New Republic: The Malicious Politics of Millennial-Bashing

[Virginiá]

The latest attacks on young people's lifestyle choices are being fueled by generational polarization—and signal an emerging conservative strategy.

https://newrepublic.com/article/144237/malicious-politics-millennial-bashing

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This is a different angle but Republicans have basically pursued the same ends via different means. Consolidation of the white vote has mostly been among older whites, while younger whites have more or less remained just as Democratic as they were when Obama was first elected. Boomers will have quite a bit of influence left in them for years, but trying to run up the score among old people by scapegoating and alienating the young could prove disastrous down the road. This might just well be the political equivalent of drinking seawater.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Didn't Trump win a plurality of whites 18-29? Millennials lean-D because they are racially diverse.

[The Mikado]

Re: the line, Scarborough is a tail-end Boomer, and both Dreher and Sasse are solidly Gen Xers.

[AN63093]

I voted "FA" just because I agree with the article's premise, insofar that the GOP tends to appeal most strongly to a certain demographic, and pushing that appeal with attacks from a generational angle is a necessary part of that.  So it's true; not necessarily a revolutionary point, but true nonetheless.

That being said, and yes, this is admittedly a tangent, but millennials, quite frankly, deserve to be bashed.  And this is coming from someone who is a millennial (albeit, a much older one.. I'm in that gray area between Gen X and Millennial, but technically a millennial).

Millennials are absolutely feckless and are apparently content to basically let the Boomers raid the cupboards, leaving them completely dry, while they sit there and mutter... "meh."  Examples include:

-Occupy Wall Street; you know, that absolute sham of a protest that lasted about as long as it took for it to get cold outside, and then, "screw this."  Not exactly the storming the bastille, that. Oh, but did I never hear the end about how revolutionary it was, and how everything was going to change.  Mm-hmm.

-The Women's March, where charitably speaking, 1 out of 100 people were serious about marching, the other 99, dragged there by their peer group so they could check-in on FB and instagram photos of participating. (See everybody!  I was there!!)  The best photos were collages that included at least one photo of their food, LOL.

-Apparently content to let policies continue that drive up housing costs, making many large cities practically uninhabitable for middle-class millennials, unless you choose to live in tenement conditions.  Many of these policies benefiting primarily Boomers, which I discuss in this thread here.   I can picture politicians such as Pelosi now, sitting in her palatial SF estate, cackling at the millennial serfs as they toil around her, living 2, 3, 4 people to a room in buildings violating code that need to be condemned.  The serfs themselves, happy as a clam, content to just carry on with a "yes, m'lord."

Meanwhile, the student loan bubble continues to expand (the new mortgage for millennials-- many of these people will not own an actual home before age 40, that is, if they ever do), while we continue to flush money into Medicare, because god forbid we actually use any of those funds for something other than extending a Boomer's life by 3 months, and all the while... the typical millennials' response to any of these being a combination of a shrug of the shoulders, and oh yes... liking someone on FB who changed their profile picture to match the social-issue du jour.  But hey!  I stand in solidarity with [insert aggrieved group that I'm pretending to care about].  This all happening while the Boomer sneaks out of the house like the Grinch, sack slung across his shoulder, the words "wealth of the United States" printed on the side.  Right before he heads off to do some wind-surfing ("Hey look guys, I'm still cool!  Age is just a number!")

Hey though, it's all good.  At least I got bottomless mimosas at brunch.  *takes photo of food and checks-in on FB with self-satisfied grin.*


God I hate being part of this generation.  It deserves everything coming to it.

[Dr. Arch]

God I hate being part of this generation.  It deserves everything coming to it.

While you do a good job at describing a part of the Millennial population, you also do a great disservice to those of us who are actually working hard, against all odds, and are politically-active, to no avail because Boomers continue to abuse the system and oppress us.

My parents were able to get a house and a car for half the amount the work I've put into it at this time, and I've only gone so far as the car--just recently might I add.

We are hard workers; we want to contribute, but there are ENTRY-LEVEL jobs that require 10 YEARS of experience. The Boomers have created an institutional and systematic disadvantage for younger members of society who wish to experience a fraction of the upwards mobility they had.

The time will come when Millenials will have had enough, and we will become as engaged as Boomers are today, or so I hope. Nevertheless, casting such a broad net is a disservice to everyone, including yourself.

