Hey Eli,
I wanted to chime in a bit on the topic of Millennial voting habits in this election. [Blabbermouth, Sept. 21]
I am 24, comfortably in Millennial territory, and 100 percent behind Secretary Clinton in this election. I haven't donated much because I'm out of a job, but I have been closely observing and participating in the dialogue with my peers. For the sake of completeness, I was a Bernie supporter originally.
Anyway, something that I've observed in this election is the huge importance of identity politics. It seems to me that many people I know haven't really been examining campaign platforms or policy proposals anywhere near enough, and have simply decided based on their tribalism. I have observed normally intelligent, sober people say that they will be voting for Gary Johnson (for example) because he "is for freedom, and I like personal freedom," or "because I am a libertarian," despite my efforts to show how crazy his platform is. I see people on my social media accounts voting for Trump because "he supports police, and so do I." Even when I point to Secretary Clinton's, and the Democratic Party's, extremely robust policy platform (which often addresses their points), I am met with neo-McCarthyist rhetoric.
Of course, these types of statements also follow other demographic lines like geography, socioeconomic status, race, etc., and they are definitely worsened by the post-truth politics that have come to define the US these days. None of these people seem to care about climate change, environmental crises, wealth/income inequality, etc.—they only care about their illusion of "freedom" and alliance to their political identity.
I don't really know what this means, but I have heard quite a few people express serious concern for the 2018 and 2020 elections to come—especially considering Republicans' stranglehold on redistricting and state-level government. Just like Bernie, Hillary, & Senator Warren have ignited the "new left," the proto-fascist new right will be here for a long time as well. I'm scared to think of the consequences of the next few elections—and how much more post-truth politics we will have to endure. The damage of the last "conservative revolution" has yet to heal; I don't know if the US or the global community can endure another one.
Best,
Robert Kaminski
Seattle, WA
