Tonight’s conclusion of the democratic primary season really got me thinking about some of the things that I read with regard to the ongoing controversy over Robert Lanham’s Generation Slap article. Can’t you just hear me wanting to say Victory by Obama, but not being able to actually say it because we’re only really half way there. I still think we can’t really rest until HRC either concedes or takes the VP spot. This “Clinton acknowledges delegate math” subtitle really doesn’t calm the nerves. But why am I so nervous? Why does this matter so much? Why do I fear the personal disillusionment a Clinton victory would have caused me?
I first stumbled upon this whole debate two weeks ago from a digg link to this seemingly copycat and less in-depth post. I was reading some more about it today because Tim’s blog brought up the topic and linked to a really well done rebuttal. The rebuttal really got me thinking, especially with the political aspects he brought up. I’m not one to really competently argue music culture with anyone educated on the subject, which was another aspect he hit on. But I’m highly invested in politics, which has surprised even myself. This is the bit I’ve been reflecting on:
[Generation X] got all the cool traits! Disaffection! Nihilism! Cynicism! Ironic distance! People just keep calling us idealistic….
As we grow up, it continues. According to the Washington Post, we’re “collegial.” And “Millennials, more than their elders, believe that U.S. political institutions will deal effectively with concerns the nation will face in the future.” We’re “sociable, optimistic, talented, well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential, and achievement oriented…”
Our optimism is every bit as ignorant as [Generation X’s] cynicism is lazy….
…here’s the thing about our starry-eyed good faith in the system: We might very well be the first generation to elect a black president. That’s thrilling.
— Alex Pareene
This is thrilling. What really struck me, and reinforced things enough to write about it is that this is effectively the same sort of thing that Tom Brokaw said tonight while discussing race, youth, Obama, and tonight’s place in political history. I will assert that I do believe that government institutions will, by implementing well designed and thought out policies, solve the problems facing my generation. Why do I think that? Maybe because if it doesn’t then we’re all screwed, that’s sort of a proof by contradiction for you. On the positive side the resounding and successful defeat of the gas tax holiday idea is a big, recent sign that governments can make correct policy decisions for the right reasons.
It took someone else to say it for me to realize it, exactly how much idealism drives my motivations. This is why I am a democrat despite the fact that I’m not convinced that their solutions are the right ones. This is why, I, and the vast majority of my generation support Obama, who promises to deliver a reintroduction of reason, honesty, and the big Millennial thing – openness – to government. Openness is the ground work for debate that works to provide solutions. The open source movement and other open/transparent entities have shown what you can do with that kind of groundwork in place.
The interplay between the discussion and the real world affirming events have me really embracing and feeling a connection to my generation, which has not been a common thing for me. The feeling is not so much as a coalescing in response to attack, but positive thing. When I read the initial article I wasn’t even sure if I was being attacked. As I am among the eldest of the Millennials I’ve never been sure which side of the blurry line I fall on. This discussion has done much to clarify that for me.
The personal disillusionment avoided by the presumptive selection of Obama as the democratic presidential candidate is so affirming because he alone, of the three, offer this open and transparent path. Without that path — with the, as Jon Stewart put it last night, “willful deception” of Bush; the blatant, trivial, and outright lies for Clinton; or the complete disregard for once held upstanding principles of McCain — the process I am counting on to solve our problems does not work. If we can’t solve our problems through government then I think disillusionment is the result, and so now that we have a good choice, we must make that choice in November!
