Hipster (in his blog):
"I agree 100% with this song. Every time I hear it, blast it in my car, on repeat, sometimes for weeks on end, it makes me glad that I am not the only person who notices these things.
As other millennials my age will attest, we were raised to reach for the heights, to push harder, to strive farther, to be idealistic and do better for our society and our species and our planet. But it's really fucking difficult when the generations who currently maintain power continue to fuck everything up, and will continue to fuck everything up to the point where there is no possible hope in fixing anything.
Thanks for leaving us a giant pile of shit.
Assholes."
Freakster:
Come on get off the rag.. every generation as said something similar ... I remember the Vietnam war.... rivers burning... they left us shit... don't complain..get out and do.... by actions!
Hipster:
But it only continues to get worse with every successive generation. People either grow more complacent or buy into the propaganda and become tools. It's not just action, it's strategic action, that will enable the changes to be made. I am not going to just give up everything I have worked towards and go out in the streets. As has been proven, that doesn't work. Instead, I am working towards putting myself into a position where I can positively influence people. After all, writing and educating are actions.
Freakster:
Interesting you say it has been proven it does not work. ... I marched in the Vietnam marches it worked.. I took part in earth day in the 70's it worked...we got the EPA...
I agree writing and educating are actions.... but some change require more ... large demonstrations have not been seen in this country since well before you were born.... don't be swayed by your statement push harder strive farther and to be idealistic.... and the generation that holds power... your generations has all the power... but they don't vote and they don't get involved...like in demonstrations... it's a shame... really is... I feel your pain buddy... but I see such little action by your age group..
Hipster:
But yet our government is still waging the same types of wars as Vietnam (Afghanistan, Iraq), and our planet is still deteriorating because of the pollution and the depletion of our natural resources (the Northwest Passage is opening up -- http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/11/f-franklin-northwest-passage-arctic.html). But hey, at least there hasn't been a draft, and the voting age is 18 instead of 21. Your generation might have made progress in the 60's and 70's, but many of you (not you, specifically) have not been there to continue to push for progress, so our society has, if anything, regressed since then.
The idea that our generation has the power is a lie. The generation that has power is the generation that has all the money, and, due to the increasing wage gap and lack of opportunities, the marginalization of education, our generation is not likely to have the same means and opportunities to gain the power until it is far too late. Unfortunately, in our society, money equals power. I didn't make it that way, and I won't support that ideology, but I am trapped by it, to a certain degree. After all, in order to even maintain my health, to not be out on the street, to provide for my family, I do have to have money, and lots of it -- and a high school education and really a bachelor's degree won't provide for these basic necessities. I don't want money to have money, but it is impossible to live without.
I was raised in the 80's and 90's when material possessions were valued above all else and individuality was made to be more important than society; half of all our parents are divorced and many of us were raised by television. So is it no wonder we lack direction and unity and are obsessed with entertainment? Are these things our fault? Can one really change their frame of mind that has been firmly established by the time he or she is old enough to realize the significance of being greedy, materialistic and self-absorbed?
And events like the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the Boston marathon bombings only make people buy more into the system out of fear. And it's this system that is really the cause of the sentiments that pushes the people who perpetrate these attacks, because the system is corrupt, fueled by greed, and apathetic to the needs of poor people in the United States and all around the world. I am firmly against violence and am firmly against anyone who uses violence as a means to make a point, but the feelings that push them to the violence aren't unfounded.
I was taught to value education as the means to elevate myself and those around me, which is why I choose to empower myself this way. I will demonstrate when the demonstrations have a chance to make real, impactful changes, but there is not enough unity among the various demonstrators and neither are the goals realistically attainable. In my personal experience real changes take place over a long period of time and take dedication and patience, so why would any other type of significant change be any different?
People don't vote because there are no real choices: it doesn't really matter who gets elected because the politicians are not governing for their electorate as much as they are based on the interests of those who pay for their campaigns and make them millionaires. I am not saying that people shouldn't vote, but this is why people don't. Voters have been marginalized by the campaign culture. People feel powerless, and I can't blame them, and, personally, I am tired of voting for the lesser of the two evils.
