To the Editor:

Re “Why Some Young Voters Bolt the Democratic Party for Democratic Socialism” (news article, Oct. 16):

As a student at a very liberal college, SUNY New Paltz, I see more and more of my peers identifying with socialist beliefs, especially since Bernie Sanders’s run for president in 2016. Although I agree that people my age (in their 20s) are increasingly seeing the benefits of a socialist candidate and his policies, I see even more of my peers simply not caring at all.

In the 2016 presidential election, o nly a little more than half o f the students on my campus voted. A lot of my friends chose not to vote either because of a general lack of interest in politics or because they didn’t support either of the candidates.

It is also difficult for young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds who have never felt represented to believe that socialism will ever work in our society.

I do support Senator Sanders and the progressive platforms tied to democratic socialism, but I don’t have too much faith in the United States government and its ability to transform into the progressive state the 99 percent of us need it to be.