Where Are The Kids?

Almost everybody I see in the resistance looks just like me.

I have a nice collection of protest buttons from the late 60s and early 70s, when my dad and I went into Washington to protest the war in Vietnam. Then, a whole generation — mine — seemed to turn out. We were kids, high school kids, college kids, hippies.

I haven’t been much of an activist since, but now it’s bad. Really bad. Elon Musk, RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel. The axing of people who protect our nuclear security, our food supply, our aviation system. The compromising of our personal data, turning Eric Adams into Trump’s puppet, blaming Ukraine for being invaded. Need I go on?

I stood in front of a shopping center in blustery cold temperatures on Presidents Day protesting all this. The wind was so strong that at times I didn’t think I’d be able to hold onto my sign. All around me, bracing themselves agains the bitter gust: people who — like me — are Social Security age. There were a few people who looked to be in the 40s and 50s and one young mother who brought little kids, but otherwise it was a bunch of gray panthers.

I’m talking ‘bout my generation.

Yes, Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, the co-founders of Indivisible, are in their late 30s. So is Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, resigned rather than follow an unethical directive from her bosses at Justice.

But where are the rest of the 30-somethings, where are the 20-somethings, the teenagers? Where are the people who populated the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020? Who thronged college campuses to protest against the bombardment of Gaza? I live right next to a college campus and haven’t seen or heard a thing.

I know that many young people have been (justifiably) disillusioned by the Democratic Party. I am too. But what’s at stake is too important to roll over.

I’m looking for action from the people who will have to deal with blazing hot temperatures on earth long after I’m gone. It’s all too important. Trust me, the Democrats may be too moderate for your taste, too wishy-washy, too beholden to their donors, but you know who’s worse? The fascists.