Believe it or not, the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term have yet to conclude. It should come as no surprise that this is a stressful presidency to follow.
It can be tempting to tune out and avoid the news, but I can’t stress enough how critical it is that we don’t look away. Generation Z, in particular, must not turn away from politics.
Why? Because politics is our problem.
Gen Z must view politics as something we should care about and something we can change. We must take it into our own hands. What we are seeing every day from this administration is not something to ignore.
People rallied across the country at “Hands Off!” protests on Saturday, speaking out against Trump and Elon Musk, as well as the administration’s actions on numerous issues.
Yet there was a notable absence in the photos from these demonstrations — young people.
How can we expect our interests to be prioritized if we are not involved in politics? There are many Gen Zers who are out protesting, organizing and voting. Still, collectively, we need to up our game.
Shae Horning, vice president of the Undergraduate Political Science Association at the University of Minnesota, said if we want to see our interests represented, we need to be involved.
“There’s a lot of valid reasons for being checked out about politics, especially right now, but that just doesn’t lead to elected officials valuing our input or caring about us more,” Horning said. “If they know that we’re not going to show up to the polls and vote, if they know that we’re not going to hold them accountable for anything when they’re in office, we kind of just get discounted.”
It takes time to build movements and collective voices, especially for young people learning to navigate the world. Yet, in our current moment, the stakes are too high to sit on the sidelines.
Kathryn Pearson, a political science professor at the University, said young people generally vote in lower numbers than older generations, and Gen Z is no exception. However, the pressing issues of today, whether that be climate change, attacks on higher education or the state of democracy, will have profound impacts on Gen Z’s lives going forward.
Gen Z should view these issues with attention and concern, Pearson said.
It’s worth noting that Gen Z has a lot on their plate. Managing education, job hunting, work and just navigating society as young adults is difficult for any generation.
Young people today are facing a looming recession, an unstable job market, increased housing prices and the future of higher education and academia is comparable to crossing a crumbling bridge over the Mississippi River. So it’s fair to say many of us have little time left over to worry about politics.
That being said, politics is where we can address all of these issues.
“We need Gen Z to be involved,” Pearson said. “Despite some understandable cynicism, we need Gen Z to be involved in the process and not just tune out, even though that’s easy to do and somewhat understandable.”
Politics can be daunting and overwhelming, but getting involved can come in small steps. Political influence is also well within Gen Z’s reach. Just one vote can go a long way.
Paul Goren, a political science professor at the University, said every vote has the power to influence tight elections at all levels of government. In our era of polarized politics and close elections, every person has influence over who is elected.
“The claim that people can’t influence elections is not factually accurate,” Goren said. “When a few hundred or a few thousand votes in one state can make a difference between who wins and who loses, then every single vote counts.”
Getting involved at the local level in campaigns and community involvement can show people the impact they can make, both on a local and national scale, Goren said.
“I was working on a few different campaigns in the fall for state representatives, and one of the races, the candidate literally won by like six votes, and it had to go to a recount,” Horning said. “Especially in those smaller races, every vote really does matter.
People can make the most direct impact on local elections and local elections, in turn, directly impact our daily lives.
“If people don’t want to support policies that Gen Z really advocate for, they are counting on us to not pay attention,” Horning said. “There is a lot going on and it’s hard to keep up with and it’s exhausting to keep up with, but it’s really important to stay paying attention.”
Luke Wittner, a fourth-year student at the University, said Gen Z plays an important role in making our voices heard, especially through social media, in order to address the issues we want to change.
“I think a lot of us are just really, really, really fed up with everything that’s going on in the state of the world right now, and it’s exhausting for all of us,” Wittner said. “All of us just want everything to get better, politically wise, news-wise, economically, we just want things to get better and less hateful overall.”
Gen Z is right to be frustrated with both parties, but withdrawal from politics is not the best solution, Goren said. Politics affects every generation, young voters included, in fundamental ways, but every generation also has the power to influence politics and how it affects them.
“No voice is too small,” Wittner said. “There’ll always be someone that’ll listen to you. Whether it’s just you, your group of friends or hundreds of people, we need voices to be heard.”
Not everything has to be about politics. It’s important to follow our passions, prioritize our values and seek the experiences that shape who we are and what we want to do with our lives.
Politics is only part of that, but right now it’s the key to our future and the opportunities that may or may not be open to us all.
It’s our challenge to take on.