iscover
With much of Australia’s political and policy discourse since 14 December focused on social cohesion and the intersection with national security, why have we failed to truly discuss the true social cohesion challenge: intergenerational warfare?
Full disclosure, this will undoubtedly trigger some people, as the conversation of intergenerational warfare in Australia inevitably does, but here goes.
Over the past couple of weeks, there has steadily been a growing groundswell of material across social media of what can be described as “nostalgiamaxing”, specifically targeting younger elements of Generation X, Millennials, Zoomers and those young Australians who increasingly feel left behind by the nation, older Australians and our political leaders.
On the other side of the economic, political and demographic ledger stands the Boomer generation, born in the heady days post the Second World War, who were blessed with a nation of stability, prosperity and opportunity throughout the end of the 20th century.
But what does this have to do with social cohesion and national security, particularly at a time when we have very real ethno-religious cohesion issues to grapple with? Well, it is perhaps, unsurprisingly, the biggest social cohesion issue we, as a nation, are facing, yet doing little to discuss, let alone rectify.
Rather, it seems Australia’s political class – still disproportionately dominated by both Boomers and older Generation Xers – seem content to pillage, loot and, in some cases, burn down the trees planted by their own forebears to often jealously guard their own wealth (largely built up through a combination of inflationary monetary policy and mass immigration-driven demand since 2000, rather than any real investment noise).
This serves as a major rupture point between the two competing demographic blocs, at a time when the nation is already grappling with a host of systemic and increasingly entrenched structural issues that are now running headlong into the great geopolitical, strategic and security challenges of our time.
Don’t believe me? Simply look to Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in particular, recent efforts by the now incredibly unpopular Starmer government to reintroduce an element of conscription by lowering the recall age limit on potential candidates, simply because younger Brits wouldn’t put their lives on the line for a system they feel has abandoned them.
Now sure, the situation on the ground in Europe and the United Kingdom are somewhat different to those faced by their counterparts in Australia, but the core issues remain the same and can be summarised into a single question: How can you expect us to promote and protect a system that demonstrably has no place for us in it beyond being wage slaves to pay for the “entitlements“ of older generations?
Yet for whatever reason, Australian politics continues to be dominated in large part by the social cohesion issues surrounding a narrow view of ethno-religious rivalries and hostilities (again completely overlooking the broader ethno-religious hostilities we, like Europe and the United Kingdom, face) while simply ignoring and minimising the very real concerns and grievances of young Australians.
It is here we see the tried-and-true trope of young Australians being told to “stop buying avocado toast”, simply “work harder” and sacrifice a standard of living and quality of life enjoyed by their parents all to live in an increasingly competitive nation, where all forms of ambition, entrepreneurial spirit and hustle (outside of housing speculation) are actively punished.
Bringing me conveniently back to the “nostalgiamaxing” I have been witnessing spring up across social media in recent days and weeks, particularly among the younger generations. They, now more than ever, can see the world that has indisputably been denied them and perhaps most grievously, taken from them.
Of particular note is that despite the polarisation of younger Australians between right and left (although that is somewhat debatable depending on whether or not you subscribe to the political donut theory or not) as they actively seek out solutions for the problems their parents and grandparents are pretending don’t exist, the common thread is universally agreed upon: Australia is broken and we are simply managing our decline.
The problem young Australians are increasingly grappling with is – outside of niche political movements and critical flashpoints of economic, political and security consequence – their concerns and very real grievances are frequently falling on deaf ears.
As if to rub salt in the wound, they are now facing increasing rhetoric from the Australian government and others that “we live in the most dangerous strategic period since the Second World War” and, accordingly, Australia’s young people need to be prepared to put their lives on the line to protect and defend a system that seemingly has little place for them.
An ironic request coming from the generation who actively took to the streets to protest against claims of American imperialism in Vietnam, actively campaigned against nuclear weapons and nuclear energy (especially in the aftermath of Chernobyl) and, of course, completely embraced economic, political and strategic neoliberalism beginning in the 1980s.
All of this comes before the underlying shift towards political radicalisation I previously mentioned on both sides of the spectrum, which have, for the most part (at least for the time being) been confined to the realms of pro-Palestinian and anti-Australia Day protests on one side and the anti-migration “March for Australia” rallies and at the extreme, neo-Nazis protesting out the front of NSW Parliament.
While this radicalisation has to date been kept below the threshold of large-scale street violence ala Weimar Germany or pre-Soviet, Tsarist Russia, the kindling is definitely drying and is waiting for a spark to ignite before bursting into flames and Australia’s already fraying social cohesion comes apart at the seams.
With all of this in mind, how exactly do we start to right the ship? Well, it begins with the Boomer and older Generation X cohorts admitting and accepting that there is indeed real grievances held by young Australians, particularly around job opportunities, housing affordability, cost of living and quality of life.
Equally, this will require sacrifice from those most invested in the system and ironically, demanding the most from those who realistically have no actual investment in the future. The question is, can and will these people replant the trees they cut down and burned, allowing us to nurture them so that our children and grandchildren can benefit from the shade?
Because if they don’t, Australia’s social cohesion issues will undoubtedly get worse and at an increasing rate requiring ever greater authoritarian measures to control and influence.
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