04/04/2016
Younger people,
we are told, aren't as interested in the EU referendum as older voters.
But Michael Sani, chief executive of democracy campaign group
Bite the Ballot argues that it's wrong to say young people are apathetic about the EU. "I think you can only label people apathetic when you give them all the information they need to know and they still say 'Actually this isn't for me'. And that doesn't seem to have happened".
Says Sani, "We're crying out for some good information to be able to make informed decisions and it's not flowing at the moment. And it is frustrating, terribly frustrating, for young people because whatever impact comes from this decision, they're going to be most affected â purely because theyâll live longer with it".
In his book, he considers that: 'The EU needs to be made to feel real for them. They need to be told the direct impact on their lives, their community, and hopefully that will spur them on to play a role".
And this is what I don't get. Never in human history has so much information been so freely available for such little cost. If people, young or old, really need information, they can find it. All it takes is the will and the determination.
But then, it's probably not so much the "young people" who are making these BS claims. It is apologists such as Michael Sani who make a career out of making these kind of statements.
In my experience, if people donât know anything about something as profoundly important as the referendum on the EU, then it is because they don't want to know.
But Sani may be right in saying this isn't necessarily "apathy" â not in the normal sense. It's more like a "
generation me" saying "we don't give a stuff" â self-centred, pampered and selfish, imbued with a sense of entitlement.
Frankly, though, if they can't be bothered to seek out information and get down to the polling station to vote for what they believe, and we "older people" win the referendum as a result, then that's their problem, not mine.
