When I was in middle school and high school (Michigan, 1996-2004) the only identifiable political engagement I remember any of my peers doing ever was that we knew it was funny to make fun of George Bush for being an idiot. I don’t remember ever having any other conversation with my friends about any political topic. I certainly had no clue what was going on in politics, outside of knowing who the president was, and knowing that 9/11 happened, and knowing that the Iraq War existed. So the idea that teenagers have political opinions now is also striking to me.
I am basically the same age as you, and I remember being very engaged in trying to protest against the Iraq War before it started. But I lived in the suburbs of DC, and so 9/11 was a much bigger deal to me as some of my friends’ parents e.g. worked at the Pentagon, and also just politics and government was a much bigger part of our lives. But perhaps I’m the weird one.
When I was in middle school and high school (Michigan, 1996-2004) the only identifiable political engagement I remember any of my peers doing ever was that we knew it was funny to make fun of George Bush for being an idiot. I don’t remember ever having any other conversation with my friends about any political topic. I certainly had no clue what was going on in politics, outside of knowing who the president was, and knowing that 9/11 happened, and knowing that the Iraq War existed. So the idea that teenagers have political opinions now is also striking to me.
There is a paradox of competence at play regarding the social dynamics of increasing the awareness of any issue.
Experts find something that require awareness in order to induce policy change.
Experts require large social following in order to raise awareness
Social following will not be competent in the topic at hand, will need to just trust that the experts are right
With increased awareness, the oppositions create their own social forces to counter the initial social movement
The public incompetence increases as more people get involved
The original awareness has lost its way and will focus instead on competing the the opposition force
This social dynamic reduces down to “how to attract followers” for any topic, and the topic itself becomes irrelevant.
If anyone can think of a solution to this paradox, I will be forever grateful. I personally can’t. I have spent a couple of years on this already.
I am basically the same age as you, and I remember being very engaged in trying to protest against the Iraq War before it started. But I lived in the suburbs of DC, and so 9/11 was a much bigger deal to me as some of my friends’ parents e.g. worked at the Pentagon, and also just politics and government was a much bigger part of our lives. But perhaps I’m the weird one.