Everyone needs friends and associates who cross generational boundaries. Do you realize how much you could learn if you picked a subject and then asked your friends (from each group) their opinion? I am fortunate to have in my life a close friend who will turn 18 this year (Gen Y). This young lady is far more intelligent at that age than I ever thought of being (or at least that's my perspective). This is a girl who can't wait to vote in her first national election! She is so enthusiastic about the process, it's hard to slow her down once she gets started. I'm also fortunate to have several friends who are of the Silent Generation, in their 70s and 80s, and still going strong. They, too, are keeping up with current events in ways that I just don't have time.
My young friend and I were talking recently about the generations and what the word “politics” meant to each of us. We explored this for a bit. Then the conversation evolved to the question, “What does having the right to vote mean and does the phrase mean something different to each generation?”
My elders (the Silents and the Veterans) are the very epitome of the word “patriotic.” They have civic pride like no one else. They never miss a chance to vote. They are the ones who work the polling stations across the country, wear the flag pins, and the stickers that shout “I voted - did you?”
The Youth Vote for the First Time
The youth coming of age this year will vote for the very first time. I see more sense of civic pride in these kids than I ever saw in my own generation (I'm a Boomer) or the Xers. I'm willing to bet, that they too will wear the “I voted” stickers with pride.
Here's the issue, as I see it. If those who precede and those who follow are so involved, what happened to the people in the middle? What happened to their sense of responsibility for the welfare of our country? They are the first ones to complain when things don't go their way, but ponder this for just a bit. Columnist Bill Vaughn said, “A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.”
Perhaps those of us in the middle need to learn from those both older and younger than us. While we're busy with our careers, raising kids, and paying the mortgage, a lot of us have forgotten what it was like when we made our way to the polls for the very first time.
Just Do Something
Former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and philanthropist, William E. Simon said, “Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.” Perhaps it falls on our elders and our youth to teach those in the middle what civic participation, and yes, duty, mean. We are going through some rough times right now, but we've been through rough times in the past and will most certainly do so again in the future. But it's how we approach the rough spots that makes America so great. Perhaps it's time we remember the famous line by Peter Finch (from the 1976 movie Network): “I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!” Perhaps it's time we stop whining and do something - and the first step, my friends, is called duty to one's country.
