To think younger adults are too compliant.

[antelopevalley]

We all know things have been hard for lots of people over the last three years, but so many younger adults have been shafted. From high house prices, to very high rents for substandard accommodation, cuts to schools, high student debt for poorly taught courses, closure of so many public services that supports young people struggling into adulthood, and increasing homelessness.

But the only pushback I really see is on social media where "boomers" get blamed. While in life they are getting jobs, working hard and trying often against the odds to make their life better.

Why are they so compliant? Why are they not rioting? Or at least organising against the rich? Why so little evidence of any kind of fightback?

Because as well as the practical issues, such as working all hours etc, if everyone voted the older generation would still outnumber them. And it’s simple fact that no political party is ever going to risk alienating the grey vote.
Plus the media would never support it. Look at the cost of living coverage, there’s loads about pensioners struggling, but absolutely no acknowledgement that even someone single on just state pension/ pension credit is better off than one on full time minimum wage.
Or take covid, students being screwed was completely ignored in favour of labelling them granny killers. Black Lives Matter, again not young and mainly working age people protesting a worthwhile cause, just demonised as vandals spreading covid.

What would be the benefit of having public temper tantrums?
Yeah I could waste what little time I have standing in the street all day and risking getting knocked about by police and detained for no reason other than a power flex with all of the risks to my livelihood that entails, etc? Then what? The rich and the powerful aren't going to give a shit. For every protest which has actually achieved something there are 1000s that were pointless, and the successful ones were almost always for a very targeted and specific cause, you can't just protest 'things being bad'.

I'm young but I'm also Black and this government has recently cracked down on the rights of protesting through the new PCSC bill which will disproportionately impact poc people. This government also wants to introduce a bill of rights rather than the human rights.

it's making it harder for young people to make a stand. But we are interested and engaged

I mean, they are protesting...rioting damages innocent peoples businesses, I'm glad they're not doing that.

I suppose im younger than you but I'm not early 20s. I hound my mp with emails and letters, join protests in my local towns on the rising rent issue which is bloody shocking in cornwall.

My peers all very much the same

So read the responses.
Googled some recent protests on a variety of issues.
Saw loads of photos of young people at protests, in riots etc....

Am i crazy? Are you all seeing different images to me? Is your algorithm differemt to mine and you get different photos from protests? There are loads of young people in all of these photos!

Wait, I thought they were selfish, entitled brats?
Now they are ‘too compliant’?
Can’t win, clearly.

I think it's more an intergenerational thing; if someone's parents aren't interested in politics, they're not interested in it either.

If I am honest, I am a young millennial. Still, I've found that primarily those who are of the same age and younger (Gen-Z), the ones that are involved in protesting local issues or national issues, are the ones that are going to benefit the most from housing, I.e. either being gifted deposits from parents or property through inheritance. Everyone else is too busy working, or we 'everyday lives, see friends on our days off, visit places etc. If we had more COVID-19 lockdowns, we would've seen more younger people from different backgrounds protesting.

Sorry my autocorrect went haywire there; I meant "everyone else is too busy eith everyday life".

I’m not convinced the majority even know which ‘young’ they are bashing half the time. Like they think millennial refers to the late teen/ young adult age group, rather than the generation before them.

Because the boomers keep voting Tories and voted Brexit nothing else we can do

Some probably don’t care enough, some don’t think politics effects them, some are too busy working and some possibly are planning on living with parents.
I was an angry youngster who Protested about everything. Now I see that it actually rarely makes a difference, even the poll tax riots did not work-they only revoked it because they could not handle the amount of non payers and the council tax was an easier option.

Or at least organising against the rich?

Who are these rich people that you would organise against? Please be more specific

I was too. My son’s Gen X so a bit older. He shares my views only writ large. He doesn’t understand why people aren’t hitting the streets either.

no acknowledgement that even someone single on just state pension/ pension credit is better off than one on full time minimum wage

That’s because it’s not true. A pensioner gets a maximum of £182 a week. Full time on minimum wage pays £320 a week.

