By Brett LinleyCONTRIBUTOR
Every election cycle, there is an inevitable discussion about how to get millennials to be active and engaged in the political process. President Obama was able to capitalize on youth enthusiasm to propel him to the White House. Now, eight years into a flurry of policies that have failed to procure notable gains for millennials, another candidate wants to double down.
If the question is merely how to engage this generation, we need look no further than Senator Bernie Sanders. Certainly, he has many enticing proposals for young voters who remain pessimistic about their job prospects after college. Free healthcare is a big winner, as no one wants to envision him or herself dying on the streets.
Squeezing big corporations is another popular subject. Certainly, greedy executives at companies like Apple and Starbucks must be denying them employment and exploiting them as workers, all the while providing them goods and services they desire at reasonable prices.
Perhaps the biggest appeal to young voters comes through Sanders’s pitch for free higher education at state schools. As a generation, millennials have been saddled with an untenable amount of debt. With thousands of students failing to find any return on their investment in a gender studies or sociology degree, Sanders provides some light at the end of the tunnel; or, so he portends.
For all these proposals, it would be best to look to economist Murray Rothbard, who said, “It is no crime to be ignorant of economics… But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.” This is what we get from the Sanders candidacy.
While the youth appeal is palpable, it is ultimately irrelevant because the solutions suggested are unworkable. Politicians can pander to the millennial demographic all they want – but when it comes to the detriment of the country, we must take pause.
A generation that may have limited experience in what it’s like to have taxes deducted from a paycheck, or even receive one at all, cannot be exclusively entrusted with fiscal decisions for our future. So if the millennial vote must be bought, Sanders lays the blueprint. If we’re looking to buy a better and brighter and future for the country, however, maybe its best to find a better demographic.
Brett Linley is the president of Hofstra Students for Liberty.
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