[Devout Centrist]

I voted "FA" just because I agree with the article's premise, insofar that the GOP tends to appeal most strongly to a certain demographic, and pushing that appeal with attacks from a generational angle is a necessary part of that.  So it's true; not necessarily a revolutionary point, but true nonetheless.

That being said, and yes, this is admittedly a tangent, but millennials, quite frankly, deserve to be bashed.  And this is coming from someone who is a millennial (albeit, a much older one.. I'm in that gray area between Gen X and Millennial, but technically a millennial).

Millennials are absolutely feckless and are apparently content to basically let the Boomers raid the cupboards, leaving them completely dry, while they sit there and mutter... "meh."  Examples include:

-Occupy Wall Street; you know, that absolute sham of a protest that lasted about as long as it took for it to get cold outside, and then, "screw this."  Not exactly the storming the bastille, that. Oh, but did I never hear the end about how revolutionary it was, and how everything was going to change.  Mm-hmm.

-The Women's March, where charitably speaking, 1 out of 100 people were serious about marching, the other 99, dragged there by their peer group so they could check-in on FB and instagram photos of participating. (See everybody!  I was there!!)  The best photos were collages that included at least one photo of their food, LOL.

-Apparently content to let policies continue that drive up housing costs, making many large cities practically uninhabitable for middle-class millennials, unless you choose to live in tenement conditions.  Many of these policies benefiting primarily Boomers, which I discuss in this thread here.   I can picture politicians such as Pelosi now, sitting in her palatial SF estate, cackling at the millennial serfs as they toil around her, living 2, 3, 4 people to a room in buildings violating code that need to be condemned.  The serfs themselves, happy as a clam, content to just carry on with a "yes, m'lord."

Meanwhile, the student loan bubble continues to expand (the new mortgage for millennials-- many of these people will not own an actual home before age 40, that is, if they ever do), while we continue to flush money into Medicare, because god forbid we actually use any of those funds for something other than extending a Boomer's life by 3 months, and all the while... the typical millennials' response to any of these being a combination of a shrug of the shoulders, and oh yes... liking someone on FB who changed their profile picture to match the social-issue du jour.  But hey!  I stand in solidarity with [insert aggrieved group that I'm pretending to care about].  This all happening while the Boomer sneaks out of the house like the Grinch, sack slung across his shoulder, the words "wealth of the United States" printed on the side.  Right before he heads off to do some wind-surfing ("Hey look guys, I'm still cool!  Age is just a number!")

Hey though, it's all good.  At least I got bottomless mimosas at brunch.  *takes photo of food and checks-in on FB with self-satisfied grin.*


God I hate being part of this generation.  It deserves everything coming to it.

If I had a f**king dime for every time I hear this take...

[Virginiá]

Didn't Trump win a plurality of whites 18-29? Millennials lean-D because they are racially diverse.

He did, but only by a small margin, and by less than Romney. That's why I said they remained about as Democratic as when Obama first got elected (if you put aside his overperformance with the 7 pt win). It's not enough for Republicans to just win even a plurality of young whites. Republicans depend on running up huge margins with white voters to overcome the diversification of the electorate. If Democrats continue to win 45% or more of white Millennials, with Republicans chronically losing even more young whites to 3rd parties, that means the Republican share of the white vote will eventually start falling over the next 15 years or so, which is the exact opposite direction it needs to go.

Further, it should go without stating that if Republicans did attempt some sort of generational strategy, it could alienate even more young whites who currently lean Republican, while probably making only marginal (if that) gains among older non-white voters, who have been notoriously stubborn Democrats no matter what.

Honestly, to me at least, this kind of strategy represents the pinnacle of toxic short-term thinking that has plagued the GOP since the mid-2000s, and I mean this in terms of legislative strategy to election strategy.

[Virginiá]

God I hate being part of this generation.  It deserves everything coming to it.

I don't know, I mean I get what you're saying, but I don't view things like lower turnout among Millennials as special in any way. Young people always have lower turnout that reliably increases with age. It's been this way for a long, long time. That being said, at least we are doing better than generation x did.

So yes, they could do something about it technically (like vote), but many have a number of reasons for not doing it, and that will inevitably change. Other than that, I'm not sure there is anything particularly unique or bad about the political engagement of Millennials vs past post-WW2 generations (if not further back).

[Xing]

I generally agree that Millennial bashing is silly, and will always involve sweeping generalizations, but it's a tradition for older adults to bash young adults and "kids these days." In 10-15 years, we'll hear about how Generation Z is the worst, laziest, most entitled and self-centered generation in history. And then the generation after Gen Z will be the next target.

