The political environment enmeshed with current and world events can shape generations, and what has happened and is happening in Afghanistan could leave a lasting mark on America's young people.
University of North Georgia senior political science major Sam Church spoke with AccessWDUN about what kind of impression he thinks the situation in Afghanistan is making among his peers.
"Generationally, it's a pretty bad look because if you look further back, we have been usually successful," said Church. "Us kind of pulling out of this in this way has been just completely disastrous and I think it will also show other countries who are thinking about doing other similar things, like China and Taiwan, for example, I definitely think they'll move up the timeline because like, we're not much of a threat after seeing this."
He said he knows what he'd like to see the government do. "I think the best thing for Afghanistan right now is for us to move back in," he said. "It would be embarrassing, but it can't be more embarrassing than it already has been."
On issue in particular Church was concerned about was what would happen to the women and girls in Afghanistan, as the Taliban promised to respect them but only under Sharia law standards.
"I think us staying in the region, just for that alone, just for the correct treatment of women and girls, I think that's really important," he said. "I think with the Taliban that's just not going to be a thing."
Church, who is 23 years old and a member of Generation Z, said he and his peers do talk in depth about what's happening in the world, and they're concerned about what will happen to women and girls in Afghanistan.
As for what's next, Church predicted not everyone would be able to get out, and that he foresees another country like China or Russia moving in.
Not every young person is as politically literate as a political science major can be, so Church encouraged his peers to get engaged. He said to be cautious of using social media as a source, and encouraged the use of daily podcasts to help digest what's going on in the world.
