In the past, mass unemployment and poverty and hunger caused violence because young parents had to watch their children suffer. Today, young people aren’t having kids, and by the time some of them do have kids they’re getting too old for explosions of violence.
I expect suicides, isolated mass shootings, and overdoses - the same stuff we’ve been having.
You could also argue their lack of children means they have less to lose. Same with their lack of wealth.
There’s a reason the US government threw tons of money at returning soldiers from WWII to start a family and buy a house. You aren’t going to start/join a revolution if it means you might lose your family or house that you’ve invested in and is gaining value.
Since you and [email protected] are making the same point, I’ll just address you both here.
They have less/nothing to lose, but they also have less/nothing to gain. Violence is guaranteed to have violent consequences in our panopticon, anyone that decides to gun down a CEO will absolutely be caught 100% of the time and there’s zero hope of getting away with it. In the past, someone could actually carry out a string of arsons or assassinations or bank robberies and maybe get away with it. Today, any act of violence will always be your last act of violence.
Which brings us to another problem: cynical atheism. Young people in the past could believe, if they died in righteous violence against their oppressor, that they’d be rewarded. Even atheists could believe that revolutionary suicide would result in something good after their martyrdom. Today you’d struggle to find anyone in the West who still believes in anything. Death is just the end.
It’s so weird to hear first worlders say that revolutions and civil unrest have nothing to gain; especially considering the large scale civic demonstrations in Bolivia and Armenia that are still hot at the moment. I feel that more than “cynical atheism” what I’ve seen is “imperial core cynicism” at play; The idea that the violence of the American empire will never fully rebound to The people of America and their allies and thus any resistance is not worth it. To be honest I agree, to some extent. But on the other hand, violent revolutions don’t necessarily begin with people raising arms. American fascism is lowering it’s tolerance for opposition; eager to limit demonstrations and strikes, dissolve worker unions and take away rights of the manufactured other. In Bolivia a strike is evolving towards violence. I feel that as cynical as those who feel protected by imperial aggression seem to be; It only takes a spark.
Also I find it odd conflating religion with any substantial political change in America, considering the far right seems very intertwined with evangelical and catholic groups.
On the other hand young people without children have nothing to lose. And political violence and injustice have become a mechanism to target specific communities. America has very little left to give other than the vicarious cruelty to the manufactured internal enemy. And it’s cheaper than ever to strap ordnance to a quadcopter.
So i imagine that if what’s little left of the social contract is eroded violence could easily explode. Current American leaders are especially bad at de escalating.
I’m not sure.
In the past, mass unemployment and poverty and hunger caused violence because young parents had to watch their children suffer. Today, young people aren’t having kids, and by the time some of them do have kids they’re getting too old for explosions of violence.
I expect suicides, isolated mass shootings, and overdoses - the same stuff we’ve been having.
You could also argue their lack of children means they have less to lose. Same with their lack of wealth.
There’s a reason the US government threw tons of money at returning soldiers from WWII to start a family and buy a house. You aren’t going to start/join a revolution if it means you might lose your family or house that you’ve invested in and is gaining value.
Since you and [email protected] are making the same point, I’ll just address you both here.
They have less/nothing to lose, but they also have less/nothing to gain. Violence is guaranteed to have violent consequences in our panopticon, anyone that decides to gun down a CEO will absolutely be caught 100% of the time and there’s zero hope of getting away with it. In the past, someone could actually carry out a string of arsons or assassinations or bank robberies and maybe get away with it. Today, any act of violence will always be your last act of violence.
Which brings us to another problem: cynical atheism. Young people in the past could believe, if they died in righteous violence against their oppressor, that they’d be rewarded. Even atheists could believe that revolutionary suicide would result in something good after their martyrdom. Today you’d struggle to find anyone in the West who still believes in anything. Death is just the end.
It’s so weird to hear first worlders say that revolutions and civil unrest have nothing to gain; especially considering the large scale civic demonstrations in Bolivia and Armenia that are still hot at the moment. I feel that more than “cynical atheism” what I’ve seen is “imperial core cynicism” at play; The idea that the violence of the American empire will never fully rebound to The people of America and their allies and thus any resistance is not worth it. To be honest I agree, to some extent. But on the other hand, violent revolutions don’t necessarily begin with people raising arms. American fascism is lowering it’s tolerance for opposition; eager to limit demonstrations and strikes, dissolve worker unions and take away rights of the manufactured other. In Bolivia a strike is evolving towards violence. I feel that as cynical as those who feel protected by imperial aggression seem to be; It only takes a spark.
Also I find it odd conflating religion with any substantial political change in America, considering the far right seems very intertwined with evangelical and catholic groups.
And the boomers enjoy watching their children suffer. It bUiLdS cHaRaCtEr.
On the other hand young people without children have nothing to lose. And political violence and injustice have become a mechanism to target specific communities. America has very little left to give other than the vicarious cruelty to the manufactured internal enemy. And it’s cheaper than ever to strap ordnance to a quadcopter.
So i imagine that if what’s little left of the social contract is eroded violence could easily explode. Current American leaders are especially bad at de escalating.