Why Young Dems?

      From the 1787 Constitutional Convention (average age of delegates was 41) to John Lewis and SNCC at the civil rights movement to the anti-war movement to the young immigrants who organized for DACA, we can safely say that throughout our country’s history, young people have been at the forefront of change. Despite this repeating history, phrases such as “You’re just too young”, “these things are way above you(r level)”, “that’s naive” are all too common for young people, especially in political spaces. This imbalance of power is best seen in the House of Representatives, where the average is 58.

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       While I wholly agree with those that say an intergenerational war is a distraction and firmly believe we must build a multigenerational coalition to effect change, young people need to have their own spaces to build power and make their voices heard. The reality is that change only happens when those in power allow it, or those who do not demand it. The former one rarely happens as there’s no incentive to relinquish power. We, unfortunately, have many examples of this, from the beatings, Lewis himself suffered at Selma and in the Freedom Rides, to the Kent State massacre, to the murder of Fred Hampton. These events show the fear of the potential power young people can build if they come together. It is not a coincidence that the generation with the highest student debt and lowest homeownership is also the one that is disproportionally misrepresented.

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       While common in many industries, an early career in electoral politics for young people typically features a need to repress independent thinking and disagreements about how things are done, on the basis that “this is how they’ve always been done.” In a system where party power and seniority are mainly age-based, it is difficult to change or speak out. Unfortunately, this institutional “gatekeeping” of power is even more effective for the status quo as it has been proven that age discrimination towards young people happens just as often and is just as destructive to young persons’ wellbeing and commitment to their work. (Those under 40 are not protected by current anti-discrimination protections). Every day, people committed to our policy objectives and special talent leave electoral politics and the party out of frustration for the lack of legitimate youth empowerment (empowerment meaning non-transactional, such as ‘don’t hold those in the party accountable or propose change and you will have a successful career’). Creating spaces for leadership and development of young people and their ideas is crucial to not only winning campaigns and better representation, but also a long-term investment into our talent and the ideas of tomorrow. Ultimately, how long we are going to deal with these problems affects how we want to address them. Naturally, young people are overwhelmingly demanding structural fixes to major problems such as the climate crisis, student debt, housing affordability, and our criminal justice system among others, and rejecting the band-aid solutions proposed by many. It is why many community-based organizations such as the Sunrise project have limited leadership to those under 35. It allows us to build a Theory of Change that is geared towards the long-term Prosperity of young people and all Americans rather than worrying about short-term political decisions that put the next election ahead of what is best for all.

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     So how do build that power? There are many parts to making sure our communities are heard and served, and part of that is at the ballot box- and that’s where MDYD comes in! Electoral politics is one of many forms of politics that affect us daily, and as we have seen in recent elections, it often comes down to the youth and whether we can turn out. There are two important parts to this paradox. Young people need to be energized by electoral politics enough to organize and mobilize for change to happen, but the electoral politics themselves will fail to respond to the needs of young people and energize them unless those needs are heard in the first place. Paradoxically, those needs are best heard and responded to when young people are organized and build power. We’re here to break that paradox. By working together to amplify our voices and engage with the community, we are building a year-round organizing space that can greatly transform our hopes for future generations by winning elections and reshaping our party so that it better represents its constituents.