Part One:
Our guests are Abby Kiersa, the Director of Impact, and Kristian Lundberg, an Associate Researcher, at CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, a non-partisan independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the US. They are framing the national conversation, influencing what gets talked about by adults and by news media.
We discuss CIRCLE’s research on young people’s increasing leadership on issues that concern them. More and more over recent years, young people have grown to believe in their own ability to take the lead in bringing about change. They have become engaged, lifted enthusiasm, and taken the initiative on a variety of issues, from gun violence to climate change to racial justice. And they have done this both in political campaigns and in issue advocacy. They believe they can make a difference and they are doing so.
We also discuss gender differences, racial and ethnic subgroups, and the impact on both political parties. Will young people continue to make a difference in the 2020 elections?
Part Two:
We talk again with Robert Hennelly, investigative reporter for The Chief/Leader, a public employee union journal in NYC, for NJInsider, Slack.com, and @stucknation.
As COVID-19 deaths hit record numbers, the US is in a historic descent toward becoming what we used to call a “third-world country.” Americans are no longer accepted visitors to European countries; we are the only industrial nation in the world which lacks a universal system of health care; our infant mortality rates are shocking; and our economy is in freefall for all but the very richest Americans.
Pres. Trump is overseeing a historic wealth transfer to the super-rich. At the same time, communities of color are hit the hardest by the economic collapse overseen by Trump and his fellow oligarchs. The disparities in our economic and social system have been made more clear than ever when viewed through the pandemic’s lens. But, in fact, these changes have been going on for decades, through both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Why has the US been heading in what many of us would call the wrong direction? Who have been the major players and how have they engineered these results? What can we do to reverse these trends before it’s too late?
