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1. Embed this notice
   Grant Gulovsen (gulovsen@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 22:56:10 JST Grant Gulovsen

   Everyone over the age of 30 needs to read this.

   Seriously.

   https://www.okdoomer.io/nobodys-driving/

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 22:56:10 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Lisa Melton

     @gulovsen @lisamelton
     I’m sorry, this lost me at the “He's the government” line. Presidents are not kings.

     The larger point is good, and doesn’t need any propping up with facile errors about how our democracy works.

   • Embed this notice
     Stu (tehstu@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 23:13:11 JST Stu

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell
     • Lisa Melton

     @inthehands @gulovsen @lisamelton Do younger people know that? Do people in general know that? What the president can and can't do seems to depend on the weather, or someone's wilfull interpretation of a 200 year old draft document.

   • Embed this notice
     T. Austin Brown (austinb@esq.social)'s status on Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 23:42:53 JST T. Austin Brown

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell
     • Lisa Melton

     @inthehands @gulovsen @lisamelton Agreed. One of my peeves with the presidential system and the media is that, for the majority of people, people who want to go in the voting booth every 4 years, pick who gives them a good feeling, then have their government work, the president is a lightning rod for their disappointment. Meanwhile, there's 20% of the country who has well-funded prosperity gospel propaganda funneled at them 16h per day. They vote every damn time, even if they don't know why.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 23:46:10 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton

     @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton
     That article would have been a great place to dispel that misunderstanding instead of reinforcing it — unles voter suppression is the goal.

     The thing is, the larger point stands: our society’s systems are failing, in the article’s metaphor, to keep hands on the wheel. Understanding the systemic nature of this problem (instead of “President bad”) might help solve it.

   • Embed this notice
     Stu (tehstu@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 00:03:42 JST Stu

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell
     • Lisa Melton

     @inthehands @gulovsen @lisamelton I interpreted it differently. I saw the line as the president *seemingly* not doing something, not "... and therefore don't vote for him!" I mean, it's not even pitched *at* young people, so whose vote would it be suppressing?

     I'm very engaged in politics, I was naturalized 6 years ago, I caucus. I've no idea of the exact remit of the president. It feels like we "find out" on every major issue. Surely out of scope for an article about why young people are sad.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 00:30:26 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton

     @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton
     Yes, as you say, much part of the article’s point is to articulate a kind of despair — a despair that I share.

     To quote Rebecca Solnit: I respect despair as an emotion, but not as an analysis.

     And whether intentionally or not, the article •does• present an analysis. It’s an analysis that’s subtly but deeply wrong, and wrong in a way that does harm. To wit:

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 00:34:01 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton

     @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton
     Just as you say, we do seem to “find out” where limits of power sit on every major issue, over and over. That’s not because there’s some secret code we don’t know. It’s because we are in the middle of an active, pitched battle with fascists and oligarchs for control of our society.

     On student loans, for example, an oligarchic SCOTUS abused their power to block Biden’s program. Now Biden’s trying an end run. Will it succeed? Who knows! Not indifference. A fight.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 00:35:52 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton

     @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton
     Instead of the distracted, irresponsible driver barely holding the wheel, a better metaphor would be the action movie where people are fighting in the driver’s seat as the vehicle careens toward the cliff. Yes, nobody’s driving — because we’re fighting for the wheel.

   • Embed this notice
     Stu (tehstu@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 00:39:46 JST Stu

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell
     • Lisa Melton

     @inthehands @gulovsen @lisamelton I hope the people I assume this was pitched at are fighting for the wheel. But I do wonder if a majority aren't.

     Also apologies, realized I hadn't been removing folks from the conversation as we had this side discussion.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 01:09:36 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu

     @tehstu
     Being a college prof, I see firsthand how newly eligible voters view politics. I do think most understand that there’s a fight going on. I think alarmingly few understand the relationship of politicians and elections to that fight.

     “But we already voted and it didn’t fix everything!!” is a common sentiment.

     So is “We need to do something different, something we’ve never tried before!” — not realizing that full youth participation would be exactly that.

   • Embed this notice
     Stu (tehstu@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 01:16:30 JST Stu

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell

     @inthehands I have a young relative who falls squarely into the "but we voted and it didn't fix it" camp, and unfortunately I don't see him often enough to dissuade the notion.

     I suppose all this starts at home, and honestly I listen to my eldest for whom to vote for, she's way more attuned to issues I have blind spots for. I realize this is wildly different from what is likely the norm, though.

     Appreciate your follow-ups, by the way. I pay close attention to your MN politics posts.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 01:22:44 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu

     @tehstu Getting from understanding problems to understanding the systems that enable those problems is a •long• journey. The time that journey takes is one of the reasons why youth participation in elections and effective activism is low — and one of the reasons psychological voter suppression tactics are so effective.

     If we could speed that journey up, even a little, get young people consistently taking effective action sooner…it would change the world.

     (And PS: Glad you like the MN posts!)

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 02:58:23 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton
     • Psittacus cafeina

     @caffetiel @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton
     Yeah, but it ends up coming off as disengagement and voter suppression agitprop, even though that’s probably not the intent.

     A whole lot of disinformation starts out its life as a sincere cry of the heart.

   • Embed this notice
     Psittacus cafeina (caffetiel@social.seattle.wa.us)'s status on Friday, 08-Sep-2023 02:58:24 JST Psittacus cafeina

     in reply to

     • Paul Cantrell
     • Stu
     • Lisa Melton

     @inthehands @tehstu @gulovsen @lisamelton

     It's agitprop my dude, not a comprehensive article