“Jaded” – it’s not just an Aerosmith song. This is the word we use to describe how we feel after being let down or betrayed. We use this word to indicate that we were hopeful in something or someone and those hopes were dashed.
“Disappointed” may describe those same feelings except for one significant difference – “jaded” goes beyond “disappointed,” because our disappointment consequently affects all future perception of that in which we had hope. Like after a bad boyfriend’s dumped you. (Hence the Aerosmith song.)
During the 2008 general election, MTV’s Rock the Vote campaign – a bandwagon on which every celebrity seemed to jump – gained significant support. Twenty-somethings went door-to-door and headed to the polls in droves. And there’s no denying that the MTV demographic was more liberal than not. This demographic, and a monopoly on social networking as a tool to corral young people to vote for liberal progressives, gave the Obama campaign and other liberal candidates a significant advantage.
Twenty-somethings are not only the most purpose-seeking, but also the most tech-savvy. This is a dangerous and powerful combination. Thanks to social networks, campaigns can go as “viral” as the “David after Dentist” YouTube video. Facebook and Twitter are powerful forces for good or evil. It was pure genius to corral youth by taking the campaign to the virtual doorstep that is an individual’s online presence. But liberal progressives no longer have a monopoly on social networking and online communication. It’s now become a huge tool for conservatives campaigning in 2010.
According to a 2008 MSNBC article, “Young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68 percent to 30 percent.” However, the liberal base that pulled young people out of the woodwork and pushed them to the polls may have created a monster – 18-29 year olds were activated, and an interest in politics was provoked. But the same young adults who voted for Obama and the liberals in Congress haven’t seen the hope and change they voted for, even campaigned for. So, thanks to the Internet and a new-found interest in politics and how it affects us, the youth vote is more informed and ready to confront the ones who left them jaded.
We’re frustrated that we’re paying for others’ abortions thanks to the health care bill. Mine is the most pro-life generation and has propelled the number of pro-life Americans to 71 percent according to a Gallup poll. We don’t know an America before Roe v. Wade. The casualties of the abortion genocide are casualties of our generation. This is the fallout from feminism running rampant in the 70s, and we, the children of the 80s, now know (thanks in large part to science and technology) that abortion is not about a women’s right to choose, but is the death of a life.
We’re frustrated that we don’t have jobs. Too many of my college friends earned degrees, only to find themselves working at Starbucks today. “Jobs bills” have done nothing to “stimulate” the job market. Just ask the young barista making your white mocha. Reality has debunked the myth that spending increases employment.
Conservatives aren’t the only ones who feel let down – another young group who feels let down by the president and the other liberals in Congress are the homosexual activists. This was a huge part of Obama’s active base. They were promised a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and they were promised the legalization of homosexual “marriage.” They thought they had a huge ally in President Obama and a liberal Congress that preoccupied itself with spending billions of our tax dollars on a health care overhaul and “jobs bills” that have reaped nothing.
It’s no wonder young Americans feel like we’re stuck in a bad relationship. This Congress gave us high hopes and empty promises. And we believed ’em. But we’ve ended up jaded.