Youthful ambition is at an all-time low

The Jan. 6 coup d’état failed. Many have been asking who bears the blame and how this could have happened. Many more are asking how to avoid future insurrections. The electorate of the next 50 years are looking to events like these to shape their concepts of acceptable political discourse. Elected officials at all levels must reach first to the voters of tomorrow to rebuild faith in American institutions.

Only months ago, chemical weapons were used against children, armored vehicles were deployed against high school students, and minors were threatened, beaten and detained for exercising their rights to redress and protest. The overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations from last summer were, especially in San Diego, organized predominantly by the youth.

In an act which outwardly appears childish, thousands of adults launched a coordinated, malicious and terroristic insurrection against Congress because they didn’t get what they wanted. Emboldened by ideals of White supremacy and neofascism, this deadly adult tantrum received slow, inadequate and irresponsible reaction from authorities. While police pepper-sprayed sophomores in June, officers held the hands of domestic terrorists in January, walking one woman down the Capitol steps.

This contrast has not gone unnoticed. The comparison is being drawn, again and again, between the reaction to Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the Jan. 6 coup attempt. Those of us who were there last summer remain profoundly unsurprised. As is the case with Black and Brown activists, the youth of America have become used to getting the short end of the stick.

Our schools have been underfunded for years. We watch lead being removed from pipes and asbestos from ceilings as we use textbooks from the 1980s. School counselors are cut from the payroll while classroom sizes steadily grow. Teachers are forced into early retirement and test scores are stagnating. Students see this.

The cost of a bachelor’s degree has never been higher, the demand for one has never been greater, and the student debt crisis is out of control. The wealth gap grows by billions of dollars, the spending power of the average worker shrinks, social mobility seems a thing of the past and the growing deficit stares us in the face. Teenagers recognize this.

If we survive the epidemic of school shootings in this country, we are faced with the looming threat of climate change. Crisis after crisis has been shrugged off as the problem of the generation after. Should today’s kids fail in confronting these threats, there may not be a generation after. Young people know this. It should come as little surprise that the suicide rate among minors has exploded in recent years.

The government that was threatened on Jan. 6 is one which has largely turned a deaf ear to the concerns of tomorrow. As Mitch McConnell, 78 years old, and Nancy Pelosi, 80 years old, reassured the American people of their dedication to ensuring the strength of the republic and its democratic values, those of us who often feel neglected are cynical.

To prevent the erosion of democracy, there is a desperate need for youth representation. Young people everywhere are already fighting for their beliefs, the smart thing to do is let them in the arena; give the kids a chance! Try creating positions for youth representatives and student consultants to the City Council. Try welcoming more interns to City Hall. Try funding, campaigning for and electing younger candidates to public office. Experience is indispensable, but youthful ambition is at an all-time low. Without securing our future, there is little need in securing our present.

Scott Anglim studies political science and history at San Diego Mesa College and serves as California legislative coordinator for Team Enough. He lives in City Heights.