A Baby Boomer’s Observations of the Impact of Millennials' on the Protest Movements of Today

Attending a recent demonstration by opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline, I was struck with the high number of non-Native American participants in the crowd and the fact that many appeared to be in the age range of the Millennial Generation. Watching video of anti-Trump demonstrations from all over the United States and recent Black Lives Matter protests, I felt the same vibe and began to wonder why they have chosen these causes to rally behind.

Having raised a Millennial of my own, I realized that so many of the traits shared by this generation were formed by their association with their Baby Boomer parents. In contrast to my own upbringing, these young adults were not subject to the conservative, work-oriented, rule-based world that Baby Boomers experienced in their youth. Generally, Baby Boomers chose work as a priority and the quest for personal gain was a powerful force. As a group, Baby Boomers achieved the greatest level of wealth, were the most active on a personal basis and the most physically fit of the generations preceding their birth. We felt we could improve on our lot in life and knew that on the backs of our efforts, we could change our economic well-being. As a result of that attitude, we experienced unprecedented levels of income, did not have to worry about where our next meal was coming from and were able to set money aside for a comfortable retirement. We became the most consumer-products oriented generation with a “Keep up with the Jones’” focus.

The Millennial offspring of this mentality did not share these priorities as many did not have to question the source of their next meal. Benefitting from the economic prosperity of their parents, they had opportunity to dwell on issues higher up on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. With smaller families, they were given more attention, were heaped with praise, had adequate allowances and were not often subject to the word “NO”. The most technologically capable generation, they were wired into their friends via social media and were subject to a much different message than that provided by their parents. More information was obtained via Google than via Dad and the messages received tended to be more idealistic and tinged with a liberal slant. Being anointed as something special by their parents, the Millennials enjoy a higher level of narcissism. Their inflated sense of self-importance needs an outlet and the Protest Movement provides a welcome venue to a group not burdened with the need to earn a living, find and pay for shelter or worry about the source of their next meal. They have the gift of time, a shortage of responsibility and require a platform to elevate their standing amongst their peers.

The Occupy Wall street Movement, the “Black Lives Matter” movement, the anti-gun movement, the plight of the illegal immigrants, political correctness, LGBT Rights, the fight against global warming and now the Anti -Dakota Access Pipeline movement all provide this outlet for the Millennials. They have seen example after example of social activism gaining headlines by utilizing self-sourced videos to garner publicity on unprecedented levels. The concept of trending video has become more important than a solid news story and major news outlets no longer require objective news coverage. They are much more about entertainment and much less about content and there is nothing juicier than video of law enforcement personnel in riot gear, carrying AR-15 assault rifles, pushing back a line of protestors, using pepper spray and making arrests. It is almost as exciting as a strategically edited cell phone video of a police shooting taken by screaming bystanders who are intent on showing the person being shot at as the victim. This fact was driven home to me by observing almost as many camera wielding anti-pipeline protestors on the fringe of a recent protest as there were protesting. They were intent on capturing any conflict and using this to bring publicity to the cause.

As one who contributed to the current state of chaos seen on TV screens nightly, I am humbled by the fact that a new reality has been formed and the message is carried forward by a generation that numbers (by some counts) over 80,000,000 in the United States alone. Baby Boomers like me are becoming obsolete in the main stream and we shall spend our waning years in a society that does not conform to our ideals. Better get used to it Boomers, we created the environment for this change.