The Active Youth Myth and Gatesgate

I've finally returned after a 16-day hiatus which completely shattered my goal of writing every day for 30 days. Thanks to all for your patience! A wife, son, job, and house to take care of sometimes take precedent over the internet. Sometimes. This won't be a full post, but more of a teaser for the posts I intend to write this week. Feel free to comment on this post in an attempt to tease back.

My first post will discuss what I consider to be a rather pervasive (but unsubstantiated) myth about political activism among the 18-24 age bracket. Oddly enough, the subject came to as I drove back to Baltimore this evening. I rediscovered my copy of John Mayer's album Continuum (which is one of the most finely recorded, composed, and performed records of the last 5 years), and put it on for some easy listening. The first track, titled "Waiting on the World to Change", is an unusually political song for Mayer, but it addresses a lot of what I'll write about in more detail later: the 18-24 age bracket has some of the most staunch opinions about contemporary issues, yet young adults tend to be the least politically active age group in the country. Why the myth when the disconnect seems so obvious? More importantly, why is this apathy allowed to slide, especially when it is supported by ridiculous arguments like the one Mayer makes: "We just don't feel like we have the means to rise above and beat it"?

Next up will be my take on the media storm surrounding Gatesgate. President Obama's short and simple answer to a simple question at the end of his press conference the other night completely overshadowed the major points he made on health care. I'll go over what is known about what happened in Cambridge between Mr. Gates and the police, and why the issue is important even though it doesn't seem to have any long-term consequences for the general public.

Thanks again for being patient while I fulfill my duties outside of the blogosphere. Comments made to this post by Tuesday evening will almost certainly be considered as I write my full posts on the subjects described above, so let loose!