This Just In...

**** NOTICE TO 21 YEAR OLD VOTERS IN THE 1st DISTRICT *****

     Your polling location is at Brookfield Square

Bryan:  Did I mis-understand you?  I thought that the 1st District's polling place was Bay Shore Mall!

Oops my mistake Robert!

Seriously, though...this is amazing, but not unbelievable.

First, we all know that there is that small percentage of 20-somethings out there who do vote and are involved...

BUT - we know many do not and are like the ones in this article.

They have my head spinning.  

I have to bring up the Gen-X blog I did in November.  That was, of course directed to 30-somethings.  I interviewed one 30-something and was amazed at what I was told.  After that, in December, I talked to another 30-something and got the same type of story.  

Some of these people (and we have to exclude our friend Karen) are in the Twilight Zone when it comes to voting and politics in general, and they just plain don't care, and it appears they will never care.  

Not until something in life directly has an impact on them.  Then, and only then, will they take an interest in politics.

The Gen-Xers are thought to have the same mindset as senior citizens.

I'm not sure what mindset these Gen-Y's have.  But this is an interesting topic and needs more investigation.

Guess we'll have to do some interviews at the "malls."

The Gen-X blog:

blogs.franklinnow.com/.../again-please-don-t-vote.aspx

Oh these young wipper snappers today.  We used to have to walk up hill 5 miles both ways in the snow to and from school and we liked it....no, no, no...we LOVED it.  They just don't make'em like they used to.  Don't know nothin', don't appreciate nothin'.  Darn kids!  

You old-timers crack me up sometimes.  You boomers were whining about the gen Xer's 10 years ago.  Now its the next generation's turn to take the heat.  Oh well.  Off to the mall.  But I'll make sure to stay on a tight budget so I can afford to pay your social security and medicare during the next few decades!      

You've got to be kidding, Josh.

No mention of the actual problem here?

The apathy and pure stupidity?

You're a tail-ender of Gen-Y, aren't you?

I know you vote...right?

You aren't defending your younger generation are you?

Sometimes your opinions come from you as if you are on an amusement park ride of some sort that throws you from side to side...I don't get it.

This is an easy one.  The twenty-somethings are too busy voting for AMerican Idol than to waste time on an election.  Plus, so many of them have had everything handed to them their whole life that reality won't set in until they get out on their own.  Then they may wake up and take notice.

If they ever figure out a way to ote via text-message, then this might change.  

That's the hard thing about the "generation" thing, Karen.  Your texting is a good point.  But while I'm recalling Josh is 28-29...I doubt he is a texter...while a teen to 24 (which covers part of the Gen-Y) sure is exting, while they are driving, too.

And Josh's ridiculous comments aimed at the Boomers...which Kevin, Bryan and I are part of, but in the middle...well, we're not the ones who walked 5-10 miles to school, etc.  That was OUR parents.  Cripes...My dad carried a baked potato in his pocket to keep his hands warm while walking those 10 miles, and ate it for his lunch! (Pretty clever).

Anyway...give us some substance, Strupp!

I gotta go.  I need to go put my false teeth in a cup and take a nap.

Oh Janet.  Come on.  My comment was almost all satire.  But it does speak to the boomer generation's opinion of younger generations.  Let's be honest here Janet, what generation raised these kids to be so unappreciative, lazy and materialistic?  They didn't learn this behavior from MTV alone, they learned it from their parents who happen to be in their 40' and 50's.  Now I'm not holding your generation entirely responsible for the dysfunction of today's youth, but I find it interesting that the boomers don't blame themselves in the least for the incompetency (and that's not a stretch because these kids ARE incompentent in the business world) of these younger 20-somethings.  

Well, maybe YOU are dysfunctional, unappreciative, lazy and materialistic...but my 20-something son wasn't raised that way by me.  Neither was my 30-something daughter.  

So I guess it depends on the parent, just like everything "dysfunctional" in society seems to fall back on the parent.  Isn't that true?  

It's all about how you raise your kids.  

But when it comes to voting - THAT is not the case.  I don't care how much you instill the importance of voting and politics into your child...they are going to have their OWN opinion on politics...no matter how good a child they are.  YOU will learn that when your daughter is grown.

So for now, Josh, just work on not having an unappreciative, lazy and materialistic child...because YOU can...especially if you read to her every night...start with those anti-Bush stories you like. (That's satire).

So, Josh, since you're giving 20-something's a big fat pass, when does adolescence end and adulthood/personal responsibility begin?

30?

35?

40?

50?

And is it my parents' fault I'm not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company?

