Gen Z voters in Pennsylvania will help decide this election. But do Gen Z fully understand what a second Trump presidency means for them? How can anxious parents and educators help young voters understand the enormous issues at stake, without appearing paternalistic and out of touch with reality?

This question is on my mind this October, as I teach political theory at a selective liberal arts college in battleground Pennsylvania. I always refrained from taking sides in class. I give students tools to think critically about politics so they can make independent, informed decisions.

But this election cycle is different. The future of American democracy – the political community that most of my students inhabit – may well be at stake. Nonpartisan politics is simply not fit for the moment. Educators need a different language to reach young people and communicate the urgency felt by many of us.

Generation Z is a receptive audience. Despite the cliché of a sheltered and disengaged generation glued to electronic devices, my students are politically active. After years of Covid isolation, they crave face-to-face community. They do not hesitate to tackle politically sensitive subjects: racial justice, gender equality, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But they are also more open-minded and less doctrinaire than the stereotypes of “woke Cancel Culture” would have us believe.

Democracy is the foundation on which robust political debates, on issues like Gaza, are even possible.

My students, however, have a profound disadvantage: Their formative years coincided with the rise of MAGA. They have only vague memories of Obama and no memories of the GOP before Trump. Even students who hate Trump’s immigration policies or abortion, for example, have resigned themselves to their non-normative, “business as usual” behavior. They are more cynical, I fear, and insensitive to the deeper threats looming on the horizon.

How to convince young voters that Trump East an existential threat to their future? Here I am thinking of an analogy with climate change proves powerful. Young adults are notoriously obsessed with climate change, which they view through the lens of generational justice. They believe that action or inaction on climate policy will impact their generational trajectory for years.

A similar framework should be used this election cycle. Democracy is more than a system of periodic elections. Democracy is our collective home, the refuge that protects citizens from deep political risks and can be (at its best) a source of belonging, civic friendship, and joy through cooperation.

Donald J. Trump is, in every possible sense, a homewrecker. Every lie, every conspiracy theory, every descent into fear-mongering and “enemies within” rhetoric, represents another “carbon emission” for a democracy under pressure. Our ecosystem can withstand a lot, but there is a breaking point. And the breaking point is approaching.

Many Americans are ignoring these warnings, just as they are ignoring the warnings of climate scientists. As a political scientist who has dedicated my life to studying democracy, I assure you that the warnings are real. These are not liberal media exaggerations or symptoms of “Trump derangement syndrome.” Donald J. Trump truly poses an existential threat.

Democracy is an entire ecosystem. Democracy is our collective home, the foundation on which our political lives take on meaning. Democracy is the refuge that protects citizens against profound political risks.

Generation Z has the most to lose if the ecosystem falters. Each of the political “carbon emissions” issued by Trump and his extremist MAGA allies jeopardizes the democratic future this generation wants and deserves.

Young progressives, you have expressed frustration with certain aspects of the Biden-Harris agenda. I applaud you for asking tough questions of our leaders. But compromise is also necessary in politics, and no citizen can abdicate their responsibility to protect our democracy. Democracy is the structure through which robust political debates, on issues you care about, are even possible.

Young conservatives, you are tired of liberal orthodoxy on campus and thirst for intellectual diversity. I sympathize, it’s not easy being conservative on elite college campuses today. But you must move beyond the devastation of the Trump era to rebuild a responsible and intellectually serious movement; a conservatism that inspires young people around nobler objectives.

And to the rest of my students, who constitute the silent majority: democracy is your home too. Something worth fighting for. Vote for the candidate who will fight to keep this home habitable in all seasons of your life. Refuse to normalize our descent into the political abyss and fight back. Democracy is counting on you.

Gordon Arlen is a visiting assistant professor of political science at Swarthmore College.

The Citizen welcomes comments from community members who assert that this is their own work and their own opinion based on true facts that they know firsthand.

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Left: Donald Trump, courtesy of the Trump campaign. Right: A climate change protest sign, by Markus Spiske for Unsplash.