sighed and slammed their phone on the table. My friends, who were recently 18 years old, announced that they would not be voting in November. They expressed apathy towards either candidate or disgust. Why would they give up such an important opportunity to have their voice heard? “There are things we can do,” i insisted. “I volunteer with reproductive rights organizations–phone-banking, canvassing, lobbying Congress–you could, too.” The table fell quiet. They averted their gazes. I felt self-conscious. Had I come across as naive to them? They believed that the fight was beyond their control, and left up to Washington D.C.’s political power brokers. Their disenchantment continued when Biden was replaced with another establishment Democrat, without an open primaries or any other attempts to engage voters. My friends were not the only ones who abstained from voting in this election. Tufts University Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement estimates that the voter turnout for people aged 18-29 in 2024 will be only 42 percent, down from 52 to 55 percent of voters in 2020. Some young progressives, outraged by Harris’ ambiguity on the Gaza conflict, chose to abstain, while others voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein who received 22 percent of votes in Dearborn, Michigan, a hotly contested city. I recall a conversation I had with a college-aged Michigan voter while phone-banking on Election Day: While she was a registered Democrat, she told me she’d be voting Stein because the party’s national leadership didn’t have the guts to stray from the script and address one of their voters’ pressing concerns.
Meanwhile, many Gen Z conservatives felt alienated by both parties, regardless of who they ended up voting for. A friend of mine confessed in October that while she agreed with her conservative parents on most things, she knew she wouldn’t vote the same way if presented with different options.
Still others expected nothing new from a sitting leader of the current administration or an aging former president: Nearly 20 percent of young voters interviewed by GenForward at the University of Chicago in October said they believed no candidate running in the election represented “change.” For a while last fall, I personally lacked the appetite to read the daily news, even as pundits and politicians alike belabored the impending election’s high stakes. Each headline was the same. The Berkeley Institute for Young Americans at the University of California issued a warning about summer 2024. Erin Heys of the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans, who is the policy director at the institute, told a university magazine that “Millennials are different from any other generation because of the dangers they face.” Young people feel hopeless and disillusioned by a political system which is not responsive to their needs. From the housing crisis, to climate change, to AI, they are facing many challenges. As a comfortable life seems to be further away, many of us are struggling with depression and anxiety on a new level. Under the humor, we hide a deep fear. One of my closest friends said that all he wanted to be when he was grown up was to have a stable career, a happy home, and enough money for a roof. Is this too much to ask for?
The short answer is no, but we will have to fight to get it. This past election was boycotted by too many people who were dissatisfied that the political establishment has failed to provide us with a secure future. Gen Z makes a big mistake in this regard. We are the only ones who can solve these problems. They remain urgent and unresolved. Who else will step up and act if we don’t?
The time is now. By 2028, Gen Z will make up a significant portion of the electorate. To win, both parties will need to cater to our needs. To be heard we must be loud and clear. Gen Z has elected Maxwell Frost, a fellow Gen Zer to Congress (D-FL) and taken the lead in movements such as the School Strike for Climate or March for Our Lives. NextGen America and Voters of Tomorrow are mobilizing Gen Z voters and millennials nationwide to vote in the 2028 elections. Reproductive Freedom For All created a Youth Action Council in 2023. The council is run by young members who are under 30. They organize youth for reproductive freedom. I was able to make a difference as a member of the council. Gen Z is expected to rise to the challenge. Both major political parties are reinventing themselves. Donald Trump has transformed the Republican Party since ten years ago. In response to this, Democrats have to face their obvious weaknesses in order to succeed in 2028. It’s important that Gen Z speak out about what they want and who they are, in order to play a part in rewriting American political history and shaping the future. There are a thousand good reasons for our generation to be angry, but one very important reason to be ready.
