The Candidates May Promise Jobs to Young Voters, But They'll Deliver Only Cynicism
No worries. If Clinton wins, she also promises to find work for what she calls the "children of the Great Recession" who are "living in their parents' basement."
Clinton seems to think she has the millennials all figured out.
"They feel they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves. And they don't see much of a future," the Democratic nominee said at a private fundraiser in McLean, Virginia.
Not to be outdone, Trump is also moving on young voters.
During a recent visit to Las Vegas, the Republican nominee referred to "college students who graduate loaded with debt only to discover they can't find jobs or at least not the jobs they want or the jobs they trained for and worked so hard to get." Because, as Trump put it, "those jobs have left."
This is campaigning on the cheap and easy. The appeal is not honest; no matter what we envisioned in college, it takes many of us years or decades to find our dream jobs. This approach is not empowering; making people dependent on politicians only empowers the politicians. It's not how life works; you get jobs, lose some jobs, leave other jobs, get new jobs, accept new opportunities or create your own. Most of all, it's not the responsibility of government to coddle young adults and make sure that their employment opportunities leave them feeling happy and fulfilled, only that they have sufficient opportunity.
Politicians will say anything to get a vote. But, whatever is said during an election, young people should realize that they have to work hard, take risks and persevere to get ahead.
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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.
Copyright 2016 Washington Post Writers Group
