General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust took my newly minted 18yro to vote
What an election to cast your first vote in!! He did his research & took his time w/ the judges. So proud of him & his generation. Hoping we all can save our democracy.
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,042 posts)Good for both of you!
MaryMagdaline
(6,855 posts)samnsara
(17,622 posts)RKP5637
(67,108 posts)be scrutinized too.
dem4decades
(11,296 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)Buckeyeblue
(5,499 posts)Lochloosa
(16,064 posts)LizBeth
(9,952 posts)our hearts so proud seeing our youth smart. Gives us hope.
ancianita
(36,057 posts)Puppyjive
(502 posts)My son is 18 and voted this year. If he could have voted in the last election, he would have voted for Trump. Our young man has figured it out mostly on his own. He has done a complete turn around. Proud of him. And he is getting good grades his first year of college! I will take the win!
beaglelover
(3,484 posts)jb5150
(1,178 posts)it's really quiet exciting.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)in politics, that he's growing up at a very odd and dangerous point in our history, not "normal" at all. Things like living wages for people at virtually all skill levels and college tuition so low it can be paid for like groceries are just some things today's kids don't know were normal in the past and should be normal for them.
There's no school Tuesday, so he'll be keeping an occasional eye on what could be the most important election of his life, or definitely one of them. No matter how it goes, I hope it becomes a memory that ultimately helps develop understanding for life of what goes into democracy or causes failure. The fall of the Roman Empire's apparently been covered in school, and he is aware our republic can fail, even if he of course can't comprehend the consequences.
japple
(9,825 posts)for my family. I turned 18, but didn't vote that year because I went off to school and didn't know enough to vote by absentee ballot. Things at home were chaotic, but I know my very Democratic parents made the right choices. At least I was registered and voted in the 1972 election for George McGovern.
Bless you for making this an event that your son will remember!
deurbano
(2,895 posts)a San Francisco election last fall, but still too young to vote. She would have worked at the polls this time, too, but she is living at home (attending college remotely) or sometimes staying with her grandmother (to help out and provide support), and both our households have at-risk members, so we asked her not to be a poll worker this time. She started a Young Democrats club at her high school, so she is ready and excited to vote! We had originally planned to vote early, but now we are probably going to drop our ballots off at own precinct.
Zing Zing Zingbah
(6,496 posts)He just turned 18 a couple weeks ago.
calimary
(81,267 posts)Congratulate him and THANK him for all of us, too!
Well done, young man!
Upthevibe
(8,051 posts)My heart is warmed.... A big thank you to you and to your 18 year old.
If this past four years has done anything, PLEASE DEAR GOD let it be that this NEVER happens again. I know I'm speaking to the choir here but if we can influence others in some kind of a major way it - it could mean a brand new world in this country. Things really haven't been working for a long time (IMHO) for the average person. I have a bachelor's degree, and I definitely have had more opportunities. This includes being able to make more money but even with my degree, the wage stagnation is unacceptable! The money truly does go to the top level managers that get the million dollar bonuses and are the ones cleaning up on the back of the workers. Unregulated Capitalism run amok DOES NOT WORK FOR THE REGULAR EMPLOYEE! My brother worked for Enron and when it collapsed in 2001 he lost a lot. Thank God he had diversified enough to be able to live on what he had salvaged for the next 14 years until his death in 2015.
We need to start with the school systems and education. Political Science and Critical Thinking (it's really a class. I had to take two in college and thank God I did) need to be REQUIRED in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. At lease one full year (two semesters) during these three or four phases in each student's educational experience.
Some people simple can't connect the dots and critical thinking classes could really help. Of course there are a lot of people who've never taken a critical thinking class and they're completely able to understand that when you do this, that will happen (just fill in the blanks). I have a friend (we're not really speaking now because of QAnon) who graduated high school and knows NOTHING about the three branches of government and she has NO critical thinking skills what-so-ever. She watched "a guy" on YouTube and read "on the Internet" about QAnon. She then "went down the rabbit hole" and did her "research." She's never had to write a paper for college (I went back when I was 36 and graduated at 41 so that might be why I see the value so clearly). Therefore, she's never had to cite sources when stating a fact or making a claim. And she's unable to grasp that the QAnon Conspiracy Theory (which has become a factor in this election) is logistical impossible!
I'm sorry for my rant but I see very clearly some relatively easy steps that could be taken. And I'm frustrated that there are so many people who live here that are STUPID and HATEFUL and this monster in the White House has brought that out out in them....
iluvtennis
(19,860 posts)unregulated capitalism that creates the top 1/2 % and everyone else is at the bottom is unacceptable. I'm looking forward to infrastructure and renewable energy jobs to create a new industrial revolution for this country and spur a financial expansion for the middle class and poor.
iluvtennis
(19,860 posts)our democracy.