Over the holidays, I was asked to describe the future of politics in 2025 in one word. Weird question, I know, but as the token poli-sci student in my family, this comes with the territory.
I answered quickly, without much thought, "Confusing". Not my most intellectual take on the social and economic state of the world I'll admit, but that's just how I feel. Normally, I think I have a solid grasp of the happenings in Washington, but if 2024 proves anything, I always need to expect the unexpected.
This got me thinking. If I, someone who follows politics like it's my religion, felt this way: What do other people think might happen in 2025? So, this pursuit was born. I sought out to see what Gen-Z thinks is waiting for us come January, and they didn't hold back.
Trump ran on immigration, what do you predict will occur in the first year of his presidency?
"Mass deportations will largely fail and become a huge mess. We will see human rights violations occur in the seperation of families and in detention centers."
- 20-year-old Female College Junior
"Trump cannot deport our entire agricultural force, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t deport the people he deems unnecessary or not required for the economy to flourish. It will be a mass deportation event but on a lower scale than people are claiming."
-19-year-old Female College Student
"Trump will utilize border patrol to shut down [the] border, and criminals will be deported."
- 18-year-old Male High School Student
The economy was a deciding factor in the past election, what do you believe will happen?
"The economy is headed to a crash and no matter who took it over, there will be a massive recession by 2026."
- 17-year-old Male High School Student
"I think America will be taking its first gradual steps into becoming an oligarchy, meaning wealth will slowly become more and more concentrated along with the political elites. In other words, the common individual will lose both economic and political control as fewer people will call more shots with the economy, and I don't think those individuals are especially altruistic..."
-17-year-old Female High School Student
"I think there will be lower unemployment and greater economic growth, but economic inequality will become more pronounced."
- 17-year-old Male High School Student
Speaking of the election, Trump will be entering his second term. Do you have any thoughts about his incoming administration?
"Large skewing to the right as the face of government + bureaucracy as seen through his cabinet appointments, which may potentially cause more average Americans to see through the rise-wing charade of “uplifting the working class.”
- 17-year-old Female High School Student
"I think they’ll definitely crack down on contraception, I think things will get very scary for trans youths, I think they’ll antagonize foreign allies"
- 22-year-old Female
"I could see serious drama over spending concerns and military aid to Ukraine and Israel. Moderate Republicans may work across the aisle with dems to create a deal for aid, causing major drama in Republican party"
- 18-year-old Male High School Student
Public support in Congress continues to diminish. What do you think will occur in the congressional chambers this upcoming year?
"They will have a true problem picking a speaker as Mike Johnson can really only afford to lose one vote, and many are already claiming not to support his reelection to the position. We won't see a Kevin McCarthy 2.0 situation, but it will be a battle."
- 20-year-old Female College Junior
"I do believe all confirmation hearings will go as expected and everyone Trump wants in office will be there. Very strict laws are about to be passed under the Republican majority."
- 19-year-old Female College Student
"All nominees will be confirmed except for Hegseth and Gabbard. The Republican majority won‘t be as strong as people think due to Cassidy, Murkowski and Collins. Tillis may also start to go left as he has an election in 2026."
- 17-year-old Male High School Student
Let's focus on the international stage. What do you think will occur in 2025 concerning the multiple conflicts occurring overseas?
"Unfortunately, I believe that Palestine will almost be destroyed as Israel feels emboldened especially after recent events in Syria. This is sad for a right-leaning Palestinian like myself. Ukraine will be fine."
- 17-year-old Male High School Student
"Europe will be forced to either split into a "anti-democracy" versus "pro-democracy" camp, or unite against the bigger "bad" powers, of which the US is now included."
- 17-year-old Female High School Senior
"U.S. will likely stop giving as much aid to Ukraine but will support Israel’s bombarding of Palestine. We might enter a trade war with China if Trump implements sweeping tariffs."
- 17-year-old Female High School Student
"The Israeli Apartheid regime will continue its genocide in Gaza and America will continue to back the war criminal Netanyahu, never reaching an arms embargo. AIPAC's influence on our politicans will only grow stronger ahead of midterms the following year."
- 20-year-old Female College Junior
Do you expect any news stories to break that are particularly important?
"More scandals about Trump’s inner circle regarding SA/sex trafficking, but that’s typical of what we’ve already seen."
- 17-year-old Female High School Student
"JFK files and other intelligence will be released and will be big news."
- 18-year-old Male High School Student
Last question. Do you have any predictions that something out-of-the-norm, or just plain weird, will occur in the next 12 months?
"Politics is always weird, so something will happen"
- 18-year-old Male High School Student
"Anything Trump does is pretty much crazy or just really weird I fear…"
- 17-year-old High School Senior
& that's what some of Gen-Z thinks 2025 may bring us.
*All opinions expressed do not reflect The Opinionated as an organization nor the Journalist and are entirely owned by those who expressed them within our survey conducted through Google Forms.
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