“The awakened generation knows nothing about the world — and their ignorance is dangerous and fueled by the lies of TikTok and Instagram. screamed Douglas Murray, a columnist for The Sun. Eric Kaufman declared in The Telegraph, “Apparently most British schoolchildren are being taught cultural socialism. Conservative MP David Davies claimed he would “Instead of telling kids there are 72 genders, let them learn A-Level maths, thank you very much.”
When it comes to younger generations, right-wing discourse finds a new message.In running for Tory leadership, Rishi Sunak says he wants to fix “Lefties wake up the culture”. He then appointed a ‘Free Speech Czar” as part of his ‘“War Awakened” has power ‘protect free speech on university campuses from being suppressed”. In June, an education minister said, “‘Insidious censorship is emerging beneath the surface’ at UK universities
It means young people in Britain are being brainwashed by evil forces, leaving the older crowd confused and angry.
It felt like young people were competing with old people everywhere. It’s easy to see why younger generations feel besieged. The current government has made it mandatory to show ID when voting in elections, but while older people’s travel passes are accepted as photo ID, younger people’s travel cards are not. House prices have risen 224% since the turn of the century, while wages have risen only 94%, depriving young people of safe housing and confining them to unsafe private rentals.
“When it comes to younger generations, right-wing discourse finds a new message. “
We have an election coming up, another recession on its heels, and the tail end of the pandemic continues.young people are dubbed ‘The Corona generation has had to learn through screens, spend college locked away in halls, and ultimately face inflation and high rents. At the same time, millennials have been unable to reach the traditional markers of adulthood — buying a home and starting a family — because of a failure in the way our economy was designed.
For the older generation, the general perception is that they have it easy, but this ignores the real problems that seniors face. Retirement is increasingly out of reach, loneliness is an epidemic and people can no longer rely on our medical and social care systems to stay healthy.
From the TikTok-dancing “zoom generation” to the avocado-buying millennials to the baby boomers sitting in expensive houses, there are plenty of stereotypes about different generations. But are they really real? The right is creating a culture war that drives a wedge between the two factions. ‘wise old people and ‘Young people are awakened – but are we really so divided? Does focusing on the generational divide obscure more important factors like class and race? If there is more unity than division among generations, how can everyone come together to demand a new economy?
“… there are a lot of stereotypes about different generations. But are they really true?
We are happy to introduce New Economic Magazine Issue Six, which attempts to delve into some of these big questions. From pregnancy to aging populations, from child care to estate taxes, we examine how generational divides can be turned into intergenerational solidarity. Keir Milburn opens us with an essay that lays out the growing political divide between old and young, and how it is weaponized by right-wing politicians seeking to push a culture war agenda.
Veronica Deutsch writes that our broken child care system affects not only children, but their parents and grandparents as well. When mothers are forced to give birth in prison, children’s outcomes are also affected, as Jenny Starling demonstrates when she shares the words of imprisoned mothers. Under the triple pressure of high rents, underserved loans and inflation, hundreds of Manchester University students have no choice but to strike, writes Milo Summers.
Emma Dowling has written for us a lengthy piece laying out the big picture of the UK care crisis: From childcare to aged care, generations are competing against each other to deprive them of vital resources. But intergenerational solidarity may be the key to solving the problem. Dan Goss from Demos writes about how passing money and property through inheritance could create one of the biggest financial divides of the next decade, and how a new conversation around estate tax can help.
While different generations are affected differently by our broken economy, broad intergenerational brushstrokes can also obscure some significant differences within generations.Hannah Frances of the Runnymede Trust explains how ‘“Adultification” means that young people of color are denied the same childhood innocence as white children. Mikey Erhardt from Disability Rights UK shares the common narrative that the housing crisis affects young and old differently, which doesn’t hold true when you consider people with disabilities.
Ultimately, many of the problems that need change in our economy can only be solved by different generations coming together to demand something better. The Reverend Mark Coleman, who was jailed for five weeks earlier this year for sitting on the road during the “Insulate Britain” protests, has spoken of his struggle as a retiree to protect a liveable planet for future generations, And how the climate movement is bringing all ages together. We reprinted an article by Roman Krznaric about how future generations are disenfranchised because they have no say in the decisions they make today that will affect their future. Roman suggests ways in which we can redesign democracy to address this.
We hope you find this question New Economic Magazine Thought provoking, stimulating and hopeful. Special thanks to Sofie Jenkinson, who founded New Economics and now gives us its hosting.
This is an excerpt from Issue 6 of the New Economic Journal.Read the full article here
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