The Death of Outrage
Posted by anastasia on 03-13-2006Something that's been gnawing at me over the weekend is something I hinted at in the last post. This sense that while there may be pockets of youth activism and teens passionate about specific causes and issues, Generation Y or the Millennials or whatever you want to call young people today, are not really an activist generation. They don't share the history of social upheaval and protest that the boomers experienced or the same degree of alienation many young people in my generation experienced. I'm generalizing for sure, but in two of the interviews I did at SXSW and on the panel, I was asked if and how young people are using the Net and other technology as a form of social change, protest, etc.
Apart from the trendy "consumer activism," buying American Apparel or Eden clothes, putting something on your blog to represent the One Campaign, wearing a rubber bracelet that means something, non-partisan get out the vote campaigns, I don't see a lot of outrage…It's not that I think young people don't care — they completely rallied around helping Tsunami and Katrina victims. They volunteer at soup kitchens or for their churches. They want to help people. But it seems like the larger critiques of power, government control, globalization, racism, sexism, etc. are pretty much confined to some college campuses, and even there, I think they are waning.
In some ways, I think that this generation is so completely saturated with watered-down, uncritical news, slick marketing, hundreds of television stations and shows, games, music, blogs, phones, Web, etc. that they may be in kind of a consumer coma.
The woman from the NRDC asked if young people were "over" environmental groups expressing outrage at what's going on with the environment. I told her I don't think they're over it, I think they don't notice it or hear it in part because environmentalists haven't been able to reach them with a slick and potent enough message to inspire the outrage that in many cases is completely justified.
It's like the Houston Chronicle guy asking if young people are mashing things up to be subversive. The small group of people at blogs like Boing Boing, Creative Commons, etc. are all about challenging old paradigms of power and control in thoughtful intellectual critiques and through some activism. But that critique is not shared by teens who are mashing and file sharing.
In some ways, I think it is the slick and well executed social marketing campaigns like The Truth that will be able to reach teens with important messages and even limited critique of power (i.e. the tobacco companies, tobacco marketing). But what I wonder and would like to hear from readers, is what, if anything would inspire "outrage" at some of what is going on in the world or ignite young people to really engage en masse in politics or the broader critiques and debates? The draft? Roe v. Wade being completely overturned? Why do you think this generation is not "outraged" or active in the same ways as previous generations?
March 13th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Maybe Gen Y have seen two generations (Boomers and Gen X) of outrage and seen the outcome. I mean, is there anything sadder than the whoring consumers that the Boomers have become after spending 10 years of their lives being activists? And Gen X has every psychosis you'd expect from a middle child.
That being said, maybe they saw plenty of outrage and figured out "Hey, that doesn't work." Now they work the system rather than try to beat it. "Yes, we'll buy clothes, and lot's of them, as long as it has at least 20% post-consumer material in it" or "We'll buy your coffee, as long as it comes from a plantation that is part of the Fair Trade Agreement."
One of your posts has really stuck with me and the more I interact with Gen-Y, the more I see its truth. These guys are the next great generation and how they work is going to be completely different than what we've ever seen.
March 13th, 2006 at 10:23 am
I agree with much of that, Rick. I think it's going to be the case of evolution over revolution. Working within the system to make change. I recently saw Ray Anderson of Interface speak, and I felt his view is the direction the Millennials will go. Working withing capitalism to create change. There was a big design exhibit in Canada last year called Massive Change (http://www.massivechange.com). The mantra was "Now that we can do anything, what will we do?" It was a very optimistic but realistic vision. I think this type of optimism is part of the generational outlook. It doesn't seem like there's a real "enemy" to fight - but the problems are clear and there is confidence they can be solved…
March 14th, 2006 at 6:35 am
I share your POV about the 'carpet bombing' of this generation by media and marketing. In particular, the entertainment focus of so much of what constitutes a media diet for young people competes for any time to develop a sense of moral outrage over much except restrictions on file sharing and problems with gaming software (to make a point, bot to trivialize). And where are their leaders and models? JFK, RFK and MLK weren't boomers, but that was the source of inspiration for many of us. Before we go too far down this raod of 'what's wrong with them?', it may be a good idea to stare in the mirror for a few minutes and ask "What aren't we giving them?" As for the idea that they will be able to work for change within the capitalist institutions, sorry to say but I pass on that Kool-Aid.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
This is a tough nut to crack. A few half-formed thoughts:
1. I believe that the incredible amount of information now available decreases rather than increases outrage. Previous generations were outraged because the reality of the world contradicted what they had been told, and fell short of their lofty expectations.
Today's youth have no lofty expectations of politicians, athletes, entertainers, or even adults in general. They know we have feet of clay, and thus aren't particularly upset when we reveal this.
2. I think that the reaction to the endless amounts of outrageous people, events, etc., is a sad sense that one can't really do too much at a global level. Today's youth are far more realistic about what they can and cannot do. The know that staging sit-ins isn't going to change a damned thing. The previous comment about the idealistic Boomers turning into the biggest consumer whores in history is spot on.
I think more and more people are thinking and acting locally, because they see that they can actually make a difference. Paradoxically, acting locally can now have a global impact, because "local" encompasses your buddy list, your MySpace friends, etc., rather than just your home town.
In the end, I see the lack of outrage as a pretty sane coping mechanism for an insane world.
March 15th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
I had a history teacher in high school who, prior to teaching, worked for Voice of America helping broadcast official government news overseas. He became a teacher because he felt an obligation to help teens understand their governement and how it operated.
One of the things he said that has stuck with me all these years was "The history of nations shows that there will never be a people's revolt until there is no bread in the bread lines." Essentially, the government's job is to make sure the people have the BARE MINIMUM to keep them placated and then they'll be able to go about their business and leave government alone.
Minimum wage set by Congress and accepted by the people. Low gas prices monitored by regulating agencies. Cheap goods at WalMart due to trade agreements. It's all connected.
In the past when there has been outrage and protests it came from an ungovernable ideological disconnect, that is the 60's and 70's protests came about because there was a gap between those born before and after WW2 in terms of expectation and thought. It was a tough slog but the politicians "got it" and from 1980 on the pols have pretty much gotten what they wanted because they figured out what kind of "bread" the people needed.
How can anyone even care about impeaching the president for his legal transgressions when all the really important chatter is about the delay of the PS3? Why care about the pending civil war Iraq when there's a new season of American Idol? Why organize protests in cafes when you can sit at home and blog?
Indeed, if you aren't starved for contact with others or with finding your own amusement because technology has filled that role with passivity, why would you expect outrage?
You need to be active to birth activism. That doesn't mean shopping with an eye toward political correctness, it means actually doing the hard work of going out into the world and DOING something about making change happen.