They haven’t all given up, but it is true that many aren’t as aggressive as they were decades ago. They might not have as much to lose but a 76yo coming in hot against a Proud Boy in an ICE uniform is not going to achieve much. I live down the block from a semi-assisted retirement complex where it’s an all out war between the widows and widowers. The ladies have 8647 banners from their balconies and the dudes have “Chillin’ like a felon”. I sometimes help with the community garden and my favorite little old lady is the one with a tshirt with a uterus on it that says “It may be dried up but keep your hands off”. I know a lot of them spend time doing charitable volunteer work and activism. I imagine if shit gets really bad we can talk them into planting IEDs. Nobody expects the grannies.
Comment on one may dream...
Photonic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I wonder why so few boomers are activist now… They have the least to lose.
backalleycoyote@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Have you been to a priest lately? It’s like 75 percent boomers around me. The stereotype of boomers all being conservative assholes is just that, a stereotype. Look at the results of the last few elections by age demographics: more older folks voted Republican than Democrat, but not by much.
Photonic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I haven’t been, bless me father for I have sinned. It’s been forever since my last confession.
Good to hear there are still some activist oldies in the US. At protests over here in Europe it’s mostly younger people (mainly 25 and below). There are some boomers but not nearly as many as young people.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Interesting, I wonder what the difference is.
Photonic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Maybe the topics attract more young people. We don’t have kings over here, I mean, we do, but not like the tangerine TACO. So the biggest protests here have been against the war in Gaza and global warming.
Hungary and Serbia did have some large protests against their governments, but I don’t know whether those had more old people.
greenskye@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Local street corner has had weekly protests on Saturday for over a year. This is random suburbia, not downtown or anything. Older folks are the overwhelming majority of routine protestors. Certain big protests had more young people, but those were all one and done. Older folks seem to be putting in the work far more than the younger.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
At the No Kings protests, I’ve noticed that it’s mostly the older folks whose signs and paraphernalia show the most effort. That might be at least in part because many are retired and have more time to put into it, but there’s a real vibe of “This is what I do - this is my job” to their protests.