[Virginiá]

Any competent and charismatic Democrat should be able to beat Trump among Millennials by ~30 points. The same should be applicable to Gen Z, who, despite all the BS you see coming from the right wing media, aren't different from Millennials in any notable way.

We should get a pretty good preview in 2018. Turnout aside, Democrats as a whole should be able to rack up over 60% with 18-29 year olds if Trump is still as unpopular as he is now. He's breaking 70% disapprove with 18-29 year olds in some polls. The last bad GOP midterm was 2006, and at that point the 18-44 bloc was not nearly as Democratic as it is now. Imagine what kind of backlash Republicans could see now.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Thinking about it in generational terms is a mistake. The problems that exist with the Millennials reflect a long-term trend that began long before they were born. They existed in different forms with the Boomers and Gen X and they will exist in yet another form with Gen Z.

[Kingpoleon]

Generation Z is the worst, laziest, most entitled and self-centered generation in history. And then the generation after Gen Z will be the next target.

I've already got a running head start on that one.

Frankly, I agree. I bet you'll see a lot more Millennials vote in 2020 compared to  2016. They'll all be out of college and presumably in the work force (or trying to enter it). And Hillary and Trump were both uniquely terrible fits for Millennials. Any competent and charismatic Democrat should be able to beat Trump among Millennials by ~30 points. The same should be applicable to Gen Z, who, despite all the BS you see coming from the right wing media, aren't different from Millennials in any notable way.

I'd say Generation Z as of right now are probably a little to the right of millennials. While they are a slightly more diverse generation, Gen Z have virtually no recollection of how bad the Bush years were (the oldest barely turning 9 when he left office) and have instead seen their parents struggle primarily in the Obama-led economy. Of course this can easily change if Trump or Pence end up being disasters from now til 2020/2024. Plus virtually none of them have entered college yet; which can shape one's worldview.

I'm hopeful that we'll be a bit more centrist.

[Virginiá]

While they are a slightly more diverse generation, Gen Z have virtually no recollection of how bad the Bush years were (the oldest barely turning 9 when he left office) and have instead seen their parents struggle primarily in the Obama-led economy. Of course this can easily change if Trump or Pence end up being disasters from now til 2020/2024. Plus virtually none of them have entered college yet; which can shape one's worldview.

I'd say Democrats were, in a way, lucky to end up with Trump. Otherwise what we'd have is a deeply unpopular Clinton, completing at least 12 straight years of Democratic rule (wh), which has its perks but at the same it, it could drive a lot of newer young voters away from Democrats at least temporarily, if not permanently. These youngest voters, 18-24, would have grown up associating the country's problems with the person in the White House, as is usual, except this time you don't have a charismatic Obama to keep them from straying. Clinton probably would have sealed the deal on a lot of young voters who were growing skeptical of Democrats.

Instead, these youngest voters are likely to end up with a strong Bush-like effect for at least the 4 years Trump is president (if not longer). It took Bush years of terrible decisions and all kinds of highly negative events to generate that kind of negative imprinting, and Trump is doing it all by himself right out of the gate!

[Technocracy Timmy]

While they are a slightly more diverse generation, Gen Z have virtually no recollection of how bad the Bush years were (the oldest barely turning 9 when he left office) and have instead seen their parents struggle primarily in the Obama-led economy. Of course this can easily change if Trump or Pence end up being disasters from now til 2020/2024. Plus virtually none of them have entered college yet; which can shape one's worldview.

I'd say Democrats were, in a way, lucky to end up with Trump. Otherwise what we'd have is a deeply unpopular Clinton, completing at least 12 straight years of Democratic rule (wh), which has its perks but at the same it, it could drive a lot of newer young voters away from Democrats at least temporarily, if not permanently. These youngest voters, 18-24, would have grown up associating the country's problems with the person in the White House, as is usual, except this time you don't have a charismatic Obama to keep them from straying. Clinton probably would have sealed the deal on a lot of young voters who were growing skeptical of Democrats.

Instead, these youngest voters are likely to end up with a strong Bush-like effect for at least the 4 years Trump is president (if not longer). It took Bush years of terrible decisions and all kinds of highly negative events to generate that kind of negative imprinting, and Trump is doing it all by himself right out of the gate!

I agree with this though I don't see Trump lasting much longer. The GOP want Trump out and Mueller's investigation combined with Trump's frustrations with the confines of the federal bureaucracy will be enough for them to pressure Trump to resign. His entire twitter feed already reads like a teenage kid playing Call of Duty and is on the verge of rage quitting. Government is slow and sucks to work in unless you have a lot of patience; and Trump isn't a patient person.

