Let's ask our children what is important to them...

[Strat54]

I am a single dad. I have a 12 year old daughter. 2nd year of middle school in a very liberal Cleveland suburb. I value her opinion on the thoughts and attitudes of her generation. I am Gen 'X'. We are too small to make a difference (except that PBO is a Gen 'X'er). But, my daughter's generation is large and will be politicaly powerful, like the Boomers.

I asked her for her perspective on politics and who she would vote for if she could vote in 2016.

Her answers:

1) First and foremost, NO MORE FOREIGN WARS!!!
She and her friends see clearly that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have accomplished nothing. She is still too innocent to fully grasp the War Profiteering and Oil greed that propelled us into Iraq, but she is wise enough to see that those that push for military action in the mideast or most anywhere do not have her best interest in mind.

2) EQUALITY! EQUALITY! EQUALITY!
Racial. Gender. Ethno-Religious. Sexual Orientation.
She looks at me with disapointment, as if to say, "Why haven't you adults fixed this bullshit yet??" It is the one thing that makes her think I grew up in the Dark Ages or something. It is with absolute disbelief that she realizes that they Civil Rights Act was only passed when I was 2 years old. "It's 2014. We're STILL arguing about this stuff?? WTF???"

3) "How am I going to go to college?"
I am her only wage earning parent. Her mom (my ex-wife) lives with mental illness and hasn't worked in over 6 years. She has regular contact with her mom, but I am the residential parent. She has seen me struggle to keep her in a nice, suburban school district. We rent the ugliest house in a beautiful historical suburb. She has seen me unemployed and seen me go back to school to get a degree and get a job in my field. She sees that there is STILL no money left over and has witnessed utilities and services shut off for non-payment.
She really is concerned about how she will ever be able to pay for college.

4) "Where will I work as an adult?"
She sees me and many other friends' parents struggle to keep a home together. She sees that many hard working adults are not able to keep up, yet celebrities and heir apparents have $6,000,000 weddings and laugh about wrecking $200,000 cars.

5) The environment.
In her eyes, It is painfully obvious that we are damaging the earth. She still has hope that it is not too late to fix it. I sure hope she is right.

I asked her who she would vote for? She couldn't answer.

I asked if she knew who Hillary Clinton was? She just rolled her eyes and tssked. "You know... They keep pushing Hillary on us girls, as if she is the answer to all of women's concerns. Did you know that she voted for the war in Iraq Dad? And her husband invented "Don't ask. Don't tell."? Why do you older people think she is so good? It is a little insulting that people think all of us girls would vote for Hillary just because she is a girl. I think she learned politics from the wrong people."

I asked what she wants to be as an adult.
"I want to be the first female president of the United States."

I asked, "You won't even be eligible for another 23 years. You don't think we will have a female president in the next 23 years?"

"Well... It certainly won't be Hillary!! I would never vote for her!" was the response.

Ask your children! See what they think of the world we are leaving for them. Post some answers here. It may be a glimpse of the future.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Smart young lady.

One way to get college paid for (as I'm sure you know) is scholarships. I'm guessing she's already got some idea what she wants to do, and if she's serious about being the first female President, she's probably going to go for a poli sci major somewhere in there, maybe as part of a double major. You might check around for political organizations that offer scholarship money specifically for people wanting to go into politics, or even see about setting up a Kickstarter or GoFundMe setup for her, with her putting forth more info on her political leanings. And scout around universities that are well-regarded for poli-sci programs, check with their bookstores to see what texts the intro classes use, and see if you can pick them up used cheap, so she can be ahead of the curve and can start scouting out programs and see if she can get them to offer scholarships. If she's self-driven with her own goals, she's going to be attractive to more programs than some other kid who simply 'wants to go to college'.

[Strat54]

2. Good advice Erich

At 12, I'm not ready to start pushing her towards a firm career direction just yet. She loves animals, music, and design. I am interested in how she sees the world, but I think it's OK for her to just be a kid for a while longer.

In another 2 years, I will encourage her to take some of the steps you outlined. I just want to see what our kids think is going on in the political world. What they worry about.

Kids her age seem to see right through all of the obfuscation and political posturing. They know when they are being manipulated.