Sara

Petri

I this these are extremely interesting points, but I have a rather different perspective on the current political scene, and a bit of confusion about our demographic’s general viewpoint that I would like to put up for discussion. Please allow me to question your comments in the interest of conversation.

I will begin by establishing that I am a 23 year old white male web designer from the twin cities of Minnesota. I consider our “Gen-Y” demographic to be generally hard working, politically savvy, caring little about race, valuing freedom, and possessing a global perspective, as you describe. That being said, I’m confused about the success of the current crop of political leaders.

I see Mr. Obama’s economic and political view as one of extremely Marxist philosophies that I would not expect our generation to agree with. The economics of heavy government control and reduced freedom of personal property have historically never been sustainable, and it surprises me that, as both major political parties slide increasingly left, our generation has not proven more fond of freedom and personal accountability.

Additionally, I believe our generation to be intelligent and savvy; from a marketing standpoint we are difficult to sell to because typically we can smell a sales pitch a mile away. However, this does not seem to hold true when it comes to our politics. Barack Obama is an extremely gifted speaker, but when I hear him speak or debate, he seems to dance around his actual plans for our nation, and merely delivers carefully formulated hypothetical tidbits that we want to hear. The generation that was raised on the internet should be able to hold our political candidates to a much higher level of scrutiny.

Finally, I agree with most of your points, but vastly disagree that the current Democratic party as a whole values the elements of our demographic that you describe. (I should point out that I do not think the current Republican party is very much better in this regard. Because we are discussing Obama, I will leave my presidential candidate of choice out of this conversation, but will say that it is neither Obama nor McCain.)

You describe Obama’s ability to inspire people to work hard, but I see a party that subsidizes not working and literally penalizes success in order to gain the vote of the poor uneducated. You mention the value we put on having opportunity, but I see a candidate that seeks the Marxist idea of absolute equality over the freedom to succeed. You speak of our intolerance of special interest groups affecting national policies, but I see a congress that caters severely to many special interests, particularly in the environmental and agricultural fields. Finally, you describe the value we place on free speech, and I agree that we can no longer trust the media to do any more than sit in the laps of their politician or special interest of choice, but I see a party that cannot tolerate disagreement and feels compelled to squash any expression that they do not agree with.

Again, I do very much agree with your analysis of our generation’s general personality, but I disagree that Obama accurately represents these ideals. I certainly do not hope to offend with my alternate perspective, but do believe that a healthy discussion is needed.

Thanks for the post!