[AN63093]

The time will come when Millenials will have had enough, and we will become as engaged as Boomers are today, or so I hope. Nevertheless, casting such a broad net is a disservice to everyone, including yourself.

I do so dearly hope you are right.  I am generalizing of course, but for every one of you, I suspect there are hundreds, thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of the type I describe.  I'm freely willing to admit that my perspective may be limited, since my peer group seems particularly heavy with these types.  Then again, if you are an educated professional in a major metro area, it is practically impossible to avoid these ghastly sorts.

[AN63093]

God I hate being part of this generation.  It deserves everything coming to it.

I don't know, I mean I get what you're saying, but I don't view things like lower turnout among Millennials as special in any way. Young people always have lower turnout that reliably increases with age. It's been this way for a long, long time. That being said, at least we are doing better than generation x did.

Yes Virginia, that is the standard counter-argument to my point, and it's not necessarily a silly one.  It may end up being correct (time will tell, of course).  However, you are simplifying my point and missing the nuance- it's not just a question of turnout.  You are making an assumption that millennials will behave in similar patterns to older generations, a pretty critical assumption, in my opinion, when there has been a fundamental change in our society (e.g., the internet, social media, and so on).

I used to respond to that in a way I imagine you are right now (i.e., rolling of the eyes), but I'm not so sure anymore.  I think there has been a fundamental change in the way people are socialized in their youth, the way people interact, the way people interface with politics, and so on.  I think it's possible that as a result, this generation will have either a) higher levels of apathy; and/or b) and this one is more dangerous, higher levels of being distracted by non-issues, trivial minutia, and stupid little stuff like that (sort of a "wedge issues" on steroids), and these types of issues will be among fault lines that help drive hyper-polarization.  I think that society is becoming increasingly polarized, instead of less; it will be in part due to this, and it will also increase racial stratification.  Techno Timmy had a rebuttal of this; he posted an interesting paper in another thread (can't remember where) that suggested polarization wasn't increased by social media use.  That might be true, but even so, it still doesn't necessarily answer my greater point.

Have you read that new Atlantic article "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?"  I can't remember if it was posted on this forum, or I'm thinking of a different forum, but it's an interesting article.  Its main conclusion is that post-millennials are being socialized in a completely different way- their youth do the following things about half as often as earlier generations: date, drive (or get their license), or even just get out of the house and hang out with friends.  Most youth literally just sit in their house on the phone all day.  Snapchatting has essentially replaced going to the mall with friends.

Now whether that's good or bad in the grander scheme of things, who knows.  But I do think those tendencies are the type that will exaggerate the trends I am describing.  It will be less prominent in millennials, since many millennials aren't young enough to have grown up in this way, particularly some of the older ones like myself (when I graduated college, the iPhone hadn't come out yet, flip phones were still king, and Facebook was a novelty site primarily used for posting drunk pics of yourself hitting the beer funnel).  But I do think some of those trends are present in millennials nonetheless, and they are precipitating a different attitude and approach people have towards politics, that may manifest itself in a way that turnout cannot solely explain.

[Sumner 1868]

This tactic is being used with equal venom by centrist Democrats at the moment who are using it to turn back the progressive wing of the party. The age gap in the 2016 Democratic primaries was ridiculous.

[JA]

The heaping of blame on Millennials for the plethora of issues supposedly stemming from their choices and willed behavior is an attempt at deflection from the institutional problems plaguing America. We're considered lazy and entitled, yet there are also complaints that "Millennials are driving the rise of the work martyr, employees so driven that vacation days go unused in order to impress the boss — or simply to avoid being replaced." So, we're lazy because we work too hard? And we were always told to go to college and get a degree, which has now become almost the only gateway to a decent career, yet that comes with enormous student loan debt, dwindling employment opportunities (employers expect prospective entry-level employees to take on the responsibility of training themselves and accept low wages for greater work burdens and less benefits and job security), and stagnant wages for colleges grads that haven't risen since 2000 despite rising cost of living (especially in places where most jobs are located). What happens now is that when we have demands for a better life than what is realistically obtainable, we're labeled entitled and lazy. We all just want a participation trophy.

