Gen Z and their Inexplicable Political Activism
An overview of the youth’s political participation from the perspective of a younger generation.
BY: MARINA MEIRELES
As I was re-watching The Hunger Games movie franchise for the 10th time this year, I stumbled upon one of the movie’s most famous quotes.
“May the odds be ever in your favour.”
They never were. // Photo courtesy of Pinterest
This quote is said by Effie Trinket as she announces the participants that will fight for their lives in The Hunger Games. In the movies, it is obvious that even with the odds in your favour, one does not have a fighting chance toward a fortunate future. When thinking about this movie, I cannot help but relate it to the state of current politics across the globe. With the rise of a “new-right” and social issues often found at the centers of heated political debates, there are different ways to predict what will happen in the future if we don’t do something about these alarming issues. Thinking about the world we live in today, especially being a part of a younger generation, I notice that the odds were in fact, never in the youth’s favour.
The current state of the world we live in makes it noticeable that without political participation from the public, it is hard to imagine a good future. As someone from a younger generation, I always felt like adults were putting the weight of the world in our hands since our first days in kindergarten. Phrases like “the next generation will fix our world” or “this generation is the future of our world” always made me anxious. It is not that I don’t like politics or making social change. Just like many people my age, I am also passionate about advocacy. But, I wonder why all this duty to fix the “broken world'' has fallen on the hands of 18-year-olds that don’t even know what life is or what they want to do with it.
By taking a quick glimpse at the news, it’s easy to see the extent to which the youth is involved in politics, social movements, and acts to create a better world. From Malala to Greta Thunberg, we can notice how youth voices are becoming more and more prevalent throughout the years. This simply reflects how the majority of the youth knows that if something is wrong, it’s our job to fix it.
Why is everything up to us? // Photo via The Guardian
Even on campus, you can see social movements taking place and how student voices currently hold a higher level of importance and make it possible to see social changes in our community. From tackling important international issues like when SCSU’s 2020 President Chemi Llamo showed support for Hong Kong, and in more recent days our student body amplifying their voices by supporting the Free Palestine movement, as well as fighting for our rights as students, for example with the Course Retake Policy or with the “Fight the Fees!” Campaign, our voices are being heard.
This type of engagement is good as it shows how our generation cares about the world we are living in and life for future generations. But why is it up to our generation to make such changes?
If we consider the notion of electing political candidates that we think represent us and trust that they will make decisions that allow us to all live in “peace,” why do we still need to take matters into our own hands to make sure what we need is granted? Maybe the reason why younger generations are more involved than ever in politics now is that we don’t have a choice not to be. With ideological conflicts, corruption, and democracies in crisis across the world, it seems like social issues have gotten bigger and no one is trying to combat them. This leaves us the responsibility to make a change.
It’s the bare minimum. // Photo via Northeastern University Political Review
Once again, it is not bad that younger people are now more involved in advocating for their rights, however, we need to consider the impacts of this participation in their lives. Of course, the best point of it is that we are all becoming, for the most part, politically and socially aware and educated. This means that maybe in the near future, we’ll be more responsible with our decision-making and think more about the short and long-term impacts of actions in the future. Another great point of this earlier participation in politics is that with our voices being heard, issues that have been tormenting our society for centuries may actually get solved with newer perspectives and ideas, also creating a better future for the next generations. One example of youth participation that has been really making a difference and creating an impact, is the youth’s stand on climate change because while older generations have not seemed to care about it, we do as it has a direct impact on our lives.
Unfortunately, there are also downsides to being so politically aware from such a young age. As I said before, the concept of being in the generation that should magically fix the world always made me anxious. The feeling of needing to fix problems that weren’t ours and find solutions for the future of the world is scary. How am I supposed to fix such large problems if I do not have anything figured out about how life works yet? And why aren’t adults, those with more life experience and knowledge solving the problems? Now that I’m older and have genuinely learned to like politics and participate in social change, I know that fixing things for the next generation is now a necessity and no longer a choice. We can’t just do to future generations what older generations did to us: passing to the next youth the responsibility of solving old problems, this endless cycle needs to end with us. At the same time, I’m tired of needing to yell louder and repeating the same arguments to show someone a different perspective on certain topics. The exhaustion and anxiety that comes with constantly being politically aware is the biggest downside of having to make social change in my youth. And yet, I will keep fighting.
We are trying to build a better future. // Photo via The City Club of Cleveland
Today’s youth are the most politically engaged generation of our time. We need to recognize as a society that without the youth mobilizing themselves, many changes that happened in this century wouldn’t exist. From fighting for more security in schools and being advocates for our own mental health, to fighting for a better future, we always try to make our voices heard. In fact, I realize that we have done so much, and refuse to, and cannot stop. Because without our efforts, who is going to change the world for us?
Thinking back on The Hunger Games, I keep remembering the phrase the authoritarian President Snow said: “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear”. And that’s why I keep hoping that change continues to happen. All the time. Because without hope, what else is left but to back down and live in the same old world? Without hoping and dreaming for a better world, can you imagine the kind of world we would have today? Definitely, more injustice would happen and our silence would let people destroy anything that would be left of such a troubled world, and having a future wouldn’t be an option. Our generation is made up of a bunch of kids that grew up dreaming of a better future for all, and I’m glad we did. So thank you youth for never giving up on the idea of making a better world.
