Jill Stein, Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders: a continuously rising political triplet proves that Socialism unites generations
by
system failure
Is there
a peculiar war of generations, particularly in the United States in
our days? It seems that in times of political and economic
turbulence, the 'gap of generations' is getting bigger and much more
evident, as the younger blame the older for the world they delivered,
while the older blame the younger for being 'lazy' and 'want it all'
without putting any effort.
When we
are quite young, we usually feel that there is something terribly
wrong in the world, but, due to the lack of experience, most of us
are unable to specify it accurately. Just like Thomas Anderson in the
famous SciFi movie The Matrix.
As we
grow old, we put more and more pieces of the puzzle together, but in
the meantime, the system exploits our reduced energy and enthusiasm
to make us compromise. And one of the most frequent methods that it
uses, is to provide us with the necessary alibis, in order to make us
feel comfortable and relaxed with our retirement from trying to
change the world for the better.
Baby
Boomers represent a generation in which that typical behavior is
quite evident, probably because they grew old in the era of
neoliberal domination. The era of neoliberalism and financial
capitalism that began in the early 70s has been promoted as the new
'promise land', especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Under a
bubble economy that provided a fake prosperity for a while, Baby
Boomers learned to compromise fully without questioning: 'that's how
it works, no need to change it'. Yet, in 2008 the bubble burst and
had a terrible impact on the lives of Millennials, who are now
struggling to pay their student debts, find jobs, make plans for the
future. All these, under an ideology that nearly destroyed the social
safety net to save more and more money for the rich.
So, Baby
Boomers have been fully adopted the zero-ethics, apolitical culture
provided by neoliberalism. And as the Millennials and a part of
Generation X were born inside this culture, without ever knowing an
alternative, the only thing they can do for the moment is to blame
Baby Boomers, instead of fighting the root of evil, which is the
system itself. In the absence of basic principles that could shape a
solid ideology, the war of generations becomes harder and harder.
Yet, it
seems that things are changing.
More and
more Millennials start to take action by participating in the
political process, not only as voters, but also as progressive
candidates. And the ostensible paradox in this case, is that those
who are responsible for that radical change, is a series of political
personalities from the Baby Boomer generation. People like Jill
Stein, Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders.
If we
examine things closely, we will realize that there is nothing
peculiar in this development. Because these three politicians, as
well as a number of people from the Baby Boomer generation, have not
betrayed the principles and values provided by Socialism. They didn't
compromise with ruthless neoliberalism. Therefore, due to their
experience and position, they managed to inspire and provide a solid
ideological ground to the younger generations, in order to start
their counterattack against the current brutal system that destroys
their lives.
Only an
example, is the stunning
victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez against one of
the big barons of the Democratic party.
This is
a historic turning point considering that all these unprecedented
changes happen in the motherlands of neoliberalism.
It is
more than certain that the neoliberal establishment will fight hard
against these changes. Its powerful army will try to crush the wave
of young progressives who want to take over the Democratic party in
the US and the Labour party in the UK. Yet, as a final conclusion, we
should always have in mind that people and generations come together
under a real ideology that provides them with real principles and
values. An ideology like Socialism.
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