Recently I participated in an online referendum involving constitutional change within the youth wing of UKIP. The subject of the referendum was reducing the maximum age of being part of young independence from 30 down to 25. Some of the arguments for and against constitutional change were presented in videos on the main site. Those against the change mainly focused their campaign on the division caused between people of certain age groups.
There were a couple of important reasons I felt that were relevant to the No vote that were not touched upon. The first thought that appeared in my mind when learning of the referendum was that my generation simply are not maturing at the same rate as our parents and grandparents. This may be deemed controversial to say but I feel it needs to be said regardless. This is not the fault of our generation but simply a symptom of the current political and economic climate. There are less opportunities for responsibility at an earlier age, less jobs and higher house prices result in people staying at home for allot longer or taking the opportunity to procrastinate on university campuses instead. Only those who are privileged now receive the level of education desired to instil the right amount of culture and values needed to be equipped for the outside world and it is for this reason that I can’t imagine why anyone would want to isolate those of the ages of 26 – 30 from Young Independence.
The safety net that Young Independence gives those who perhaps say something a little crass at a less mature age is an important one. It’s a learning curve and a chance to make mistakes without receiving the same backlash as those in higher positions and we are all capable of making mistakes regardless of age and maturity. Godfrey Bloom is a classic example of someone intelligent that made one too many clangers, it shows all we can do to safeguard ourselves is build upon our experience and learning.
Referendum Result:
YES = 54 votes (25.8%)
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