i actually want to go into sociology just to study this exact thing. white ppl using political movements to fit their aesthetic isn’t necessarily new but it is more common as social media has given alt communities more exposure and due to the fact that outright racism 1/ https://twitter.com/mycommieromance/status/1322915016090279936

is not as socially accetable as it used to be, especially in the cities where these people often live. i think that the reason performance is bigger than it ever was before is bc of social capital when you appear to be radical and what i call the “only the young” 2/

mentality. im sure there’s a lot more to it and it could be explained by people wayyy smarter than me but i’ll try to unpack what i mean a little bit. 3/

1. radical social capital

although i would never say that big cities are not racist, the status quo (generally) is that racism is bad. it’s not cool to be an outright racist. it drives away customers, followers. whether people acknowledge it or not, 4/

the reason that they are outwardly more accepting than their ancestors is bc they don’t want to be looked down upon by their peers. their peers who understand that capitalism has made oppression consumable. the difference between these ppl and ppl who genuinely gaf abt social 5/

change is that they will NEVER participate in protests that are a threat to them or their wellbeing. if they could keep their job, friends, etc, by being racist pieces of shit, they would. they probably don’t even realize this. 6/

2. “only the young” mentality

lol there’s just SO much to go into here but this thread is already long as shit so i’ll try to make it short. as someone who is 14 and has lived in a metropolitan area my whole life, there is ABSOLUTELY pressure on young ppl to change the world 7/

this could sound corny but the parkland shooting and therefore the march for our lives protests as well as the climate march r some of the most defining experiences for gen z and i am fully confident saying that. so much of their political behavior can be traced down to those 8/

two movements. youth protest is not new but there are 3 key differences between these movements and, say, civil rights youth movements. 1. social media is a thing. makes it much more easy to spread information. 2. instead of truly being counter-culture, many of these movements 9/

had an ulterior motive, almost universally unbeknownst to the children participating in them, and backed by the bourgeoisie. 3. (and what i think is the MOST important difference) school shootings and climate change is smtg that impacts ALL young ppl. while youth who 10/

participated in protests of the past did so to fight for an oppressed group, in this case, the oppressed group was the whole generation. which sounds familiar, doesn’t it? this made white ppl engage with politics in a way that personally affected them, smtg they 11/

may not have ever felt before. (btw i understand that climate change impacts the global south and poc more but the mere idea of it impacting ppl, regardless of race, is what made it hit so close to gen z) and it’s worth noting that these feelings are not 12/

inherently dumb. gen z IS a traumatized generation, different degrees to different ppl, but it is trauma nonetheless. the problem is that while they were dealing with these fears, the bourgeoisie had already decided on their next move, the capitalize off of their feelings. 13/

gen z has never come to terms with this exploitation. school shootings and climate change were an open wound and instead of cleaning it properly, gen z applied an infected bandaid. they never realized the bandaid was infected so they applied the bandaid to 14/

other wounds, making those injuries worse as well. and when the poor self care catches up to them? they’ll have lost more than a wound.

there’s a great series about this relating to greta thunberg by thewrongkindofgreen 15/

this is why EYE think gen z act the way they do. drop ur thoughts

(btw sorry for dropping this long ass thread above your tweet, just had lots of thoughts) 16/