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3/22/2004
So My Generation's Voting for Nader? The State of the Young Adult Union
Figures. He would court the young adult vote. Let's just keep in mind the fact that my generation doesn't do their homework. That's why we're so heavily marketed to in just about everything. If it's on TV or in a movie, we'll usually buy it no matter how crappy the quality is. So the fact that we're the ones voting for Nader doesn't surprise me in the least. And what about soon to be voters and the freshly inaugurated into the voting sphere? You know, that 17-20 year old crowd? Well, they've got folks like hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons telling them who to vote for. Well, essentially. You can pretty much guarantee he's not rallying behind anyone but a staunch democrat. If you hadn't heard, Simmons is spearheading a movement called "Team Vote" via the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network to rally the hip-hop community (both artists and listeners) to vote. The first thing you'll see on their site is a picture of the black rights spokesman, Jesse Jackson. It's actually quite a brilliant concept considering hip-hop is the top selling musical form. And to think, you thought it was country! This is a brave new world and hip-hop sells, hip-hop influences, and hip-hop transcends.
The "Rock the Vote" campaign is all about registering voters. They have some goals as well (some good, some not so good), found on their website. There they've listed all their "wants" in politics which include everything from eradication of poverty and cesnorship laws to reparations, and the total elimination of racism, hate and bigotry. Side note, racism, hate and bigotry will always exist as long as there's sin on the Earth. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that that Russell Simmons isn't chanting "Vote Bush". Not all of Team Votes's goals are bad, in fact some are quite good. Many of them speak to social action. This is often where I and conservatives part.
There is a lot of hesitancy amongst conservatives and Christians as well, to get involved with the community beyond the suburbs. I'm talking the poor, the wounded, and the disenfranchised. This is unfortunate as Democrats, Liberals, the Green Party, and many others have recognized this hole and rushed to fill it with silly in-effective programs and legislation. It's sort of like the city road crew in Seattle and the pothole problem. Every time a pothole pops up, the city comes out and fills it; with asphalt. Asphalt is cheap, it's easy to get a hold of, and it does the job temporarily. But just let it rain. You can pretty much guarantee that in a high-traffic area, it'll only be a matter of months before that same pothole is back again. So why don't they use cement or something else that will hold? Well, it's all an effort to keep taxes high, jobs flowing, and work available. The city is very intentional about the work they do not lasting too long. Such is the same as many of these "social programs" that have been instituted over the years. They're not doing anything productive for the inner city or impoverished communities. They're just paying somebody's paycheck. They're after quick-fixes and not lasting fruit.
When we consider the hip-hop generation, we're talking about a group of people who are pretty much fed up with the world as is. That's a big plus for my generation. We're not into business as usual and we're very loyal to a cause no matter how illogical. The downside is, we're also a licentious group of folks. We live by the morally relativistic creed of "if it feels right do it" so we're not bound to take well to anyone telling us we shouldn't do anything like have sex before marriage, use mind-altering substances, have abortions, or disrespect our parents. The ignorant will capitalize on this and lead us further into the abyss of rebellion. The wise will realize that the "rebellion" is merely a front and what we're really seeking after is truth. Once truth is revealed to us properly, we will be hopelessly devoted to it, worship it, preach it, write it, rap about it, sing about it, and live it unashamedly.
posted by ambra at 3/22/2004 06:14:00 PM | link to this entry |
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