Great to see this digital native speak passionately about social issues and debunk the idea that his generation would never think “about anything bigger than our Facebook profiles and our TV screens.”
Still, another side to the speeding social technology train (re: the future) also caught my attention this weekend:
[via]
Conformist and revolutionary generations seem to oscillate through American history in about 30 to 40 year cycles. (The Civil war of the 1860s, the “gay†1890s, and the social revolutions of the 1920s and 1960s.) So it would be about time for a more politically active generation to come along. They might even be a bit late in appearing.
It also seems that progressive movements in American popular and political culture often originate in Britain. The video of the 15 year-old might be an example, along with the street protests against tuition hikes, and the strong resistance of the British arts community to funding cuts. The Wiki leaks activists might be another example of how digital communications are aiding this trend. They are also largely European based.
The seeming collapse of neo-liberal economic ideology might be another portent. People are losing belief in the idea that government should privatize almost all of its functions, that the market should be the ultimate arbiter of almost all human endeavor, and that privileging the financial elite causes wealth to trickle down to the middle and lower classes. The philosophies of Reagan and Thatcher seem anchronisitic. So maybe a spirit of revolution is in the air. Or is that just wishful thinking?