I am not saying that I am not going to take action, as I firmly believe I AM taking action -- and that doesn't mean that I am not going to take further action when the time comes, or that I am not in the process of taking further action with other like-minded individuals, who are all looking to peacefully stand up against the status quo and make our voices heard. But first we have to get organized and go about it with some level of credibility -- otherwise we will be flatly ignored.
Freakster:
Yes, but who is picking up the banner? Why aren't the young people of your age voting? How do you think things change?
You may be a bit delusional saying I lie when I said "your generation has the power" You haven't tried anything.. except by not voting in masses... .. ( not speaking of you) and I am speaking of voting in local elections... that is where it starts.
You speak of having money is having the power... look at Obama... yes he has money now.. but do you know his history? He was raised by a single mom and grandmother... they had no money to speak of. True money can sway many voters.. but a good network and people getting involved can... look at the NRA and all the money they spent last election and the special one here in Chicagoland a few month back. Look at Carl Rove and his pac... he couldn't believe he lost to Obama... it is a ground game now!
Is anything your fault? Who knows.. TV... games.. Sports... Music... we can all blame this or that.... look inside and what do you see ... broken homes, helplessness ... destruction... I know a lot of young people making a difference locally... making change happen.. yes, they have been raised with all of those materialistic distractions.... why are they different? Maybe because they know how to make change happen... everything around you are changing... your writing has changed... your interests have changed in the last 10 years...haven;t they... and they will continue to change... it's like riding the razor's edge...
I was taught to value many things.. education being one.. having a good work ethic and above all else doing no harm... Start a group join a group... many people your age are... all politics are local....
Hipster:
I don't disagree with your sentiment that my generation needs to do more, but many of your generation who were carrying the banner dropped it a long time ago and now it's all torn and tattered and buried under the large pile of shit.
And to refute your earlier point, the youth voter turnout percentage of my generation isn't substantially different than it was for your generation (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/booming/voter-turnout-for-boomers-and-millennials.html).
It's not merely a matter of going out and demonstrating. Really it's about being heard, and there are plenty of ways that one can be heard other than by demonstrating. And those ways are often times more effectual.
And, for the record, Barack Obama's campaign was financed in the same way as Mitt Romney's was. The difference in the election was, in fact, the youth vote.
I never said that nothing was our fault, but everything that is wrong is not our fault either -- especially since much of it was already a problem before we were born. Certainly there has been a lot in our lives -- as I am sure was the case with your life when you were my age -- that are beyond our control and will continue to be out of our control until we have gained some level of affluence and through that, influence. Certainly it shouldn't be necessary to have money to make your voice heard, but increasingly it is necessary, and, anymore, it is becoming less possible for people in my age group to earn enough money to have the affluence we need to make a difference. It wasn't, after all, the poor people who led the American Revolution.
The American Dream to a large extent has always been a myth, but it is even more so now than ever. Look at the unemployment rate among recent college graduates. We were taught that if we went to college we would be able to get a decent job and earn a living and that turned out to be a lie.
I am a year away from earning a master's degree -- and I earned through my hard work and persistence an assistantship, which makes me a professional student. My school is paid for and I earn a small but liveable income. I intend to continue working hard, graduating, and pursuing my Ph.D. Only then can I situate myself in a position where I can influence people to think critically and make arguments supporting their ideas. In fact, as a graduate assistant, I will be teaching freshmen English Composition classes, where I will be able to begin doing so. In fact, I am doing it now, on a one-to-one basis as a tutor in the writing lab. This is how I am "carrying the banner."
Freakster:
lol.. i agree and disagree I can find facts that it was because he got 90% or more of black vote and the increase of that populations vote that put Obama over the top too. I guess I don't put much into the blame onto one or the other really.. What you say follows pretty much what is predictable and was said when I was young. I think you will see more people get involved and I was speaking more of a local effort and if you look at the young vote on local elections it is not good.
Yes, who ever believed the American Dream....Myth of course... even when i was a kid. I guess except for the media and undocumented workers? Is it harder today? I am not sure... I see lots of opportunities .. but I am old....Go out and do something.... even doing nothing is doing something... just to point fingers to point fingers... it should lead someone to something worthy of being pointed to. However you may choose to be.
[NOTE: this is more or less an exact transcription of an email exchange].
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