More than 40 years ago, college campuses were the settings for demonstrations on seemingly a daily basis. And there was plenty to protest – the Vietnam War and the U.S. military’s incursions into Cambodia, the My Lai Massacre, and of course civil rights. Perhaps the most notorious and tragic protest occurred at Kent State University in Ohio, when national guardsmen killed four students and injured nine more, simply because they were fighting for something they believed in.
Fast forward four or five decades and what do we have? College campuses that seem neutered by comparison.

Among the young adults of today, political action all-too often amounts to liking certain stories on Facebook or sharing a YouTube video. But seldom are those same people out in the grit of the protests and fighting for what they believe in.

The last glimmer of political action we saw in the U.S. was the Occupy Movement and that didn’t last long. Before that, we had Hurricane Katrina, where only a handful of people spoke out against the government’s poor handling of the situation. There was the Stop Kony movement, which became a rat race on who could “Like” what first on Facebook and who had the best KONY 2012 profile pic – as if that was putting a dent in Joseph Kony’s regime.

In short, young Americans by and large can’t be bothered with political involvement. According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, an alarming 50% of millennials “describe themselves as political independents,” holding no affiliation to any political party.
“It’s just not my thing anymore,” said computer science major Eric Miller, 29, of Morrisville; “I get politics but it’s just not something that’s important to me right now in my life.”

Miller wasn’t always as indifferent about politics, “I used be all over local political issues a few years ago, I actually attended many borough meetings and spoke my mind but I soon realized there were more important things to worry about, I had to do me, worry about myself.”

Like Miller, Deandre Simms, 20, of Bristol, explained that he “didn’t have time to even think about politics, it’s not something that affects how I live – out of mind, out of sight.”

Many young adults interviewed shared the same feelings (or lack thereof) about politics as Miller and Simms. Clearly, there is a different dynamic at work today than there was back then when people were out fighting for their rights.

One possible reason? We haven’t had any forceful changes brought about that will put us, let’s say, in danger – something as forceful as a draft.
Christoffer Bell, a journalist for Chicagonow.com, wrote in an article last year that “historically, when presidents enacted a draft, it sparked young adult interest – it made them care. They know young adults will start to care and pay attention if there was another draft and that is precisely why there will never be one.”

Miller explained “if there were a draft today, it would suck but I guess I’ll have to serve, even if I don’t agree with it” while Simms was against being drafted into a war he didn’t believe in. “I would most definitely try to do something about a bogus war – it leads to nothing.”

Some other young adults ignore anything political altogether.

Dana Ruminski, 21, a liberal arts major from Langhorne, explained that her disinterest in politics is “simply because it separates people, every time someone mentions something political, people get defensive and often times agitate one another.”

Like Ruminski, Daniel Gibson, a 20 year-old pre-med student from Quakertown, said that “politics is like religion, it pits people against each other, everyone holds down their flag, their belief – a good percentage of them are people who follow their ‘side’ blindly.”

“How can I trust a government that can’t even trust themselves,” said 22 year old liberal arts major, Stephanie Philpot. “They agree to disagree, bills that matter don’t get passed and they talk behind each other’s’ backs like they’re in high school!”

This apparent segregation between politicians is repulsive for young adults today – there is no longer a trust for anything that causes separation anymore.

To that point, Ruminski mentioned that “people are really about getting together today, not separating because of differences – these politics are stuck in the past, they separate each other because of differences in ideas and beliefs, much like it was with race a long time ago – they need to wake up, not us!”