Written by David M. Graham   

Dear Disillusioned Young Voter,

Got your letter. Hear you loud and clear. Hope you listen to this, but really don't expect much. By your behavior, I can tell you aren't listening very well.

Your comprehension skills are lacking, and obviously you missed a few critical facts in Civics 101.

Elections are not sales events.

You are already a stockholder in the United States of America, Inc.

Whether by birth or naturalization you hold one share. You can't sell it, and you don't need to buy it. So stop expecting politicians to sell you on doing your duty as a stock holder.

Stockholders meetings are held biennially. Attendance is not optional.
Use of brain cells for purposes other than maintaining ear separation is highly desirable. Failure to do so has real life consequences, because this is real life.

You say you'd like some buzzwords to get behind. How nice. Here are four you might not like but certainly need to learn - "responsibility", "awareness", "maturity" and "consequences".

It is your responsibility to keep yourself informed. Elizabeth Warren put a bill to drop that student loan rate you mentioned. Shame you won't be getting it because she didn't take the time to put the fact that the GOP blocked it into a meme and personally drop it into your inbox.

Same thing for the minimum wage, climate change, prison reform, immigration reform, and other issues you mentioned. The public record is public for a reason. You have no excuse for your lack of awareness - and your letter clearly indicated you WERE aware. Which makes your failure to do your duty an act of willful negligence.

One key element of maturity is the willingness to recognize a situation as it is without sugarcoating. Another is the understanding that not all news will be good news. Apparently you h ave problems with both of these characteristics. That doesn't bode well for you or your community.

The message of the Democratic party boiled down to the fact that the nation is under internal attack by oligarchic forces deeply entrenched into the Republican party and it's ancillary organizations. When you say you understand that the GOP catch phrases of " “national security,” “family values,” “free markets.” translate to "endless war, homophobia, and corporate feudalism for the better-informed" it means that you DID understand the message.

You simply chose to ignore it because it wasn't pretty enough for you. Your whine about the lesser of two evils is particularly touching. Get over it. All humans are flawed, and contaminated to some extent by evil. That's life.

Voting for the greater of two evils is never going to teach the lesser evil to be good. Even if you vote by abstention your conscience cannot be clear. For by allowing the greater evil to triumph, you only create a more dominate and powerful evil.

I hope you enjoy the consequences of your tantrum. I know you will not escape them.