Millennials don’t believe protesting works.
I’ve seen a lot of discussion about why millennials aren’t coming out. Yes, they work and have young children. They are taking care of their elderly parents. All of these things are true and valid.
But also millennials have gone to the Occupy Wall Street protests, which accomplished nothing. The BLM protests, which accomplished nothing. The Women’s March, which lol. I protested during all of these things only for our country to slide even further into capitalistic greed and corruption. When Bernie was running, someone we could get excited about, he was undermined by his own party.
Many millennials don’t even believe their vote matters anymore in the face of gerrymandering and the electoral college.
I still want to believe protesting can effect change. Or frankly that American citizens have any power at all anymore. I’ll be protesting on the 5th, but man is it hard to keep hope alive when our generation has been crushed under the establishment for our entire lives. Combine that with how oppressive the 40+ hour work week is and can you blame people for not protesting? Millennials barely even have the energy to do their laundry.
I’m not sure how to energize people. I’m not even sure how to energize myself. The Democratic party offers no leadership or hope whatsoever.
Please offer your local millennial (and me!) some hope. Please tell me we aren’t just screaming into a void.
Originally Posted By u/duckhunt420 At 2025-03-31 11:47:11 AM | Source
I’m a millenial/Gen Z. I was really surprised to find out that I was one of the youngest in my protest group. A lot of people told me they were protesting for their grandkids. They also expressed regret that my generation would have to deal with the fallout of this.
Also, do we know that millennials are protesting less than other generations? My protests seem to be pretty age-diverse. They seem to match up with the generation percentages of the population at large. People might just be used to seeing mainly young people at protests.
Anecdotally for me, millennials are less present in the protests I see or attend. I think it’s less a lack of caring or believing in a cause, more, social media. People vent online which gives a kind of catharsis. I’m not talking about likes for prayers or that nonsense. I mean the lack of a third space has implications outside of our mental health.
Protests can be organized more easily online but they can also lose their real world effect and become diluted as just another online event without meaning. People need to be together for real protest. It’s like the difference between watching a concert online and being there. I think the online part, outside of organization dilutes the protest movements.
The BLM, occupy and women’s March protests all had an effect on the psyche of the world and although didn’t change the world how they wanted to, were still impactful. There is a famous study that says when 6% of people (I think) start protesting, change is inevitable. So rather than feeling downtrodden by lack of change, we need to keep pushing for it. Simple actions have an effect. If fox news is on in your doctor’s office, ask to have it changed.