Electronic Lifestyle, Demographics: GenZ and politics, part 1

Self-tutoring about demographics and politics: the tutor mentions GenZ.

Did GenZ just bring down the government in Madagascar, and the government in Nepal last month? What has got this generation so riled up, and why are they so effective?

My kids are GenZ. We got them mobile phones so we could call them, or they could call us. As they proceeded in their teens, we got used to the GenZ posture, head down, looking at the mobile phone. It was easy to wonder what was going on there.

GenZ thinks very differently from GenX (my generation). Yet, to dismiss their intelligence would be a mistake, as apparently a couple of governments have discovered. In my experience, GenZ people are more observant, especially of people, than my generation was. Perhaps they have learned to be so from scrolling through social media posts. Whatever the reason, it’s hard to hide things from them.

In my experience, GenZ will sit quietly on the sidelines, looking at their phones, as if they are completely passive and harmless. Therefore, it might be easy to underestimate GenZ, given their childlike looks and passive demeanour. Beware: GenZers know how to size up a situation and they can decide quickly, and unilaterally, what action to take. Moreover, they have that youthful nimbleness that any generation starts out with, even if they don’t advertise it.

If there ever was an experimental generation, GenZ is it. Left to themselves while their parents were at work, or later on their own phones, it seems GenZ have raised themselves pretty well. One might start wondering what comes next.

Yet, this is how democracy and generational succession should work: the young lose patience with legacy corruption and stomp it out. We should be proud of GenZ. I am sure they will know it, even if they don’t seem to:)

Source:

YouTube: France24 English: Gen Z’s Moment?

cbc.ca: TikTok, Discord and Reddit: How a Gen Z revolution upended Nepal’s government