A column I wrote for the local newspaper

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Thu Feb-05-04 04:42 AM
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A column I wrote for the local newspaper

They want people from the community to contribute guest columns every Sunday. They asked for 600 words. This is what I'm submitting:

POLITICS ARE BECOMING REALITY FOR YOUNG AMERICANS

By Andrew Slater

For the generation of Americans who are now in their mid 20's, politics has been mostly exclusive territory; something discussed by their parents with varying degrees of zeal based on their beliefs. We are children of the 90's who grew up with Bill Clinton at the helm. Often at our parents prodding, we then, for better or worse, chose sides. I know I did—though the choice failed to stick. My parents were enthusiastic conservatives. They wildly applauded the impeachment of Clinton. Being surrounded with a steady onslaught of the conservative ideology, Rush Limbaugh included, where else was I going to claim allegiance? Liberals wanted to take our money, conservatives wanted to let us keep it. Little did I know, it was achingly more complicated than that.

As I grew older, a funny thing would happen. I eventually started reading what those awful "liberals" had to say about things. I wanted to know what my parents were so up in arms about. I'm a naturally curious person, so after thoroughly informing myself on various issues, I came to the conclusion that the ideology of the right wing was contrary to how I wanted to live my life. It also seemed contrary to how my beliefs should have evolved, given my working class upbringing.

Having grown up during Clinton's tenure, many people my age have this wacky idea that if we're qualified and willing, then we should be able to find gainful employment. The Bush administration's disastrous mishandling of the economy has literally proven to us, that the America dream doesn't happen by simply applying a healthy amount of elbow grease. (A quick sidebar: if you truly believe the economy is "good" right now, a high school economics course might be in order for you.) We certainly don't believe that merely having a college degree entitles you to a $50,000/year position with a company car and expense account, mind you. But considering how many of us banked our futures on a career in the information technology field, it would be nice to know whether or not the opportunity is an apparition. Rather than taking legislative measures that could motivate companies to keep employees here, the administration sits idly by while one of our generation's most popular occupations is being summarily decimated.

It is viable that the dot-com explosion during Clinton's terms swelled the field with more qualified people than would be needed when the bubble burst, but it doesn't absolve the group now in charge from a generous dose of responsibility for the ongoing flight of I.T. jobs to countries like India. This is to say nothing of the loss of manufacturing jobs in Rust-Belt states. It's also to say nothing about the massive deficits being run up by so many states (thanks to federal tax cuts), plenty of whom now have to cut vital services. With so many sectors of society (except for the fabulously wealthy) directly affected by Bush's ruinous policies, my generation is finally getting a first-hand taste of what the radical right is capable of when they have free reign.

It's only now that we young people have begun to realize what an absurd debacle the whole Lewinsky impeachment proceedings were. In a comparative light, having friends shipped to Iraq for a war that was based on lies and ulterior motives, with nobody being held accountable, seems almost surreal. We were raised with the idea that our countries priorities and beliefs were beyond reproach. Watching those once noble priorities unravel before our eyes has been a valuable learning experience. All is not lost, however. At least steroid use in baseball is being taken care of.