Putting up a fight

      They say we’re not progressive anymore. They say we’ve turned conservative, maybe because we have more things to conserve now. They say we’ve lost the idealism and optimism and vigor of our youth. We’re too tired, too old to get engaged, too worn out to fight.

      In fact, it’s not just that they’re saying it; I’ve said it, too. I’ve wondered why so many of our generation, who had fought against another unjust war, had fought for civil rights, had become … well, kind of reactionaries. Why had so many apparently supported Trump, in 2016 and again, and had formed the base of the MAGA movement? I wondered about it right here.

      But then for the last month, I helped organize the local No Kings Day demonstration in my small southern town. And then I was at our No Kings Day demonstration on Saturday, along with thousands of others. And I saw that our generation’s idealism and fight are indeed still there.

      It’s not just us, of course. The good news is that the antipathy to Trump and all his chaos and grift and authoritarianism is growing, pretty much everywhere. The demonstrations across the country are getting bigger, and I think more diverse. At our demonstration, there were more young people, more families, more people of color, more people who had been sitting on the sideline because, they had thought, perhaps, it wasn’t their fight.  

      Maybe it’s because of the absurd, costly, foolishly unnecessary war. More likely, it could be the resultant in-your-face hike in gas prices. It could have been, as well, the killings that happened in Minneapolis and the brutal crackdown on immigrants. Maybe all that and more.

      And while there were more young people, and Gen Xers and Millennials and even Generation Alpha—whatever that is—at my demonstration and others, the gray hairs were everywhere.

They had done much of the spade work, obtaining the space, planning the march, putting out the posters, manning the tables, directing the traffic.

      And then these people who remember the 60s and 70s, they showed up en masse on Saturday. It wouldn’t have become the biggest demonstration in our area’s history without the participation of scores of people with gray hair.

      Yes, the data is inconclusive. One survey of a major rally found the median age was about 44—so, on the cusp between Gen X and Millennials. That is, middle-aged, not, ahem, elderly. But across the nation, there is significant evidence that people in their 60s and 70s have been highly visible and active, frequently “showing up in force,” according to reports. I mean, the Boss—76 years old—sang “Streets of Minneapolis” in Minneapolis.

      It’s about time.