It’s simply inarguable that politics are a major building block in what has defined our generation. We are the generation of the war on terrorism; it was during our youth that the Iraq war ended. We are the “no child left behind” kids of the Bush administration. And it was in our time when perhaps the greatest milestone in political history took place: the first African-American man was elected president.
The crazy and tense post-9/11 world is the one we grew up in, for that day is forever imprinted in our minds regardless of how young we were. Consequently, we grew up alongside big changes in the political structure of the United States.
We witnessed the skyrocketing of TSA guidelines, crazy security checkpoint lines, and full-body scanners. Our brothers, sisters and friends fought in the war on terrorism, which some may argue was a waste of time, but with the war of our generation. Therefore all of us has a firm opinion on war, terrorism, and American presence in a foreign land.
Although prior generations held anti-war movements, it is our generation that is perhaps the most aware of the dark side of our government.
Therefore we are all very aware what “Guantanamo Bay” and “torture and water boarding” truly entail.
Despite this, the political world at home was a more promising one. In 2008, while we were watching our parents struggle as the economy crumbled, social change swept through the nation when America elected Barack Obama the first African American president. With this election came a slew of changes in healthcare, but what some may argue more important, changes in gay rights and social reform.
We are perhaps one of the most open, respectful, and socially aware groups of teenagers that this nation has ever had. The election of Obama is merely the tipping point for the diversity that our government is surely yet to experience. In essence, our generation is truly the generation of freedom and equality. There is no doubt that we will see a woman elected President before we’re gone.
Conceivably our generation has been molded by the vast contact we’ve had to warfare and its consequences. But the social awareness is what truly defines our generation. It shows that our demand for equality has finally taken hold and is starting to grow.