Contrary to claims that we aren't doing anything about our situation, Millennials have been engaged in the fight for $15, organizing student unions, protesting for Black Lives Matter, organizing to fight deportations, walked out of High Schools across the country in protest of Trump, organizing to get their campuses declared sanctuaries (where one event in Ohio led to 70 arrests), have turned out for Bernie rallies in massive numbers, and have caused a surge in registration with the DSA. Measuring Millennial engagement solely by electoral participation is absurd, largely because many of us recognize the limited potential of electoral politics compared to protests and organizing.

But the Millennial generation isn't some massive, homogenous group of Progressives and Socialists. We were raised during a period of intense preparation for life in a stratified economy, subjected to entertainment from a deregulated industry that produced hyper-capitalist shows like 'Wild and Crazy Kids,' played video games which President Reagan said were preparing "the soldiers of tomorrow," watched films like 'Top Gun' which was given access to sets and equipment by the Pentagon in exchange for creative control over how the armed forces were portrayed, and licensed cartoons portrayed hyper-gendered stereotypes like G. I. Joe. Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech mass murderer), Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook killer), Martin Shkreli, Darren Wilson (cop who killed Michael Brown), and most of the soldiers who willingly enlisted in the military after President Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, were Millennials. We have good and bad, progressive and reactionary, elements in our generation just like all others.

The real problem is class warfare, which manifests as intergenerational only because of the wealth inequality between the generations - particularly Baby Boomers and Millennials. But there is wealth inequality within generations as well. Working class and poor Baby Boomers are in similarly precarious situations as most Millennials, just like wealthy Millennials enjoy exceptional advantages and security like many Baby Boomers. Many of the issues faced by Millennials are ones shared by all the working classes, regardless of age. We're simply an easier target since Millennials have a higher percentage of its members as working class than older generations, have more liberal cultural values, are more diverse, vote in opposition to older generations, and are forced into behaviors that conflict with the disproportionately older upper class that combines classism with nostalgia.

[pbrower2a]

The oldest of the Millennial Generation turn 35 this year (if you use Howe and Strauss; classification). That is the age at which people start making inroads into high offices (governorships, US House and the US Senate). Millennial voters will start voting heavily when they start seeing their own generation challenging effectively the older politicians not attuned to Millennial sensibilities.

Much of economic and political life in America is ugly -- high debt from student loans, high real-estate costs, heavy reliance upon regressive taxation with loud proposals to make the tax system even more regressive, low pay, and limited opportunity. Add to this, a highly-secular generation hears much talk of religious bigotry on behalf of fundamentalist Christianity and against rational science, but with the legislative branch in the federal government and in most state legislatures under the effective control of corporate lobbyists. That is all a raw deal for most of the Millennial generation.

I'm guessing that the Millennial generation is disgusted with what it sees so far, and given a chance it will grease the skids for older politicians out of touch with this generation. Obama may not have been too bad... but the older liberals seem more intent on protecting high wages of skilled workers in unions while the Right stands for a "Christian and Corporate State" in which in return for harsh terms of insecure employment people get vague promises of Pie In the Sky When You Die. Millennial young adults are not particularly amoral, but they are unlikely to accept religion as a substitute for happiness in This World.

The rise of any generation into a significant role in political life typically comes as a wave election. To be sure, any Millennial pol will be unable to win any election solely on the strength of Millennial votes even if those are now the largest generation in the electorate. But they can run against politicians that others see as out of touch, sold out, or suspect in integrity or competence. The corporatist-fundamentalist waves of 2010 and 2014 have shown what they are, and reverse waves are about due. 

It is still possible that a Boomer in his or her sixties can be elected president, but such a pol will need to appeal to Millennial sensibilities. Pie in the Sky in return for miserable, impoverished lives here on behalf or rapacious and selfish elites (Donald Trump is about as pure an expression of rapaciousness and selfishness as there can be) is not a fitting appeal for a generation that values egalitarian economics and secular thought. They are not anti-religious. I would guess that the Pope is better respected by young white Millennial Protestants than is the current President.       

[Shadows]

The oldest of the Millennial Generation turn 35 this year (if you use Howe and Strauss; classification). That is the age at which people start making inroads into high offices (governorships, US House and the US Senate). Millennial voters will start voting heavily when they start seeing their own generation challenging effectively the older politicians not attuned to Millennial sensibilities.

Much of economic and political life in America is ugly -- high debt from student loans, high real-estate costs, heavy reliance upon regressive taxation with loud proposals to make the tax system even more regressive, low pay, and limited opportunity. Add to this, a highly-secular generation hears much talk of religious bigotry on behalf of fundamentalist Christianity and against rational science, but with the legislative branch in the federal government and in most state legislatures under the effective control of corporate lobbyists. That is all a raw deal for most of the Millennial generation.

