by system failure





Is there a peculiar war of generations, particularly in the United States in our days? It seems that in times of political and economic turbulence, the 'gap of generations' is getting bigger and much more evident, as the younger blame the older for the world they delivered, while the older blame the younger for being 'lazy' and 'want it all' without putting any effort.





When we are quite young, we usually feel that there is something terribly wrong in the world, but, due to the lack of experience, most of us are unable to specify it accurately. Just like Thomas Anderson in the famous SciFi movie The Matrix.





As we grow old, we put more and more pieces of the puzzle together, but in the meantime, the system exploits our reduced energy and enthusiasm to make us compromise. And one of the most frequent methods that it uses, is to provide us with the necessary alibis, in order to make us feel comfortable and relaxed with our retirement from trying to change the world for the better.





Baby Boomers represent a generation in which that typical behavior is quite evident, probably because they grew old in the era of neoliberal domination. The era of neoliberalism and financial capitalism that began in the early 70s has been promoted as the new 'promise land', especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union.





Under a bubble economy that provided a fake prosperity for a while, Baby Boomers learned to compromise fully without questioning: 'that's how it works, no need to change it'. Yet, in 2008 the bubble burst and had a terrible impact on the lives of Millennials, who are now struggling to pay their student debts, find jobs, make plans for the future. All these, under an ideology that nearly destroyed the social safety net to save more and more money for the rich.





So, Baby Boomers have been fully adopted the zero-ethics, apolitical culture provided by neoliberalism. And as the Millennials and a part of Generation X were born inside this culture, without ever knowing an alternative, the only thing they can do for the moment is to blame Baby Boomers, instead of fighting the root of evil, which is the system itself. In the absence of basic principles that could shape a solid ideology, the war of generations becomes harder and harder.





Yet, it seems that things are changing.





More and more Millennials start to take action by participating in the political process, not only as voters, but also as progressive candidates. And the ostensible paradox in this case, is that those who are responsible for that radical change, is a series of political personalities from the Baby Boomer generation. People like Jill Stein, Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders.





If we examine things closely, we will realize that there is nothing peculiar in this development. Because these three politicians, as well as a number of people from the Baby Boomer generation, have not betrayed the principles and values provided by Socialism. They didn't compromise with ruthless neoliberalism. Therefore, due to their experience and position, they managed to inspire and provide a solid ideological ground to the younger generations, in order to start their counterattack against the current brutal system that destroys their lives.





Only an example, is the stunning victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez against one of the big barons of the Democratic party.









This is a historic turning point considering that all these unprecedented changes happen in the motherlands of neoliberalism.



