Why Politicians Need to Pay Attention to Young People

I hope politicians read my book Hooked Up because if there is anyone today that really needs to get onboard with this concept of the hooked-up generation and who they are and how they’re going to transform the world, it’s politicians.  College students today, the first generation to grow up online have grown up with two decades of political polarization, economic collapse, social upheaval.  Frankly, they’re sick and tired of what they’ve been experiencing and they don’t understand why it’s continuing.

They go online.  To them human diversity, human equality is the norm.  It’s a birthright.  The embrace of human diversity is accepted.  Women’s rights are accepted.  Online there are no differences based on sexuality and gender or ethnic origin or color and this is the world that they embrace.  Today’s college students are going to be voters.  

The vast majority of them tend toward progressive, moderate, liberal views.  They’re going to be a very influential voting bloc.  They have very low tolerance for continued political polarization.  They want balance.  They’ve had so much instability in their lives.  They’re seeking stability. They’re seeking balance, economic balance, social balance, political balance, so those candidates who can communicate most effectively to them in words that they embrace, which are equality, diversity, acceptance of human rights, the ability to communicate one-to-one without opposition to the fact that you’re simply communicating.  They’re open to the ideas of others.  They’re open to the opinions of others and frankly, they’re intolerant or impatient with those who are intolerant of the opinions of others.

So they bring very specific political point of view and perspective into the electoral process and I believe they’ll be a major voting bloc and a voting bloc that today politicians are paying very little attention to.