Last week I wrote a post looking at how important it is to get more young Canadians to vote in the next election.
Because if more of them do vote, we will almost surely defeat Stephen Harper.
I said that if you want them to cast a ballot, first you must move them with a vision of a better future. And I promised to look at how people in other countries are doing that.
Now I think I found a pretty good example.
By looking at the way the Yes side in the Scottish referendum is mobilizing young voters.
Not just by using them to counter the negativity of the No campaign. By appealing to their optimism and their idealism with a vision of a better future and a more progressive society.
Or by just having the young speak to the young...
But also by encouraging them to believe that if they want to change their world they can.
No matter what others tell them...
Because although this video is funny, it does relate to how young people feel in an increasingly jobless or low wage economy, and their dreams of something better. It is fundamentally optimistic.
And it does seem to be working.
Not only have the young injected a new energy and optimism into the Yes campaign, they are also helping to boost its support.
And everybody is expecting a large turnout, even among the 16 and 17-year-olds who will be voting for the first time.
And if it's working there, there is no reason it can't work here.
For remember these kids who marched through the streets of Quebec two years ago?
Well they are being credited for a huge increase in the number of young candidates running in the provincial election.
So many in fact, they now outnumber the older ones.
I'll have more reports on the progress of the Yes campaign in Scotland, when I travel there this summer, to continue my never-ending struggle to liberate Scotland AND Canada from the Con menace.
And in the meantime I'll be sharing other videos I have found, making my own, and I'll be looking for you to contribute your own ideas.
But already I can see a theme.
If you want to get the young to vote, or engage in the political process, you must address their hopes, dreams, and insecurities.
And first you must move them...
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2 comments:
Justin are you listening?
Well your suggestion could work. On the other hand, they may get out and vote because their parents can no longer afford to support them and their grandparents. Their parents may find they need all that money to pay for their own medical bills. medicare as we know is going the way of all good Canadian things. Young people may come to realize, if they don't vote while they can, their voting rights may disappear, along with their medical system. When enough of them can no longer afford their I phones they may want to get out and fight for a better Canada.
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