A Message To My Generation

Don't allow the political fads of the day to determine our future

Happy holiday season everyone! I have been deliberating on the topic I am writing about today for the last week or so but thought I would wait till after Thanksgiving to publish it. It’s not the most uplifting or pleasant subject, but it’s one that I feel is critical to address given the dire state of our national political dialogue these days.

A lot of media attention has been given lately to the fact that Joe Biden, according to most major recent polls, is lagging behind the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump in projections for the 2024 presidential election next year. A key reason this appears to be the case is that he is lagging in his numbers among the 18-34 age demographic, which comprises what we generally call both the “Gen Z” and “Millennial” generations.

I fall in the Millennial category, and so it’s really puzzling and disheartening to see that many of my peers don’t seem to be fully aware or sufficiently alarmed about the state of the threat we face. Whatever disagreements they may have with President Biden, isn’t it obvious to any sane, rational person that he is a far superior choice to the fascist we have on the other side? Someone who may very well, by the time of the next election, be a criminal convict?

A vote for Donald Trump or anyone other than Joe Biden, quite frankly, or a decision to abstain from the next election is an endorsement for the end of democracy and freedom in this country as we know it. This is an existential election for our nation’s future, and that is a literal statement. Anyone who doesn’t think Trump will take every opportunity at his disposal, if he is re-elected, to punish his political opponents, shut down dissent in the press and use our armed forces as his own personal militia hasn’t been listening to many of his recent statements on the campaign trail.

I think a lot of the problem with my generation, and the ones younger than me, seems to be a lack of information and context. I remember a couple of years ago seeing images from a classroom somewhere in the U.S. where high school students were watching footage of the September 11th, 2001 attacks as it were a far away historical event like the 1929 Wall Street Crash or Pearl Harbor in 1941. I think those of us who are old enough to remember what it was like that tragic day 22 years ago, and the aftermath of the evil, horror and bloodshed that ensued have a slightly different perspective.

That’s not to say that I agree in any way shape or form with the actions that then-President George W. Bush responded to the attacks with; the main reason I first got interested in and involved with politics was because of my passionate opposition to the Iraq War (I literally was part of the Kids for Kerry group, at the age of 12, in 2004). But for anyone, regardless of age, to sympathize with or glorify Osama bin Laden, as some Gen Z Tik Tokers recently did when they shared Bin Laden’s “Letter to America”, which he wrote outlining his perverse justification for the murder of thousands of innocent Americans on 9/11, went viral.

Did these morons who shared the letter even read it? If they did, did they not take issue with bin Laden’s entire rationale for anti-American terrorism which was based largely around U.S. support for gay rights, women’s rights and acceptance of Jewish people? How can these so-called young progressives, regardless of any of America’s previous mistakes or shortcomings on foreign policy, be more supportive of a regime and ideology that would literally imprison, torture or execute them for being who they are? As Bill Maher recently said on his HBO show “Real Time”: why don't some of these kids take a gap year and try spending it in Abbottabad?

Which brings me to the issue of the continuing battle between Israel and Hamas, something that I wrote about previously but that I feel compelled to write about again. I am honestly completely confounded about the passion and fervor that many young Americans feel in their sympathy with the pro-Hamas forces in this ongoing conflict. I was disturbed by the scenes at the California Democratic state convention in Sacramento last week, where anti-Israel protestors were so militant and vocal that proceedings literally had to be shut down.

A lot of progressives have been angry at Democratic elected officials such as Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York (probably my favorite national politician at the moment) and Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania due to their support for Israel. They seem confused at how two liberals could be so supportive of the Israelis, while to me the exact opposite is true. To me it’s completely consistent with progressive values to be in support of the only pro-gay, pro-women’s rights, pro-human rights Western-style democracy in the Middle East, and totally inconsistent and immoral not to be.

I hope Torres, Fetterman and other prominent voices like them will stand firm and resist this illogical, illiberal movement that has been created to turn the progressive movement and the Democratic Party in a new and dangerous direction. The question isn’t whether we all want world peace; I know we all do. The question is who we think is responsible for all the carnage we have seen so far, and my personal view is that the blame for every single innocent life lost falls single handedly and squarely at the feet of Hamas. It’s absolutely essential that we all stand with Israel at this desperate time of need.