The Command Post - 2004 US Presidential Election

July 26, 2004

Boston | MTV Dem Essay Contest Winner

Michael Negron won the MTV Democratic National Convention Essay Contest with this entry (source, DNCC email):

Elections are about the future. Yet my generation too often opts out and sits on the sidelines as politicians make decisions that affect our lives.
It’s not that we are apathetic. Sixty-one percent of us volunteer regularly. We tutor children, paint schools, work at soup kitchens, and give our time and energy to help communities across the nation. The problem is that many of us have lost faith in the political process. We don’t see the connection between policies made in city halls and state capitols and what happens in our daily lives.

What’s most tragic about our political disenchantment is that our generation has the most to lose. Today, thousands of young soldiers are in Iraq, fighting a war sold under false pretenses. Our young soldiers are bearing the huge burden of this war, yet the current administration tried to cut combat pay for the troops while doling out tax breaks to the richest Americans.

At home, over one-third of the nation’s working poor are in our age group, and we make up the majority of those without health insurance. College tuitions costs are rising faster than our parents’ income. It’s getting harder and harder to believe in the American dream, and our faith won’t be restored through volunteerism alone.

Meanwhile, the current administration’s blustering foreign policy risks alienating an entire generation of young people throughout the world. They’re watching us and forming the opinions of our country they will hold for the rest of their lives. We must show them that we are a beacon of freedom and human rights around the world.

Young Americans have clear incentives to become more involved in the political process. My generation will fight the wars to defend our country. We will also bear the burden of debt racked up by this administration. America is the most powerful country in history, and it is our generation’s duty to use this power for good, at home and abroad.

In the next few years, our leaders will make decisions on war and peace, social security and health care. If we don’t participate, if we sit on the sidelines, then we surrender any say over our own futures. But if we go to the polls in November, if we make our voices heard, then our leaders will listen and our future will truly be our own.

Posted by Alan at July 26, 2004 10:30 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Yet my generation too often opts out and sits on the sidelines as politicians make decisions that affect our lives.

We’re a tidal wave of activism that eclipses all previous generations. We also mix our metaphors like hotcakes that are going out of style.

Sixty-one percent of us volunteer regularly.

I find that hard to believe. It wasn’t that long ago that I was in school, and the ratios weren’t anywhere near six out of ten. Where did this figure come from?

Today, thousands of young soldiers are in Iraq, fighting a war sold under false pretenses.

This still baffles me. The war wasn’t “sold” at all. This isn’t a democracy. The permission of the citizenry was neither required nor sought. The approval of Congress was both required and sought, of course, and it was given in October 2002. The “pretenses” for that authorization have never been questioned. If every single American opposed the war except the members of Congress and the President, that wouldn’t have made it any less legal. It wouldn’t have made it any less right, either. But please don’t talk about that. Please talk instead about how we were all duped.

At home, over one-third of the nation’s working poor are in our age group, and we make up the majority of those without health insurance.

You mean young people without careers or educations are saddled with low-paying jobs that do not offer comprehensive benefits? Oh, the pain of it all.

It’s getting harder and harder to believe in the American dream, and our faith won’t be restored through volunteerism alone.

Memo: The American Dream is not “Look, ma, at all the stuff I got for free!” The American Dream involves getting off your ass, taking a minimum-wage job, paying your own way through college, and making something of your life.

The American Dream is one of opportunity, not entitlement.

Meanwhile, the current administration’s blustering foreign policy risks alienating an entire generation of young people throughout the world.

So you’re saying that it’s okay for us to pursue our foreign policy goals and to guard our national interests, but only up to the point where a 19-year-old from some village in the Alps thinks we’ve gone too far?

Young Americans have clear incentives to become more involved in the political process.

Young Americans also have clear incentives to remove their heads from their upper-middle-class butts and educate themselves so they can make good decisions. I don’t see MTV running any “Rock the SAT’s” campaigns, though. Instead it’s all about “Vote, dumbass!”

It’s not enough to implore people to vote. We must implore them to vote wisely. Walking into the booth and pulling levers at random is no way to run a country.

Posted by: Jeff Harrell at July 27, 2004 12:15 AM

We’re a tidal wave of activism that eclipses all previous generations. We also mix our metaphors like hotcakes that are going out of style.

I couldn’t of said it better myself. The current generation is sometimes too sensitive to the politcal debate. We have more information than ever before and yet the half-brained conspiracy theories that seem to survive past first analysis are everywhere to be found.

Where the young people today fail in the political process is the realisation that most of the problems facing us have little to do with government oppression and are more deeply rooted in the lack of individual responsibility. If you are concerned about dependence on mid-east oil, for example, don’t drive. Tell your friends to conserve. Don’t wait for the left to regulate your decisions for you as a reaction to the right’s inaction.

From the essay:
We must show them that we are a beacon of freedom and human rights around the world.

Done. Now its the turn of the Iraqi people to show that they are grateful for the freedom they have been handed…or maybe that speaks to the real problem? It’s time for the people of the world to define what they think freedom is. Is it oppression at the cost of the trains running on time?

Long time reader…first time commentator

Posted by: agrosquid at July 27, 2004 02:31 AM

..agrosquid…bravo…

Posted by: Rob_NC at July 27, 2004 08:52 AM

College tuitions costs are rising faster than our parents’ income

That one line is probably the most irksome. I worked my ass off for 4 years for a Major and a Minor from a 4 year State University. Get over it dude and get a job. Oh, yeah, and when I graduated I had a loan for $750. My wife had student loans totalling less than $10,000.

Get over it dude, and get a clue. Personally, I don’t want any of my money going to your sorry butt.

Chads

Posted by: Chads at July 27, 2004 09:05 AM