discussion Roughly half of all young Americans believe "voting doesn't make a difference"

[Communion]

 

Findings from the Spring 2022 Harvard IOP Youth Poll:

 

Turnout for the 2022 Midterms look to match the record-breaking 2018 Midterms... but in favor of Republican youth; 36% of young Americans say they will definitely vote in November, but numbers for Democrats are down 5 points and Republicans up 7 versus 2018. Most worryingly, young Black Americans see an expected -13 swing in turnout come November.

 

More findings:

• The percentage of youth agreeing that “political involvement rarely has any tangible results” has risen from 22% in 2018 to 36% in 2022.
• Agreement with the statement “I don’t believe my vote will make a real difference,” increased from 31% in 2018 to 42% in 2022.
• Agreement that “politics today are no longer able to meet the challenges our country is facing,” increased from 45% in 2018 to 56% in 2022.

 

At 41%, President Biden’s job approval among young Americans is down 18 percentage points since Spring 2021 (59%) and five points since the last Harvard IOP youth poll release in Fall 2021 (46%).

 

The leading reason cited for disapproval of Biden is “ineffectiveness” (36%), which leads other options provided to respondents such as “not following through on campaign promises” (14%) and “not sharing my values” (10%).

 

Nearly half (49%) of young Americans believe that things in the nation are off on the wrong track, with only 13% saying they are headed in the right direction. This stands in contrast to the Spring 2021 survey where about one-third (35%) believed things were headed off on the wrong track, and 26% said right direction.

 

Sexuality & Race:

A majority of young people support a LGBTQ friend coming out to them, a transgender friend medically transitioning via gender-affirming care, and a nonbinary friend using they/them pronouns; a plurality was also found to support trans athletes competing in sports of the gender they identify with

.

 

A majority of youth of color reported feeling "under attack" within America.

59% of young Black Americans "feel under attack a lot"
43% of young Asian Americans "feel under attack a lot"
37% of young Hispanic Americans "feel under attack a lot"

 

 

While a plurality of LGBTQ youth reported the same:

45% of young LGBTQ Americans "feel under attack a lot"
 

When asked about policy, a plurality of young people supported:

• Teaching the belief that America is founded on a system of racism
• Teaching critical race theory as an element of education
• Universal and complete student debt relief

Edited May 2, 2022 by Communion

[Gorjesspazze9]

It don’t matter when both majority parties policies are the same or equally trash

[Shoful]

Is anyone surprised? It’s all old out of touch people running the country who are all bought out. It uninspiring  to vote for only two options old out of touch losers who keep things the same or a party of bigots who want to roll back any progess

[PrettyHurts]

republicans and democrats are the same  

 

but i still vote 

[BGXKB]

Because memes and social media 

[Goaty]

Honestly I can't really blame them for feeling this way. 

[Bethenny Frankel]

ok but hasn't this always been the case? like I know this is concerning, but it seems like this has been a common trend.

[thetea]

and these are the same people who complain when their preferred candidate doesn't get voted in. if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about who got elected.

 

I've seen many people like this in my country, it's very stupid logic. voting is a way to express your political beliefs and have an impact on how your country is governed.

[Oxy]

The one thing all humans agree on, is the game rigged and we are all screwed. 

[frenchyisback]

Trump & Clinton are the same tea.

 

Proving once again that this generation is Spoiled rotten 

 

They truly deserve a dictatorship for a while so they can learn to appreciate what they have: The ONLY country that has never been run by a king/emperor/dictator. 
 

Im so ready to lmao when Trump comes back & finishes what he started. I am already GOP-proofing my life so I’ll be chillin.
 ? 

 

The upcoming GOP Supreme Court super majority is about to be a fun ride. I can’t wait for the breakdowns. Looking forward to the abortion ban 1st.   

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by frenchyisback

[RideOrDie]

voting is an illusion of control and power offered by the actual men in power to make you believe that you have some so you don't snap, "fall out of line" and go against them. it's a fake system built on the false hope of democracy and the belief that your opinion somehow matters or has an impact. it doesn't. change comes from bottom up, not top down. 

[makeme]

This is me.

I live in Florida and I know my democratic vote does nothing here so i'm not even voting anymore. 

 

Now if we didn't have the weird electoral college bullshit and it was just based on popular votes then I would participate. 

[Nano]

3 hours ago, Bethenny Frankel said:

ok but hasn't this always been the case? like I know this is concerning, but it seems like this has been a common trend.

Not always. Imagine going through the Depression and WW2 without FDR.

[Kitty Kat]

2 hours ago, frenchyisback said:

The ONLY country that has never been run by a king/emperor/dictator.

lmao

[dussel_06]

Well. In America, it seems like not every vote counts because of the electoral college thingy. If I’m living in California, I wouldn’t even bother to vote since my state will always be Blue whether i vote or not. 

[anti-bitch]

I'm happy seeing independents being that LGBTQ-friendly though.

[Buddy]

Roughly half of all young Americans made some points 

[Armani?]

There are some differences but it's mainly a illusion, so we're right