Inspired by the Younger Generation

As a seventy-year-old who was inspired by the civil rights freedom riders and protested against the war in Vietnam, I am greatly heartened by today’s teenage activists. They seem to understand what many commentators do not: that the movement they are engaged in must be sustained over many years. Political commentators have similarly derided the Occupy Wallstreet movement for it’s lack of leadership and clear goals, but both represent a heartening groundswell of activism among younger Americans.

One thing we’ve learned in recent years is that hard-earned progress in civil rights, women’s rights and the environment can be reversed by entrenched interests. These battles will never end, and it is foolish and self-defeating to think they ever will, but that doesn’t mean we can escape the fight. Unlike our own movement, we cannot let these dissolve because of drug-induced laziness. The fact that our generation let that happen may mean we don’t deserve to see any more than the beginnings of restoration of our democracy within our lifetimes, but we can still be inspired to support the younger generation as they move to gradually win back the country from wealthy conservatives and their dupes.