I'm guessing that the Millennial generation is disgusted with what it sees so far, and given a chance it will grease the skids for older politicians out of touch with this generation. Obama may not have been too bad... but the older liberals seem more intent on protecting high wages of skilled workers in unions while the Right stands for a "Christian and Corporate State" in which in return for harsh terms of insecure employment people get vague promises of Pie In the Sky When You Die. Millennial young adults are not particularly amoral, but they are unlikely to accept religion as a substitute for happiness in This World.

The rise of any generation into a significant role in political life typically comes as a wave election. To be sure, any Millennial pol will be unable to win any election solely on the strength of Millennial votes even if those are now the largest generation in the electorate. But they can run against politicians that others see as out of touch, sold out, or suspect in integrity or competence. The corporatist-fundamentalist waves of 2010 and 2014 have shown what they are, and reverse waves are about due. 

It is still possible that a Boomer in his or her sixties can be elected president, but such a pol will need to appeal to Millennial sensibilities. Pie in the Sky in return for miserable, impoverished lives here on behalf or rapacious and selfish elites (Donald Trump is about as pure an expression of rapaciousness and selfishness as there can be) is not a fitting appeal for a generation that values egalitarian economics and secular thought. They are not anti-religious. I would guess that the Pope is better respected by young white Millennial Protestants than is the current President.       

Why would a millennial care if some random 35 year old guy with no touch with the base gets a high position. It is pretty meaningless. Millennials are not homogenous & this isn't like the emotive issue of the 1st Black president. Millennials are also divided among racial, ideological & various other factors.

What could serve as a rallying point if there is an inspiring candidate (Like Obama was in 2008) & if there are tangible benefits which they receive. Let's say college is made tuition free & they know that it could be taken away under a GOP presidency & Congress, they will turn out. Basically, politicians have to show that they can positively effect their lives & they will turn out, atleast for self-interest.

[The Mikado]

The current youngest Representative is 33-year-old Elsie Stefanik (R-NY), born 1984 and solidly a Millennial. There are four people born 1982 or later in the House at the moment.

Youngest Senator is still 40-year-old Tom Cotton, solidly a Gen Xer.

[Virginiá]

I used to respond to that in a way I imagine you are right now (i.e., rolling of the eyes), but I'm not so sure anymore.  I think there has been a fundamental change in the way people are socialized in their youth, the way people interact, the way people interface with politics, and so on.  I think it's possible that as a result, this generation will have either a) higher levels of apathy; and/or b) and this one is more dangerous, higher levels of being distracted by non-issues, trivial minutia, and stupid little stuff like that (sort of a "wedge issues" on steroids), and these types of issues will be among fault lines that help drive hyper-polarization.

Maybe, and I don't deny there have been substantial changes in the way Millennials have socialized, but I don't think it means anything particularly special for the future of politics, so I imagine we'll have to agree to disagree on that.

Also I did read that Atlantic article (I actually made a thread on it here in Off Topic ), it was good stuff.

[Gass3268]

-The Women's March, where charitably speaking, 1 out of 100 people were serious about marching, the other 99, dragged there by their peer group so they could check-in on FB and instagram photos of participating. (See everybody!  I was there!!)  The best photos were collages that included at least one photo of their food, LOL.

I was at the march in DC and the age distribution was pretty equal among Boomers, Xers and millennials.

[muon2]

This idea of bashing the political choices of Millennials by looking at their life style choices seems little different than the attacks on the Boomer youth in the 60's and 70's by the Silents and Greatest Gen. To their elders and in the media, Boomers were ne'er-do-wells who just wanted to listen to rock, watch TV, and get high, all while breaking down sexual norms. The youth campaign for McCarthy in '68 and disappointment with nominee HHH may be a parallel to the Bernie movement in 2016.

[Santander]

This idea of bashing the political choices of Millennials by looking at their life style choices seems little different than the attacks on the Boomer youth in the 60's and 70's by the Silents and Greatest Gen. To their elders and in the media, Boomers were ne'er-do-wells who just wanted to listen to rock, watch TV, and get high, all while breaking down sexual norms. The youth campaign for McCarthy in '68 and disappointment with nominee HHH may be a parallel to the Bernie movement in 2016.

They were. And add raising the millennials to the list.