Tragically (Un)Hip?
Written by: Anna Salzberg
Helping is hip these days. From eco-vacations, where even the rich and famous are roughing it, to riding your bike instead of driving your gas guzzling SUV, every day citizens are trying to make the world a better place—a trend I think we can all agree is worth sticking with.
Why is it, then, that voting isn’t culturally cool? It’s not for lack of trying. Everyone remembers the “Vote or Die” campaign of 2004, when P. Diddy turned from his usual musical and entrepreneurial endeavors to launch a large-scale registration campaign. And organizations like Rock the Vote and Declare Yourself still, somewhat successfully, turn to celebrity faces to promote their cause and reach their young constituents. In fact, Rock the Vote’s website videos of Christina Aguilera, NERD, Wale and others encouraging young people to “make a difference” and vote this year. We are asked to “Join Christina and Register to Vote” by simply pressing a button. We have seen th enormous impact that celebritizing an issue can have on involvement, and these organizations have done a terrific job honing in on this.
And yet, it would be tough to argue that the average young person would associate the words “cool,” “hip,” or “trendy” with voter turn out. Perhaps this is because it is difficult to make voting a quantifiable experience until one has gone to the polls. There is no Sigg water bottle, clean park or completed homework assignment to show a young person that they’ve made a difference. Or perhaps it is because, despite what we would like to tell ourselves among young, progressive circles, that people still think voting and political participation don’t matter, that their vote “doesn’t count.”
When voting is arguably the only social issue that can dictate the direction all of the other issues young people care about, why have we as a society been unable to deem going to the polls as culturally cool as going to South America for community service? Why is it that when young people turn sixteen they run to the DMV or at 17 run to see an R rated movie, but so many don’t go jump at the opportunity to go the polls on their first Election Day?
Please, don’t get me wrong—this post is not at all intended to bash my fellow young voters or non-profit organizations. The voting rate has risen considerably among the youth demographic since 2000, and, especially with the fervor around democratic nominee Barack Obama, youth civic participation is higher than it has been in many decades. What I am critiquing here is our countries lack of association between casting a ballot and being hip, while this correlation, fortunately, does now exist between social consciousness and coolness. Voting should be viewed as simply the hippest thing you can do, because the politicians that the American people choose to vote into office in 2008 have capability to enact legislation that will help to create the long-term, sustainable changes that our generation demands.
