Daily Centrist: Why Cameron Kasky and Generation Z may Save Politics

Welcome to TaraElla Daily News, where we slay the echo chambers, one issue at a time. Today, we're going to look at the fractured political landscape, and how Generation Z, those born after 1997, may be able to help fix it. I mean, every generation likes to diss the next one, right? But today, I'm going to break this bad habit, and try to look at Gen Z in a positive light. Because, let's face it, us Millennials haven't done a good job of healing society. It's sad, but true.

I've always said that this show is Centrist, in the sense that we listen to each side in good faith, and try to bring people together. If this is something you agree with, I highly recommend subscribing to this channel. The problem is, right now, we are having a difficult time in this fractured political landscape. The main problem is that people are shouting over each other. They are not only not keen to listen to the other side, sometimes their whole aim is to own the other side, make the other side look bad. As I like to say, the Culture Wars poison everything.

Cameron Kasky is already a controversial figure at just 17. He is the co-founder of March for Our Lives, the pro-gun control movement that was founded in the wake of the Parkland shootings. As a prominent gun control advocate, Kasky has come into conflict with many conservatives. And, as he admits it now, he used to handle his political opponents in quite an immature way, trying to own them, trying to make them look bad.

I think Kasky's previous behaviour is simply a reflection of the sorry state of our political scene right now. I mean, teenagers generally learn from what is in their environment, and if the top YouTube political videos are all about owning so and so, that's what they are going to learn. It's always the adults' fault. Luckily, Kasky has matured quickly, and now has a more healthy way of looking at politics. And he thinks that his generation is perhaps moving in that direction too.

I don't know if I can share Kasky's optimism just yet. But I think he might be onto something here. Coming of age in a fractured political landscape featuring as many as 30 distinct political tribes, it would be just natural if Gen Z are truly curious to find out more about everybody around them. I mean, when we older Millennials came of age, it was just plain-old conservatives and liberals; George Bush or John Kerry. Many of us picked Kerry simply because we didn't like the Iraq War, even those of us who moved rightward later. My point is, it was a simple choice, and there was not much to be curious about. We didn't have something as interesting as the Intellectual Dark Web, for example; and we didn't have shows like The Rubin Report. All this is perhaps making Gen Z truly wanting to take part in a meaningful political conversation.

Of course, it's still early days to say that this is definitely going to be the future. It is up to us, all of us, to help make or break the future. And I believe we, as responsible adults, can help put an end to the stupid culture wars, and instead start reaching out for meaningful conversations. Because our future depends on it. Besides, it's more fulfilling, it's more fun than just attacking the other side, I promise. Something I often say is that political orientation is an innate property of a person, and the fact that we have both progressive and conservative individuals is a result of Darwinian evolution selecting the optimum mix to ensure that our society stays on track. Therefore, productive and respectful discussions between progressives and conservatives are important.