My Appearance on HuffPost Live

This afternoon, I had the pleasure and the privilege to be a guest on HuffPost Live, The Huffington Post's new online video section. As an unemployed youth, I was brought on to speak about youth unemployment (fitting, wouldn't you say?)

Admittedly, my fellow panelists and I, four of us total, were a little under-informed as to what the discussion was about. Leading in to our talk was a conversation between Roy Sekoff, the founding editor of HuffPo, and Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti from VICE. They were discussing things like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street and how they relate to global youth unemployment.

When they began addressing us on the panel (video conferencing in over Google+) we each briefly touched on our stories of unemployment. I graduated in May, and I've applied to over 200 jobs, and I've had about 10 interviews and no offers. The conversation quickly turned to the men from VICE criticizing my generation for not being politically active, and Shane was upset that we aren't taking to the streets to smash property in protest. That last sentence was not a hyperbole. He said we should riot in the streets.

Here's the quote: "I am saying smash sh*t. Go out and smash things."

My fellow panelists tried to reason with the men. Lisa thought it was ridiculous to compare our situation with Egypt. I also pointed out that we, as Americans, have the chance to overthrow the government every two years at the polls and Egypt did not have that option. Both Shane and Eddy downplayed the role Facebook and Twitter had over the Egyptian revolution, for which I chided him. Both platforms were crucial in the organization of protests and distribution of information. Would the Egyptian Revolution have happened without those? Maybe, but definitely not as quickly. The Occupy movement also started over Facebook and Twitter.

I pointed out that 2008 saw the biggest voter turnout of young Americans ever. Eddy then said young people won't turn out in 2012, because they didn't turn out in 2010. I can't speak for the rest of my demographic, but I voted in every election over the past 4 and a half years, ever since the 2008 primaries. Some people aren't as politically minded as I am. I over analyze politics every day. Other people are comfortable expressing themselves over Facebook and Twitter. I'm upset whenever a friend says he or she is not voting in the next election, and I do my best to change their mind. (At one point, I accidentally implied that I've "checked out," which isn't the case. I swear I misspoke. I'm more engaged than ever.)

Waking up this morning, I was not expecting to have to defend the political involvement of my generation, but I hope myself and my fellow 18-24 year olds can prove these men wrong. We are the newest generation that is funding Medicare and Social Security. The military. The NEA. The nation's infrastructure. Public schools. The police force. The future of all of these, especially Medicare and Social Security, are unknown. Let's not be indifferent now and angry later. If we want to protect our own futures, we have to fight. I don't mean we have to "smash things" like Shane said. We have to elect officials that will protect our interests now, not when we are a demographic that, statistically, votes more.

To watch this segment, go here: http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/502d33332b8c2a042a0003c3