As children, we’re told the future lies in our generation’s hands. So with Generation Z living through a global pandemic, multiple recessions, the devastating effects of climate change, mass shootings and a wealth gap greater than that of pre-revolutionary France, why aren’t more grownups listening to us yet?
Writing a piece about Gen Z, I suppose I have a moral obligation to bring up TikTok. With the rise of the viral video sharing app, there has also been a notable increase in young adults and teens who prefer to classify themselves as “leftists” rather than as “liberals.” From creators giving tips on how to protest properly to sabotaging Trump’s rallies out of ticket sales, it’s no wonder the online generation has taken a liking to political activism.
These young voters no longer wish to identify with the Democratic Party because it largely represents an outdated and tone-deaf system. While this ideological shift is becoming more and more common thanks to the constant barrage of political disappointments from within the Party establishment, it’s also being brought to the broader public’s attention by the success of emerging progressive politicians like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“The Democratic Party is not a left party,” Ocasio-Cortez said at an MLK Now event this year. As a young Hispanic woman and an ex-bartender, she is especially popular among younger voters, valued for her grassroots relatability, progressive ideas and representation of the middle class.
Unlike many moderate democrats, left-leaning Americans like Ocasio-Cortez want to pass legislation that would influence drastic changes in law enforcement divisions and allow for easier access to free education and healthcare across the United States.
Prominent members of the Democratic Party like Nancy Pelosi and Bill de Blasio pander to these groups with performative acts such as naming a D.C. street after the Black Lives Matter movement or kneeling in front of reporters in kente cloth.
Instead of actually using their powerful positions to change the system, however, these leaders repeatedly market themselves through empty stunts while continuing to peddle hypocritical and regressive policies behind the scenes.
In 2019, for example, while democratic presidential candidates on the debate stage gloated about their plans to decriminalize illegal immigration, moderate Democrats in Congress approved over $4.5 billion in border funds without setting any guidelines on how the money should be allocated.
But the biggest stunt the democrats have pulled so far is nominating former Vice President Joe Biden as the Party’s 2020 presidential candidate. It’s no secret a lot of Gen Z members are voting for Biden not because they want to but out of a perceived obligation to. After noted progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped from the race earlier this year, “Settle for Biden” became the popular mantra among young leftists who were disillusioned by Biden’s own centrist tendencies but unwilling to yield to a second term of Trump.
This sentiment speaks volumes to the current state of the Democratic Party and what will eventually be its downfall.
Lately it’s the choice of Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate which shows just how out of touch and essentially doomed these establishment democrats really is. In the era of Black Lives Matter and the movement to defund the police, whose grand idea was it to choose Harris, a former district attorney and state attorney general with a history of wrongful convictions and insufficient officer accountability?
Ironically, the decision to select Harris was just one more stunt that ended up backfiring. Instead of making Biden seem more progressive for having a black female running mate, it only highlighted a painfully obvious attempt to appeal to voter demographics and tokenism.
If the Democratic Party wants to continue as a strong, unified group, capable of winning positions of power, they’re going to have to catch up to the more progressive ideologies of younger generations. If the party continues along its current path, however, those younger generations might just abandon the party completely.
Gabrielle Martinez is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Gonzales, Louisiana.