From my own experience, I am working multiple jobs/long hours just to get by. The time I do have when I'm not working is usually eating/sleeping. I can't speak for everyone else my age though as I have a chronic condition which makes me more tired than usual.
I also feel that having been referred to as the "snowflake generation" for years now, despite the fact that the large majority of us don't represent the opinions held by the loud few of our generation, I can't imagine we'd have much support from those who have done nothing but lambast us with this terminology, including the press.
I would have to use my holiday from work to go and protest and considering I get the bare minimum of 20 days plus bank holidays, I wouldn't have that many days of "protesting" available per year if I still wanted to book the odd day off to spend with family.
All of the above sound like excuses and to be honest they are, but the most relevant "excuse" for me is that in both of my jobs, if I was protesting or "rioting", it would reflect poorly on me. Especially as one of my jobs is a professional career. With mobile phones and news camera everywhere, if I were seen to be in the crowd it would reflect poorly on my reputation at work. Everyone in my office (of 15 people) apart from myself are very outspoken on the "snowflake generation", how they had to work harder than we did, how the younger generation don't know how lucky they are. I'd have no support but could risk my job and I'm not prepared to do that. Without a job, I can't pay my bills.

Come to Bristol OP! We do a damn good protest and there are young people at all of them. I don't see any undue compliance here at all.

Social media slacktivism and identity politics overtaking any discussion around class based oppression and action. Hard to organise as a group for clear action when you can't define yourself as a group.

Pensioners tend to have far fewer outgoings when it comes to things like rent, childcare, and food bills. I reckon there are more pensioners with spare money at the end of the month than most working people.

Just to add, with the introduction of Klarna, credit etc, cards on finance, payday loans, shops where you can buy now pay later, some people (of all ages) seem to try and create the image that they are incredibly wealthy even if they're not and this is massively fueled by social media. The image of the perfect life that you can portray to your friends is what seems to be important to a lot of people.

Because of this, I've noticed some people trying to keep up appearances to impress their friends by owning the top brands, the top cars etc, even if you know for a fact that they're paying these items off on credit cards.

Therefore, I think it's seen and portrayed as shameful and embarrassing on social media (where a lot of young adults spend time) to be less well-off or positively skint. While myself and my friends are very honest and supportive regarding finances, I have moved in circles in the past where this is not the case and we'd be hard pressed to encourage these people to admit to the fact that they're not as well-off as they portray where, if conditions were better, they would have more disposable income to spend rather than having to take out loans and credit to buy the lifestyle they want.

I'm not sure how much sense this makes, but it's something I notice all the time.

I'm sorry but I just can't identify with this at all. I'm not exactly young now but the people who tore down Colston's statue were. The multiple protests against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 were full of young people peacefully protesting and getting beaten by police because of the actions of a couple of idiots with fireworks who took it too far. Greta Thunberg has held a rally here and likewise Jeremy Corbyn. Even this last weekend I randomly came across an XR march that I didn't even know was happening. There are protests everywhere here, all full of young people! Maybe it depends where in the country you're from?

Rioting doesn't change anything.

Even if it did, I'm too tired to riot.

I'm 26, I have two kids, a job and a house to run.

The last thing I wanna do is spend my weekends and free time yelling on the streets when it makes no difference.

All this BS about young adults so absorbed in social media is

Oops posted before I was finished.

As I was saying it's only a minority of young adults absorbed in social media.

And the reason they are is because they're earning so much more from TikTok's and Instagram than going out and having a 'proper' job.

Be more specific OP.

Greta's allies who fund her seemingly endless trips round the world, push net zero and will probably cause all of us to die due to lack of access to fuel and food have to be rich.

Pensioners who own holiday lets I presume you use must be rich in your eyes.

Who do you think young people should protest against?

I'm youngish. I vote, I write to my MP, I've attended 2 marches in the last month. I've been politically active since my teens. But it honestly feels like a losing battle and the whole system is stacked against us unless voting patterns change amongst older people. It's a numbers game at the end of the day. When the boomer generation were young, they were the biggest demographic, as they are still.

I don't recognise the apathy you describe in the young people I know.

Their causes may be different to yours, and they may defend them in different ways, but, notwithstanding the challenges caused by the pandemic, they are as opinionated and outspoken as my generation was in youth.

My kids are far more politically aware and engaged than I was as a young adult. One voted at the earliest opportunity, the other feels conflicted as he feels no party represents him and his peers, but he has a really good grasp of the political landscape.

One fights hard for trans rights, the other for increased awareness of head injury in sports - just subjects that they happen to believe need their voice. They engage both in face to face debate and on social media - both of which are part of real life in their worlds. And perhaps these opportunities to engage in discourse mean they can change opinions or at least challenge perceived norms without rioting?