I teach at a public high school for "profoundly gifted" kids, and work pretty much exclusively with 16+ students. They're all very smart, and range from libs to somewhat better than normal libs (we had one open ML, but he graduated a few years ago). They all think Trump is a fucking dumbass. As with every election, a big crop of our seniors is going to be eligible to vote for the first time this year.

For the first time in the decade or so that I've worked here, pretty much every single one of them has said they don't intend to vote. They hate Biden almost as much as Trump, either because they condemn the genocide in Israel or just because they (correctly) believe that he has done nothing to actually benefit them. This is a population of kids who are much more politically engaged than your average teenager, and vote turnout in previous years has been high. I was actually very surprised at how many of them expressed contempt for the whole process this year, and indicated that they were totally uninterested in supporting Biden (and of course would not support Trump). I'm guessing this is part of a big trend that we're going to see this year, and I'm preparing myself for libs blaming young people--for whom Biden has done little but make their future demonstrably worse--for Democrats' loss.

I'm trying to convince all of them to vote anyway, just for some third party that speaks to them. Yesterday, we talked about PSL, Cornel West, the Greens, and Afroman for a bit. It would be incredibly funny to see young people reject Biden/Trump, and yet turn out in record numbers anyway. The narrative that kids are just too addicted to their phones to vote would fall apart. I'll keep working on it.

No real point here, just im-doing-my-part

  • Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida [he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    Philosoraptor is just reporting conditions on the ground. If you want to convince everyday vulnerable people to be enthusiastic, why don't you actually implement policies to help them instead of constantly whipping them with the negative partisanship whip. Because it appears by the OPs post that potential voters are getting wise to the con the party has been playing since Hillary lost in 2016.

    • hotcouchguy [he/him]
      ·
      9 months ago

      Since 2004, probably earlier. After you get fooled by the same thing 10 or 15 times eventually you start to feel like some kind of mark.

        • Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida [he/him]
          ·
          9 months ago

          There was a brief moment in 2020 where I actually considered voting for Biden with the hope that he'd stop the poor treatment of migrants. With hindsight and knowing the trajectory of climate change, I now understand they'll never do that and most likely make it worse to win votes

      • Anne_Teefa
        ·
        9 months ago

        Literally all of them have skin in the game by namely being a u.s. citizen. Costs of living have gone up and refuse to ease back down, rent is astronomical and gotten worse under Biden, there's the genocide in Israel, there's the unwavering support to Ukraine (supporting the genocide of Ukrainian Russians, which is yet another reason why Russia invaded), and there's the possibility of war and bringing back the draft to send the young adults to die for other peoples wallets. They shouldn't have to settle for two different kinds of shit sandwiches. They need better options that'll guarantee a better life for not only them but for the generations after. Where's the m4a, free college, people complain about all the Tik Tokers and no tradesmen, why not start an initiative to send people to pick up a trade FOR FREE to help ease that eventual labor shortage. Y'know instead of blowing people up. Just a thought.

        • Anne_Teefa
          ·
          9 months ago

          Just realized you're a shit lib by reading the comments further down, no skin in the game, far right party gaining traction in your neck of the woods. Maybe go figure out what's going on there before commenting here. Or better yet fall into a curb and catch yourself with your skull. Bai

      • FourteenEyes [he/him]
        ·
        9 months ago

        Yeah man remember how in your country everyone held their noses and voted for Hindenberg, but at least they never had to worry about that Hitler guy ever again

      • Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida [he/him]
        ·
        9 months ago

        I don't know if there is anything they can do but post about it. Many are seeing that those metaphorical leavers in the voting booth don't change anything but, have been so atomized by the progress of capitalism that they can't really mount any effective resistance to it. This difficulty in organizing seems to exist with non electoral strategies too, like trying to build organized labor. This is something I think leftists should get together, discuss, and strategize how to overcome.