Rock the Vote, others are going after 'missing': Groups seek out the under-30 crowd

Green's "nonpartisan" group is hoping to bring a million young voters to the polls.

Excerpts from the article:
"[One 18 year old Democratic activist] said he senses a shift toward greater voter involvement among his peer group and credits the efforts of hip institutions such as MTV and WWE SmackDown for raising awareness. He also cites the war in Iraq, which has triggered at least some discussion of reinstituting a military draft.

"54 percent of young voters live at home with their parents because they have been unable to find a job that pays enough to start out on their own."

"Young people will be the deciding factor in this election," said Green, 32 "We will make history."

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MTV is partly responsible for those 54 percent of young voters at home. This "missing" generation learns about reality from "the Real World" and their fashion from the corporate advertisers they would claim to loathe. They watch MTV's "Cribs" and feel they are entitled to one of these small kingdoms rather than taking the 22K/year job to get started on the road to financial stability. They go into heavy debt so they can imitate their pop-idols through clothing and a lifestyle of glamorous nightlife. Generally speaking of course, these kids of the MTV generation have been handily guided in the directions dictated by the advertising trend-setters. Knowing that Bush is a "freakin' moron" and that Kerry is "better than someone who lies" is all the politics these kids need. Their code stresses materialism, shallowness, and petty social drama over intellectualism, compassion, and a deeper understanding of human nature. Rather than hailing groups like "Rock the Vote" for seeking to give them a voice on the political stage, they should resent "Rock the Vote" for their reliance on this generation's ignorance and lackluster attitude towards politics. Rock the Vote, as is clear from their website, has no real intention to help the MTV generation develop a political compass, but rather to bombard them with their point of view to the beat and backdrop of soda-commercials, hip musical themes, flashy graphic-enhanced two-second soundbites, and that uninterested aloof attitude that has been popular since the days of James Dean.


Ventura County Star: County News