Hope is pivotal; it is a precursor to success, a sentiment inexorably linked to advancement, and an emotional state that is tragically vanishing from the psyche of my generation. We have been accused of exhibiting a sense of entitlement; that we carry the belief that our existence alone warrants a life superior to our predecessors. But to paint my generation with such a pejorative brush is unfair, we did not believe we were entitled; we believed in hope, the hope that we could progress, that we could improve upon the advancements of our parents and grandparent. My friends and I were excited to take our skills and use them to improve our country. We had hope.
Unfortunately reality interjected and stunted my generation. Months of ravaging unemployment became years and hope turned into acceptance. The hope that determination and sufficient planning would lead us towards our goals is gone. There is a generation of talented Americans vanishing before our eyes. So many people are being deprived the opportunity to enhance our economy and so many companies are being deprived the much needed injection of vitality that young people bring with them. The economy's downfall is not lost on this generation; this generation is lost because we are internalizing this torpor on a personal level. The motivation and pride we exhibited in preparing ourselves for the economy has manifested into ownership of the mess we are in. We feel responsible for the downturn, for ourselves, for the children we are raising, and for the baby boomers counting on us to fund retirement and healthcare. The low-paying jobs we are forced to take means that we will be providing Social Security and Medicare reduced tax payments. I want to grab my grandmother's hand and tell her that I am sorry I broke the economy. I am scared for my friends and for my people; I am scared that the psychological damages of this recession may be permanent. Young people who entered the workforce during Japan's "Lost Decade" exhibited symptoms of depression and emotional disabilities at a 60% tilt -- I hope that doesn't become us.
We have already witnessed hope give way to apathy which then gave way to an ostentatious Republican House majority. The 2010 midterm elections featured a dishearteningly low young voter turnout. Our taciturn belief that our vote was meaningless helped entrench us deeper into recession. We have created a degenerative feedback loop; our apathy gave way to Republican control which stood as an impediment to economic relief efforts, which leads to increases apathy. I understand hopelessness and struggle; I lived it and I see it daily in my once vibrant, but now exploited hometown. The most powerful lobbyists are the American people and those of us who believe in us must serve to reignite the flame in others. If we don't plan and fight for our future we will probably struggle when we get there.
Hope is a delicate sentiment; it is the most important ally during calamitous stretches but it is also one of the most difficult emotions to birth in others. This economic downfall is a result of apathy and indifference. The depressed state of our country's fledgling workforce is a foreboding harbinger of the potential psyche of our country. The burgeoning sentiment that the party markedly responsible for our current ails, the Republican Party, is the answer to our problems is the worst thing that could happen to us. Entrusting the right-wing leadership that led us down this path to use that same faulty logic to save us would turn this lost decade and my lost generation into an unsalvageable American tragedy.
The last presidential election was a referendum on the power of young people in America. There are too many of us who still believe, who are too aware of what's soon to be at stake. This awareness must manifest into a dedicated effort to revitalize the young vote. The mistakes of the past have left me apologetic to my grandparents; but we must not rerun former errors. I do not want to apologize to my children for the electorate mistakes of today. Hope does spring eternal; but we don't have eternity, we have now, and now we must spring hope.