Dear Elected Folks

An open letter to any elected official.




Dear Elected Official, 


When we approached the polls at our young age for the first time, we were all apparently misguided.  When we punched out holes into the ballot, or touched the icon for a candidates name, we were voting with the notion that our voices mattered, that we were the generation of change.  After all, in recent years we have been one of the largest target demographics targeted by your re-election campaigns.  Those of us between the ages of 18 and 30 have proven to be both the most politically active demographic and the most elusive.  Our vote is a prized one, and one that cannot be won by empty promises and shiny hair.


Yet, to be honest, I feel that I have been duped.  In 2008 we voted for one type of Change and in 2010 we voted for a different Change.  What we got was gridlock.  


I don't know if you remember this or not, but from age 3 we are taught by our parents and teachers that we all occupy the same space and that we are all different.  By age 12 we learn that this country was founded by those willing to embrace those differences in views and opinions.  By age 17, we find out that the political system in the US is structured so that all of our views can be objectively evaluated and accommodated.  By age 18, we find out it was all a lie.


Over the past year, we have watched as two groups of adults stand in their chambers - be it in a city hall, state house or congressional building - bicker back and forth, unwavering in their belief that the other side of the aisle is the enemy, unwilling to even shake hands with those whom we also voted into office.  The truth is - we don't care whether you sit on the left or the right, we only care about your ability to listen to those who gave you the blessing of a job - us.  We are tired of watching our votes waste away in a political standoff that has not only cost this country lives, diplomacy and foreign confidence - but has cost us jobs, increased debt, higher prices and a free fall market.  


All of this is backed by your want to "leave this country better than you found it" and to not leave your children with the burdens to come.


You know what, give it to us.  Give us your broken country, give us your broken homes, give us your debt, give us your ceilings; give us your expired grudges, your unwavering stubbornness, your dwindling economy, your bankrupt businesses; give us your tattered flag, your wars, your friends, your enemies, your stars and your stripes - give us "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to [us], [we] lift [our] lamp beside the golden door."


Do not hide behind a pulpit and pretend to hear our words.  Do not defy our call to put aside your differences and work together.  Do not ignore the voice of a generation that will pick up the tab since you all have seemed to have left the table.  Do not pretend that your defiance of another party is political courage.


"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.  Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." [Churchill]


Just listen.


-gp