Young people are really angry
And thank God for that. Their anger might save us all.
Today’s American youth will live longest with the climate going to shit and nothing being done. They’ve been going to school under threats of shooting sprees, while our society’s safety priorities beget video after video of police murders.
They’re looking at low-pay, high-stress gig work to pay off massive college debt — and that was when the economy was well! Think about our youth’s life prospects now, with the economy fucked and gutless politicians too in hock to Wall Street to care.
Coronavirus shut down their schooling and their social life. They’re staying shut in for [mostly] everyone else’s safety — but the “adults in the room,” with all their wisdom and experience, can’t get their shit together in regards to this safety! This is especially glaring when you see so many other countries successfully taming outbreaks.
This generation hasn’t had decades of adulthood to sock away money in retirement, build good credit, become expert in a field, build up a thick resume, buy a house, or start a business. They are plunging into a terrifying adulthood rudderless. The head of the country, who is supposed to be an example of measured, mature poise, is a vile Hitler wannabe whose only saving grace is his egregious, feckless incompetence — not much of a saving grace when your society is coming apart.
𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧.
Youth energy is raw and rough around the edges. Youth don’t have all the decades of brainwashing and accepting an unacceptable “reality.” But they also don’t have the institutional power to effect change. They don’t have security about the future, and they sure as hell can’t trust how things have been set up. Something’s got to give. Think about it — you don’t go looting if you’ve been living a secure life and feel like you have what you need.
Remember — our youth today grew up with Barack Obama. They KNOW we can do better, and they sure as HELL ain’t fooled by the racist dog-whistles. And they look around them and think to themselves: “How did the generations before us get this shit so damn twisted up?”
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. Be 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑓𝑢𝑙 for their anger and energy! Learn from them. 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 them in their activism. If they ask for advice from folks with more life experience — and surely they will — be there for them, if that’s you. But don’t preemptively try to police their behavior. More listening. Less preaching.
And dammit, see the good that’s in all this for you! This youth rage is an opportunity for us — 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 — to break through so many of the suffocating injustices we’ve had to bear. Mass incarceration. The Patriot Act. Citizens United. A broken health system. Endless wars. And the greatest looting job of them all — the massive bailouts to Wall Street while the rest of the country teeters on the brink.
Have you forgotten how titanic of an unjust order we live with every day? And if you stop to think about it … how much anger is a sane amount of anger for the enormity of the injustices of our time? Do you think people around the world would be rising up right now if that police precinct in Minneapolis hadn’t been set ablaze?
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜, 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥?
