completely distance myself from, for instance, the slacker ethic, the utter materialism, or political apathy associated with Gen X, my interactions with others—and as a result my identity—are shaped by the assumptions others may make about me because of my status as a member of this cohort. The truth remains that our generation’s political apathy hurts us all. When an entire age group fails to exercise its political power by not voting, politicians will take note and ignore issues that affect us. In 1997 not a single one of the eleven states that called their citizens to the polls managed to get a majority vote. The best turnout occurred right here in Oregon, when the heated campaign debate had taken place on the question of whether to repeal the state’s “right to die” law. The worst turn out last year was a shockingly low five- percent, for a special election in Texas (The Atlantic Monthly; December 1997). Turnout is now greatly related to experience in life. Turnout rates have always been lowest among young people; perhaps this is why there was relatively little opposition in the early 1970s to lowering the voting age to eighteen. But not even the most pessimistic analysts could have foreseen the record-low participation rates of Generation X, as shown in the following census findings on the age turnout (The Atlantic Monthly; November 1998): After looking at this graph, it’s no surprise to me that in the 1994 congressional election turnout was 37 percent. As the statistics are usually presented, this rate averages from 10 to 40 points lower than in the democratic nations of Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the British Commonwealth (Ranney1998; 64)The low turnout among young voters today is paradoxical given that they are one of the best-educated generations in American history. Even those who have made it to college are expressing remarkably little concern for politics (Ray, Axtell, an...