Here is my theory.  The majority of boomers went to war or to work after high school.  Real life came to them real quick.  

The twenty somethings and the majority of the Gen X'ers went to 5 year (yes, I said five year) college after high school, mostly paid for (tuition and room and board) from mom and dad.  This prolonged the "dependency" portion of their life. THey didn't care, because it didn't affect them.

When they graduated and got a job, paid rent, grocery bills and went to buy their first home, all of sudden things mattered.

THere were exceptions, (I include myself in this group) who went to college (very expensive private college), paid every penny of it on my own, moved out and paid rent, went to the grocery store and learned the economics of adulthood right away by working 40 hours a week.  We are the ones who were interested in elections and the impact of them.  Why?  Because to us it was life.  

To those that had a full ride from mom and dad, they spent their time partying and parked in front of the TV watching MTV.

Twenty-somethings don't care unless they can relate, and until they pay the bills, they won't.

I'm not trying to personally attack you Janet.  My comments aren't directed at any one person.  I'm making a general statement about the boomer generation not taking any responsibilty for the dysfunction of a large number of kids in their early 20's.  I agree that it's all about how you raise your kids and I think that most people you and I know strive to raise them the best they can.  But the fact still remains that this younger generation is lacking something that other generations have.  As Karen says, most of these kids were given everything by their parents growing up and have a difficult time relating to things like good work-ethic and the value of a dollar.  This is primarily due to mom and dad wanting to give the world to their kids.  That's great but it comes with a cost.   I'm not not giving these kids, "a big fat pass" but I do think there's plenty of blame to go around for this generation's problems.  Mom and dad shouldn't get "a big fat pass" either.  

On the subject of voting, if poor voter turnout among 20 year-olds has nothing to do with how they are raised, then maybe it has something to do with their lack of faith in our politicians or maybe even our political system as a whole.  I'm not saying that's right, but maybe they don't feel that voting makes an impact in their everyday lives.

I know you aren't personally attacking me.  And the same for me with you.

We were talking about voting when you made your first comment attacking Boomers.  Then you threw in dysfunction regarding other areas.

When I was 19 I was an adult.  I acted like an adult, I had responsibilities.  I knew nothing else.  I chose to live that way.  My parent's never looked down on me and they let me be independent.

I don't care what generation we are talking about - there are going to be parents who don't spend the time with their kids to make them decent citizens.  Responsible, independent adults.  The downfall is the breaking up of the family as a unit.  Both parents are working.  Single parent families.   Nobody talks.  

It takes work to be a parent now.  It takes time and effort to talk to your kids and guide them.  It isn't a given that you will all be home together every day, every night to be that family unit. It's not because there are Boomers raising the kids....it's because society is making demands on the family that weren't there 30 years ago.

So people have to suck it up, and they have to grow up, and they have to stop for a minute and look at their kids and say "What the hell is going on here?" and fix the problem.

One more thing, Josh...

You hear something in my comment that sounds like I feel I am being personally attacked..that's not what you hear.  What you hear is a tone of distain with you for you flippant attitude when it comes to this subject.

You rant and rave when it comes to the Taliban, to Iraq, Afghanistan...to Bush and his spending.  On torture of TERRORISTS.

But when we talk about our own young adults in the US being just plain ignorant and what the solution is, you are arrogant and just throw the blame around.  

That's why I have my attitude with you.  

I agree with everything you say in your first comment.

Regarding the second, I don't know why my opinion on terrorism or the President or anything else has any relavance to this subject.   I don't think any solutions have been addressed in reference to Kevin's blog or our rather off-topic discussion either.  Lastly, I'm not trying to throw the blame around, I'm just trying to make the point that parents should bare some of the responsiblity for the problems we see with 20 year olds these days.

That's just the point...you don't see the relevance.  But all those things do have relevance because it just appears you don't think this issue is of as much importance as the war on terror.  

Maybe if some of these ignorant, dysfunctional 2o-somethings were to enlist and go fight in Iraq then you would have more of an interest.  And maybe those 20-somethings would finally get a clue.

I think the blog has been addressed...ignorance among 20-somethings is bliss....as long as they have mommy and daddy to support them.  Then, maybe they will grow to be aware of their surroundings and become interested in politics...when something important smacks them in the face (maybe during their 30-something years).

And those 20 yr olds need to get off their butts and figure it out for themselves now that they are on their own...it's to late to worry about who should "bare the responsibility."

As I post every Sunday, here are the top five most popular of my blog entries from the previous week

The numbers don’t lie. Young people just don’t vote. Especially 18-20 year old’s. Each and every newspaper