Jewish World Review Oct. 20, 2000 / 21 Tishrei 5761
Greg Crosby
Generation Duh
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
THIS WEEK it was reported in the New York Post that a recent study taken of 400 young
Americans between the ages of 16 to 21 revealed that 75 percent of them do not know who the
vice presidential candidates are. Not only that, but 33 percent of them don’t know who is
running for President. That’s right. If you think that’s scary wait until you hear the rest
of the survey results. Here are a few that they wouldn’t tell you about:
- 19 percent think George Washington is the father of the dollar bill.
- 44 percent believe that there is a revolving restaurant at the top of the Washington memorial.
- 63 percent identified Barney Frank as a six-hundred pound purple dinosaur who has a show on
PBS.
- 58 percent believe Camp David is the summer house belonging to David Letterman.
- 87 percent couldn’t name who is buried in Grant’s tomb -- even when presented as a multiple
choice question.
- 45 percent think the Gaza Strip is a major thoroughfare in Las Vegas.
- 31 percent think the Gaza Strip is a new Britney Spears dance.
- 62 percent believe Janet Reno is more of an alpha male than Clinton and Gore combined.
- 94 percent couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
- 73 percent couldn’t walk and talk at the same time.
- 66 percent couldn’t walk and think at the same time.
- 27 percent couldn’t walk and breathe at the same time.
This list, of course, is only a joke, but the survey statistics sited in my first
paragraph were absolutely true. Generally speaking, young people really do not seem to have
any interest in who is running for the highest office in the land, let alone specific issues.
Why is this? Are they jaded? Cynical? Disenfranchised? Bored? Stupid? Jerky?
Self-absorbed? Shallow? Or all of the above?
How do you get young people interested in political elections? Should we offer free
on-line Internet service to the first 250,000 voters? Give-away premiums like baseball caps
and cell-phones? “Vote now, and for the first 1000 voters that get to the poles, we will
include, at no extra charge, the famous Ginzu knife. And if you act now, we will also include
the ricer and the juicer and, as a special bonus, the four-in-one grater, slicer, dicer, and
pocket fisherman.”
Maybe if the candidates had hit movies out in the theaters, or if more fashion model
types ran for political office -- do you think that might encourage some kids to get off their
hassock and into the polling booth? Suppose candidates were stars of high rated sit coms? Or
sports stars? That might do it. Sure -- vote for Shaq for State Senator.
There’s no question that the greatest influence on the young is music. Recording
artists could undoubtedly lure their fans to vote. I can’t help but wonder how many hundreds
of thousands of young people would be voting if a Christina Aguilera or a Mariah Carey ran for
public office -- any public office. Eminem for President? Well, let’s hope not. He’d
probably get plenty of votes, though.
On reflection, maybe we shouldn’t try to get young people to vote. The more I think of
it, the more I’m happy to just leave well enough alone. Young people stay away from the voting
booths in droves -- and considering their tastes in popular culture, that’s probably a very
good
thing.
JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a
letter to his congressman. You may contact him by clicking here.
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© 2000, Greg Crosby
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