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Is Nebraska becoming too conservative for Gen Z?
The other day I saw a campaign video for Jim Pillen, a candidate running for Nebraska governor, on Twitter.
In the video, he addresses the usual issues that “Cornhusker Conservatives” care about: blue lives matter, gun rights and fighting the “crazy liberals in Washington.”
In the list of responses to the tweet I saw a response from a friend of mine. And why are people leaving Nebraska?”
Now, this isn’t something we haven’t heard before.
Since I was a kid, I’ve heard that young people have been leaving Nebraska at an alarming rate.
People are apparently calling it “brain drain.” According to a KMTV 3 article from March, 2021, it happens because cities have more draw than the smaller towns that make up Nebraska.
They have more nightlife and more to occupy your time, making the choice to move easy.
According to the Center for Public Affairs, roughly 2,000 people between the ages of 20 and 29 have moved out of Nebraska each year because of this supposed “brain drain.”
It’s causing a loss in tax revenue for the state and, as an attempt to fix the damage, colleges like ours are trying to encourage graduates to get jobs in the state.
But maybe it isn’t the nightlife or job opportunities that young people are leaving Nebraska for.
Maybe it has something to do with the values the state and its representatives hold that is causing the migration.
Our current governor, Pete Ricketts, has been backed by heavily conservative groups, such as the Nebraska Family Alliance, for years. He has stood against policies that promote gender identity equality and women’s reproductive rights.
On Jan. 28, he supported a proclamation to recognize the pro-life flag in Nebraska.
Now I’m all for respecting the beliefs of everyone, but I don’t remember him ever recognizing the LGBTQ+ or prochoice flags.
But he isn’t the only government official in the state that are pushing conservative views and driving out young, liberal Nebraskans.
On Jan. 19, Senator Deb Fischer received an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony list National Pro-Life Scorecard. She supports passing a bipartisan bill that would prohibit abortions in Nebraska after 15 weeks.
As a young woman who leans a bit more to the liberal side, it’s concerning to see Pillen, as well as the other candidates with his same values, that are running for governor and higher offices.
Nebraska is a wonderful state. There aren’t many places left in the world that have so much open space and greenery. I’m always amazed by its beauty, and I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to fully explore it all. Aubrie Lawrence But I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stay here when my rights are being put on the line. I want my friends who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, who come from a variety of different cultures and are all different races to feel safe here. And if that means I have to move to a city for that to happen, then that’s what I’ll do. It’s not the nightlife that’s driving some of use young Nebraskans away from the state, it’s the lack of respect for nontraditional values that is doing it.
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EDITORIAL
EDITOR-In-CHIEF Aubrie Lawrence editor@csceagle.com
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6Feb. 10, 2022 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Opinion
As We See It
You have to make your happy ending
u By Velvet Jessen
Opinion Editor
“And then they lived happily ever after.”
Every story I heard as a child ended with the perfect sunset and the main characters live happily ever after.
They defeated whatever bad guy they were up against and then it’s smooth sailing and fun times until the end of time. The rather unfortunate truth of not being a story book character is that life is not one bad guy and then a happy little ride into the sunset.
Sometimes life is annoying and frustrating and nothing seems to work out the way you want it to. Everything feels like too much and you want to give up. And that can make you start to blame yourself or blame the world. Those aren’t good holes to fall into.
It’s really hard to accept the bad days and move past them but that’s what you have to do sometimes. You can’t blame yourself because that doesn’t solve the problem, it will just make the problem worse.
You are the key to your success and the key to your own downfall too. And if you’re constantly beating yourself up then you can’t succeed. Sometimes you will mess up and it really will be your fault.
That’s OK. You just have to accept that you messed something up and figure out how to work on it or fix it. Figuring out how to help yourself is sometimes the hardest part. But remember that although you create your own perspective you aren’t a god. Sometimes things happen that you can’t stop or control.
You just have to roll with the punches and keep getting up even when it’s tough. Give yourself grace and breaks every once in a while. But keep on getting up, it’s how you’ll get better. Not by dragging yourself down with negative talk.
Something that might be helpful to remember is to treat yourself like you would treat your friends. You wouldn’t tell your friend that they are stupid because they had one bad day or one bad test.So, why would you tell yourself that? You deserve the kindness you give to others.
Sometimes it’s easiest to blame yourself and dig a hole. But after a while you’ll realize that the shovel you’re using to dig is pretty heavy and you’re in a pretty deep hole. Put it down and start growing from the times you mess up. Ask your friends for help if you need or even reach out to the counseling services on campus. Anything besides letting yourself get worse is a step in the right direction.
One bad day or one bad test doesn’t define you. How you deal with those things is.
If you start taking steps in the right direction eventually it’ll pay off even if it doesn’t feel like it. When your head is down and you feel bad, you miss all of the pretty amazing things you’re accomplishing on the way. Look up every once in a while and you’ll see how far you’ve come. You just have to start moving forward. Life moves fast, so don’t wallow in a bad day. Even when it feels easier. Sometimes a good day is just what you make it. Don’t let one bad thing ruin your week or give it the time it deserves and move forward. You deserve to enjoy your life and to get your happy ending.
Your story isn’t over until you get a happy ending even when it seems impossible. Your happy ending might not look like the fairy tales and it might come from a lot more hard work. However, it’s your story, so chase your happy ending and that pretty sunset. It might be work but it’ll be worth it. Your story will just be more interesting than Cinderella’s.
Velvet Jessen
We are the monsters you created
u By Kameryn Kozisek
Staff Editor
Our generation grew up in the age of technology, video games, movies and phones. We have had access our whole lives to the ends of the internet.
We grew up in a time when school shootings were blamed on violent video games and movies.
In a class I had, we were watching a Call of Duty livestream when the professor asked us how we could handle watching the violence of the game.
The question was shrugged off, why should we be bothered by the deaths of cartoon characters? We grew up in an age of violence and it is not our media consumption.
The reason we are unbothered by violence isn’t because we play video games based on war and it not that we watch movies about death and murder, it’s that we grew up watching these things happen.
School shootings, bomb threats, suicide and sexual crimes were things that we were raised on. When CSC went into to lockdown last semester, I listened to people joke and talk about what we could use as weapons in a classroom. And while this may be an appropriate for a bunch of 1825 year olds, my 8-year-old little sister is learning the same thing.
We were in second grade watching the video of the Twin Towers fall, watching people jump out of building to their deaths and listening to voicemails left to loved ones.
We were shown videos of people getting blown up and shot in wars and it is normal, it’s how we learn about the world.
No one thought twice about showing us videos about children that were kidnapped or killed by strangers. We were told to be scared of the cars that drove past us when we walked alone.
Even in sex education we’re shown movies about how STDs can kill us and what it looked like and told us how dangerous teen birth was, how getting pregnant would kill us. We were taught to hide under desks and in closets in our classrooms, where to run if we could get out of the building if there was a school shooter. Taught how to throw cans and chairs and
barricade doors.
How can we be blamed for not caring about cartoon violence, when we were taught to fear a violent world?
Kameryn Kozisek
