Images from college campuses nationwide in the wake of Hamas‘s massacre of Israeli civilians are disturbing. Marchers chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan “Divest from Zionist genocide now” illuminated on a college library. Counterprotesters physically beating Jewish students who publicly support Israel.
If only these could be cast aside as the actions of an extremist minority. But they’re not. According to the latest Harvard-Harris poll, not only do 41% of those aged 18-24 think Hamas should be considered “militants,” not “terrorists,” but 51% of the same age group believes “the Hamas killing of 1200 Israeli civilians on Israel can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.”
HAMAS IS THE WORST ENEMY OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
In other words, a majority of Generation Z believes the raping, murdering, beheading, and kidnapping of Jewish civilians by Hamas is just fine. Only 24% of the rest of America agrees.
Gen Z’s unique moral confusion extends far beyond the Israel and Gaza conflict. Two in every five Zoomers believe government should have the power to prevent people from making offensive statements. Just 27% of Generation X agrees. Almost half of Zoomers say it is acceptable to suppress the speech of those who disagree with them about race.
Gen Z’s abandonment of American values does not end there. Not only do 40% of Zoomers believe that the founders of the United States are “better described as villains” than “heroes,” but 60% of them also disagree with the statement that “America is a fair society where everyone can get ahead.” Given these perverse beliefs about our nation’s history, it is not surprising that only 36% of Zoomers say they are proud to be an American. By contrast, 86% of those 65 and older are proud of their country.
The sources of Gen Z’s sickness are twofold: First, the education system has immersed them in a Manichean “oppressed” and “oppressor” worldview. Women are oppressed and therefore good. Men are oppressors and therefore bad. Black people are oppressed and therefore good. White people are oppressors and therefore bad. Palestinians are oppressed and therefore good. Jews are oppressors and therefore bad.
The key to this view is that identity reigns supreme, not actions. Black youths stealing cars is acceptable because the perpetrators are oppressed. White police arresting them for committing crimes is bad because police are oppressors. This is the thinking behind Gen Z saying Hamas murdering Jews is justified.
This “oppressed” and “oppressor” worldview has bred a culture of victimhood. Since possession of an “oppressed” identity is the only path to moral salvation, Gen Z has become obsessed with finding a way to consider themselves oppressed. Witness the Zoomers suddenly deciding they are gay, lesbian, or transgender. Many will, one hopes and expects, grow out of it, but for now, they act on the fact that one quick pronoun change can transform them from evil oppressors to sanctified oppressed.
The second source of Gen Z’s sickness is a social media addiction that reinforces victimhood far beyond the classroom. Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are full of content promoting the “oppressed” and “oppressor” narrative.
In addition to turning Zoomers into a generation of anti-American terrorist sympathizers, victimhood culture and social media have made Gen Z the most depressed and suicidal ever. The proportion of young women reporting clinical depression within the last year has gone from 11% in 2011 to almost a third today. Twice as many teenagers are taking their lives today as were 15 years ago.
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The hatred we are seeing toward Jews today on college campuses is, if not a cry for help, certainly an emanation of distress. We need to do more to eradicate the “oppressor” and “oppressed” narrative from our classrooms, from kindergarten all the way to graduate school. This is, among other things, the mission of the Washington Examiner’s “Restoring America” section. We need to take a much harder look at regulating social media, even for adults. Where is all this anti-American propaganda coming from? Who is writing the algorithms that force-feed it to our young?
One generation’s movement to the right or left does not mean the country is destined to go in that direction. Gen X has always been more conservative than the Boomers at each life stage. If we clean up our schools and delete social media from our devices, there will be hope for the next generation.
