“Generation Left” — A Glimpse of New Marxism Supporters and Its Causes -
Topic: Marxism Theory
After studying the Marxism theory in class, it was hard not to notice the recent approach young generations (even including myself) are having towards Socialist, communist, or Marxist ideas in general. This inclination or anti-capitalist critique is more than evident on a greater scale on social media — channels especially characteristic of Gen Z and Millennials-. TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are flooded with content blaming the current political system for the different issues and crises the world and people are currently facing. For instance, nearly eight out of 10 young British blame capitalism for the housing crisis, two-thirds want to live under a socialist economic system while 75% believe the climate emergency is “specifically a capitalist problem”. This surge in socialism may primarily be an internet phenomenon observed among young people, but it raises the question: does it pose a genuine threat to the current political order? And what are the main driving forces behind the youth’s inclination towards these ideologies?
Many things have happened in the past years; amazing technological advancements, the patent climate crisis, inflation, and the coronavirus pandemic seem to have had a role in the millennials’ discontent with the reality they are living. Homeownership is one of them. House prices have continued to go up as the wages remain the same. “The odds of young adults on a middle income owning a home more than halved”. Coming to name the young generation as “Generation Rent.” Standards of living have stagnated while the cost of living has risen. Before, generations waited for a prosperous future and came into adulthood with a sense that things will get better, millennials and Zoomers, on the contrary, think that their generation will be worse than their parents. They fear bringing children into an unequal world battling with the havoc of climate change. Likewise, the promise of attending university in pursuit of a stable salary that could support a comfortable lifestyle has become a bitter disappointment for many when realizing that the earnings gap between graduates and non-graduates has dropped significantly, leaving numerous graduates burdened by student debt that still needs to be repaid.
Toxic productivity is not far behind in the matter either. High demands of the capitalist lifestyle have made youngers feel pressured by the expected achievements and even routine they should have, reaching a point of being unable to serenely enjoy their free time. They say that the capitalist society calls them to realize objectives at certain ages ignoring each one’s pace and skills. “Be productive and consume” is the message they see everywhere. Fast fashion, fast food, fast information, single-use products, unnecessary purchases, and social media trends are all ironically deteriorating people’s quality of life and compromising the environment on the way. The sense of competitiveness and lack of sense of belonging have affected both generations’ mental health resulting in resulting in an unprecedented feeling of loneliness and seeking shelter in immediate gratification activities. On top of that, A global pandemic wrecked the words already fragile causing inequality more evident leaving many under tough monetary circumstances.
Millennials and Zoomers’ complaints are clear however, for a generation in which the majority distrusts the government, we can say that there is widespread misinformation about how Socialist and Communist regimes actually work. For instance, a Hill-HarrisX survey conducted in May 2019 revealed that only 20% of registered voters in the U.S. associated socialism with government ownership, while one in three believed that socialism meant the government would “end poverty and provide basic necessities.” It seems that there is confusion around what these political ideologies mean in their entirety, focusing solely on the search for equality and forgetting about the government’s full disposition over the country. In light of this uncertain landscape, Gen X and Z are generations peeking for changes yet, those changes might not be as clear as their claims. Modern capitalism has proven to be a suffocating and unjust system, that needed improvement. Nevertheless, when discussing solutions, arguments such as calling “lazy and spoiled” generations show why it is no surprise that they start looking elsewhere for solutions.
References
https://rlo.acton.org/archives/117396-half-of-gen-z-supports-marxism-socialism-heres-why.html
