Thursday, November 10, 2016

The generation gap and the democratic party

I notice one of the core problems this election is the age gap in the democratic party. I'm a millennial. We millennials have problems. Capitalism problems. However, many older people don't understand this, and this is a source of problems within the democratic party. The older people liked Clinton, the younger people liked Sanders. The younger people wanted change, the older people told us we gotta get off their lawn and wait their turn. The younger people want it all right now, and the older people talk about putting in years of service to the party and "voting blue no matter who". The older people blame the younger people for not showing up, and the younger people blame the older people for not offering anything.

The boomer establishment of the democratic party reflects a lot of history. It reflects the schism in the party in 1968. It reflects the watergate babies, who represented a turn from the fiery economic populists of the new deal era. It reflects the rise of Reagan, it reflects the turn to centrism of the Clinton era in the 90s. The boomers grew up in an economy that worked, and the ruling class of the boomers turned from the economic populism of the new deal era and supported right wing politics. This is why we have a far right republican party, and a centrist democratic party.

But these boomers are stuck in the past. They're out of touch older people. They're living in their own echo chambers, and they just don't get us millennials. They tapped into something with Obama, with Sanders, but this election, they ran a boomer centric campaign, with boomer politics, and when young people didn't like what they offered, they told us to get off their lawn (yes I keep using this phrase) and just accept what we give them. They don't understand that the problems with the economy are really bad for our generation. They don't understand how far they've already come on social issues. Younger women don't care about getting a woman president for the sake of having one. They want a good president who speaks to their issues. They tell us we gotta play their game and change ain't easy, after spending months sabotaging us and telling us we can't have what we want (but we have to cater to what they want?). Meanwhile they basically make few compromises themselves and talk down and lecture to us. This is not how to win elections.

Look, I'm not trying to demonize all boomers, many of them are receptive to the problems of the younger generation. But many of them are not. And these boomers, who control the democratic party, are largely responsible for the problems it faces today, and that's why they lost. I'm guessing those 6 million people who didn't show up were the millennial vote. People who wanted change, people who wanted Sanders. People who were talked down to and treated like crap by the democratic party. people who waved the prospect of 2000 all over again in their faces. People who said if we don't show up it's all our fault when we lose.

It's astounding how clueless these people are. Now these people are going on about how we young whippersnappers didn't show up and how it's our fault that we lost and how they hope we learned our lesson.

Screw you, we got a country to fix, that you guys broke out of your selfishness and greed, so please, get out of our way. We're not like you. Maybe one day we'll be old and out of touch too, but right now, we're dealing with serious problems, are of different ideological persuasions, and you guys suck at appealing to us. I seriously hope you guys learn in time for next election, but if you don't, I'm saying it now: I'm prepared to vote third party again or stay home if you try to force some old washed up centrist on us again. Democrats don't fall in line, we fall in love, and it's astounding you don't get that by now. This is the third election in the last 20 years you've blown in your astounding incompetence. We came out for the guy who promised us hope and change. We would've come out for Sanders. But we're not coming out for worthless crooked centrists who don't offer us anything. Obama and Sanders = good. Gore, Kerry, and Clinton = bad. I hope you learn this or 2020 is going to give Trump a second term.

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