ArcaMax

I'm someone who watches horror movies from behind fingers in front of her eyes or a forearm shielding me from what I'm imagining as the worst of it. This is how I watched the first 10 minutes of the Biden and Trump debate.

As a millennial, I've grown accustomed to the feeling of a horror show and the lingering disappointment it creates. From the moment we were old enough to understand the concept of voting, we've been told that our voice matters and that our vote can change the world. Yet, here we are, in a world dominated by optics and dark money, where it feels like no one is truly listening to us.

We grew up during a time of great technological advancement, yet we've watched as the wealth generated from this progress has been concentrated in the hands of a few. We've seen our parents struggle with job insecurity, our peers drown in student debt, and our futures look increasingly uncertain as the cost of living skyrockets. Homeownership, a cornerstone of the American dream, feels like a distant fantasy. We're often labeled as lazy or entitled, but the truth is we're fighting an uphill battle in a rigged game. Dark money flows through the veins of our political system, ensuring that those with the deepest pockets have the loudest voices. In this cacophony of influence, our voices are drowned out.

And those in power won't talk about that.

When I look at the political landscape, I see the same faces I've seen for decades, only now they're older and more desperate to cling to their power. They speak in platitudes, promising change, but their actions reveal their true priorities: maintaining their grip on the status quo. It's not just one side of the aisle; it's both. Democrats, Republicans -- it doesn't matter. They're two sides of the same coin, entrenched in their own interests and wholly disconnected from the realities we face.

They'd rather compare their golf handicaps than discuss that childcare costs $11,000 per child per year. That was the original question that allowed them time, but neither of them came back to it. Why? Because it wasn't even on their radar.

Another thing not on the radar was climate change, the most pressing issue of our time, being treated as a political football rather than the existential threat it is. We march, we protest, we advocate for policies that will secure a livable planet for future generations, but we get half-measures. We are told to be patient and that change takes time, but the clock is ticking, and the consequences of inaction grow more dire by the day.

I stunned an older constituent into silence who said she worried about "vagrants." I told her I worried about when we'd start finding people dead from heatstroke or from the infections they got from burning their extremities on the pavement.

We engage in politics because we believe in the possibility of a better world. We vote because it's our right and our duty. But it's hard to shake the feeling that our efforts are in vain. We see the same cycles of hope and horror play out repeatedly. It's as if we're stuck in a loop, unable to break free from the grip of an entrenched system that serves the few at the expense of the many.

My generation is often characterized by cynicism, born from a place of deep frustration and unmet expectations. We were raised to believe in the power of democracy, yet our lived experience rubs us raw with its flaws. The challenge for us now is to find a way to turn that frustration into action, to build new systems and structures that reflect our values and address the realities -- and the horrors -- of our time.

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Cassie McClure is a writer, millennial, and unapologetic fan of the Oxford comma. She can be contacted at cassie@mcclurepublications.com. To find out more about Cassie McClure and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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