"Young people – if you're so upset by the outcome of the EU referendum, then why didn't you vote"

[TomCADem]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/eu-referendum-brexit-young-people-upset-by-the-outcome-of-the-eu-referendum-why-didnt-you-vote-a7105396.html

Swaths of young people in this country have been lamenting at the fact that our futures have been “ruined” by selfish older voters who probably won’t live to see the full extent of the damage they have caused.

Yet, it has been estimated that only 36 per cent of people in the 18 – 24 year old category voted in the EU referendum. 64 per cent of young people did not bother to take themselves down to the polling station and cast their ballot.

Turnout in areas with a higher proportion of young residents was lower across the country. So, it is rather hypocritical for the young to chastise older Brits when less of us voted than those who did not.

* * *
The 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent was so close – if the rest of the young had voted, the outcome could have been very different. The gap between Remain and Leave was 1,269,501 votes. The estimated population of 20 – 24 year olds in 2015 was 3,806,471 – only 492,306 applied to register to vote in the months running up to the election. Many young voters would still have been on the electoral register from the General Election and local elections – this figure is to show that of the 2 million people who panic registered in the last weeks, only around one quarter were young voters.

[calimary]

1. Hmmm... Where have we seen this before...

[yeoman6987]

2. One day the youth will take voting seriously.

I have voted since 18. There's no excuse not to. No I don't think 34 percent is impressive. And no I don't think you get to complain if you didn't vote. Many have died for voting rights and many take that for granted.

[Just reading posts]

4. When?

Kudos to you for voting since 18 (I have as well), but I see no reason to believe that young people will ever vote in comparable numbers to older voters.

[yeoman6987]

5. I agree with that but then they don't get to complain.

[pampango]

3. A lesson that Bernie and Remain voters (young and liberal) have learned the hard way.

If you don't vote, the older, more conservative voters will and politicians listen to them.

[whatthehey]

6. Both legitimate and not

We can assume that the most strident complaints are coming from those young folk who care most, who are in turn more likely to have voted. It's not like a percentage of 18-24 year olds greater than 34% is actively complaining is it? If they can't look up from Halo 47 and Twitsnapbook to vote, they're probably not spending much time contemplating the results either are they?

That said a turnout half that of the elderly is terrible, and no there are no excuses. The polls were open to cover shifts, the young have better acumen with information gathering than the old, and the UK has as yet no silly ID requirements. It is not unique though, and mirrors our own turnout ratio where the old vote at twice the rate. It's simply will and responsibility that is lacking. Yes I've read all the whining that pouts about needing someone to vote for not just "the lesser of two evils", as if somehow it's a unique concession owed to those under 35 that they need particular excitement, or bribes, to get off their fucking ass and help decide who runs their country, and as if lessening evil were not a valid goal even if that silly pretend dilemma were true. It's, plainly said, a bullshit excuse. I needed only to know who would make a better president or Congressperson to get me to make that small effort required to vote for them both then and now (not that then was all that long ago).

So, to be more precise, the 2/3 of these vaunted millennials who couldn't and likely will not be bothered to help decide the direction of their respective nations both on 6/23 in the UK and 11/8 in the US are indeed feckless wastes of flesh who shouldn't be allowed to complain but inevitably will once they deign to bother finding out why (and the same can be said of somewhat smaller portions of the middle aged and elderly sets who neglect to vote), but the remaining 1/3 are doing a better job of making the right call than their mostly blundering elders. I just wish they'd each drag a coeval to the polls with them.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

7. Has it occurred

Has it occurred to anyone that the older generations are likely to have more leisure time to go vote?