Spontaneous Combustion
The youth in America are getting ready to revolt.
How do I know?
Because it happened in Russia.
Seen as apathetic, dormant for five years, the younger generation erupted over the weekend, inspired by a charismatic leader after a YouTube post on corruption in the nation garnered millions of views. Turns out you can only push people so far, eliminate their future whilst you grab today for yourself, before they erupt.
Trump and his cronies have eradicated internet privacy, fouled the air and have indicated a willingness to roll back all the progress, the leveling of the playing field, that occurred previously. These givebacks to the rich, to industry, are seen as too detached, far from the boots on the ground. Furthermore, they believe they’ve got the white working class behind them, however delusional those people might be.
But it’s the college students who revolt.
There’s been incredible pushback to the swarm at Middlebury, who wouldn’t let Charles Murray speak. The administration was caught flat-footed, the editorial pages have been wagging their fingers, but the kids are not listening. And this is the only power they’ve got, they don’t have any cash. Hell, did you read that “New Yorker” story about Robert Mercer, making 150 million a year and then influencing the political process? Citizens United has consequences. Income inequality has consequences. The price of college has consequences.
How do I know?
I lived through the Vietnam War. Wherein most Americans believed we lived in the greatest country in the world, and when we lifted a finger we would emerge victorious. But as the conflict dragged on, charismatic leaders swayed the youth who started protesting, ultimately halting the war, it was just too unpopular.
And don’t try and rewrite history, don’t try to eliminate the uproar and upset of that decade. Things were going along swimmingly and then everybody wanted their rights, wanted to call foul on the establishment of old white men making the rules in back rooms. Black power? Today we’ve got gay power and trans power and you add them all up and you hit a critical mass of young people who are pissed. They got their social mores from MTV and the internet and all we’re lacking is someone to crack the whip and inspire them.
In the sixties it was musicians. And then the Black Panthers and the Chicago 8. We’ve ben waiting for someone in the arts to lead, but the popular arts are so inured to money they won’t. Taylor Swift is afraid of alienating her audience. She’s been silent. They’ve all been silent. Sacrificing their credibility at the altar of mazuma.
But that does not mean someone else will not arise. Not someone built by a media preaching to an adult audience. Not someone promoted by a committee of gatekeepers. Not someone utilizing social media to build their brand. No, this leader will begin with a message. A younger Michael Moore with a “Roger and Me.” Someone who speaks to the rapid turn away from enlightenment.
Your opinion does not matter. Whether you’re shooting opioids or flying private. Paying attention to D.C.’s every move or somnambulant. This is not about the country at large, this is about a small segment that is actually quite large. Students.
We think they’re pampered. Living on Mommy and Daddy’s money in ultra-luxury on the campus. Ensuring their gold-plated future.
But no one knows how hard it is to get ahead as a student. You pays your money, you take your classes, and when you graduate you’re lucky if you’re not living with mommy and daddy in the basement working a minimum wage service job. You’re not worried about immigrants stealing your gig, many of your best friends are immigrants and mixed-race. You know that some of the greatest breakthroughs in tech were made by foreign engineers living in America. The freedom you want is the ability to think. Whereas the right wing believes freedom is eliminating the government which is supposed to protect that right.
This is not a polemic.
This is a warning.
The government, the parents, they believe they’re in control of their progeny. That they wouldn’t do anything untoward or unexpected.
But they will.
In retrospect the seeds of conflagration will be evident.
But when most people hear about it it will look like spontaneous combustion. Like it came out of thin air, overnight.
You may be down in the trenches. Talking about the electoral college, the popular vote, legislation… But Agent Orange is poisoning not only our air, but the future of this planet, and the people who have the most at risk are the youngest, now living on campus, thinking for themselves, looking around at who is gonna save them other than themselves.
Nobody.
Which is why they’re gonna blow.
