Q&A of the Day – Low information voters
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry is in response to my recent stories demonstrating that most Millennials don’t have basic knowledge of the Holocaust or Memorial Day.
Of those 66%, how many are registered to vote? They are encouraged to vote yet are oblivious to history. You are right, not their fault. Keep up the good work!
Bottom Line: It’s a valid point. My greatest frustration regarding voting isn’t ideological. It’s why many choose to vote against their interests. For example, more government equals higher taxes and less freedom. Why would anyone be inclined towards higher taxes and less freedom? The only reason why someone would vote against their interests is what Rush Limbaugh might refer to as low information. As I cited last week, while 66% of Millennials didn’t know the basics of the Holocaust when studied, 93% thought it should be mandatory education upon receiving the information. In other words, with information they get it. Just as previous generations of adults have as well. The question is what we’re doing to take responsibility for our education establishment and as parents – assuming additional personal responsibility for engaging our kids educationally. Now to your question. What percentage of these generally uniformed adults are voting?
Using Census data from the 2018 midterms - Turnout by age:
- Millennials: 43%
- X’ers: 55%
- Boomers: 63%
- Silent Generation: 66%
So, with two-thirds of Millennials unaware of even the basics of the Holocaust and nearly as many not knowing what Memorial Day is, let alone other potentially critical information, just under half voted last year. When you look at notable, new representatives, like the AOC’s of Congress... This should help explain how it happened. We get the government we vote for. If we’re raising ignorant generations due to an education establishment that’s failing our kids and our disconnect from our children’s education...that’s not a recipe for success. More optimistically, ignorance can be fixed with information. The key is that we all do our part – which includes voting in all elections, starting with local elections like school board races.