Because Young People Are, Like, Politically Engaged … and Stuff

In my blog entry from October 10, I wrote about the importance of taking care of our veterans as they return home — not just by offering soldiers extra casualty pay or by sending them to college, but also by making sure their insurance claims are responded to quickly and that their injuries are diagnosed. It seems that while we are at war, it is easy to overlook the most basic of military needs (even toothbrushes for the wounded) and still claim that we support the troops.

A reminder: Veterans Day is one week after Election Day — no matter who wins the most votes on the 4th, we must keep the needs of veterans a priority as we prepare the president-elect for his first day leading the country.

In another editorial I highlighted the importance of young voters in this election — students are becoming even more politically aware, and we are dependent on their votes to incite a real change in American politics.

Folks from my generation would like to think that young people are ignorant or lazy, but I’d argue that they encounter the most difficulties and the most bureaucratic hurdles on the way to the voting booth. Their generation is the one fighting our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they will have to pay for our government’s economic blunders.

Generation Y (or the Millennial Generation — the two titles are fighting it out) has donated more time and money to charitable causes than any other young people in history. Julia Moulden described this phenomenon a few weeks ago in a great article for the Huffington Post. The Internet helps young people donate their time and money in an easy, unobtrusive way, and it has created a generation of politically conscious, charitable people.

Still, the questions remains: How can we get young people to fight bureaucratic hurdles set in place by their schools and their districts and vote on Election Day, particularly when veterans need their help?

MTV has the answer: rap stars.

MTV will be hosting a concert tonight in support of The Bill of Rights of American Veterans (BRAVE) as part of their “Choose or Lose” campaign. Ludacris and 50 Cent will be performing live from New York with additional taped performances and appearances from musicians and actors. This extraordinary group fights to bring veterans the rights they have earned.

BRAVE includes the following calls to action:

-Properly treat veterans’ mental health issues:

-Prevent homelessness among veterans.

-Give disabled veterans the benefits they have earned in a timely manner.

-Fully fund veterans’ hospitals across the country.

-Compensate troops who are made to serve longer through the stop-loss program.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the group fighting best for veterans’ rights, and is doing a great job getting the message out.

BRAVE is addressing every major struggle a returning soldier faces with this charity concert. On their site they have links to letters and petitions for young people to sign and send to their representatives in Congress, and they even show young people how to organize their own events to support veterans.

They are taking the same tools that made charitable giving easy for the next generation and bringing them into the political sphere. MTV is teaching their viewers how to incite real change while supporting a group of Americans — young soldiers — who need our help the most.

I’m not a huge rap fan, but I may watch it. Not just to see Will Ferrell, but because I want to see what the rest of Young America sees. They are the veterans of two wars, they are paying off ludicrously high student debts, they are unable to buy a home because of the mess the rest of America put them in, they have been systematically ignored, and I’m ready to see them get angry enough to vote.