In a piece at Vice.com titled \u201cOh My God, Grandma, What the Fuck Have You Done?\u201d Joe Golby writes, \u201cLean your wrinkly little face close to me \u2026.\u201d And here\u2019s how Vox.com laid it out:<\/p>\n
Not content with racking up insurmountable debt, not content with destroying any hopes of sustainable property prices or stable career paths, not content with enjoying the benefits of free education and generous pension schemes before burning down the ladder they climbed up, the baby boomers have given one last turd on the doorstep of the younger generation.<\/p>\n
A sign held up at a pro-Remain\/anti-Brexit rally in East London read: \u201cOld white people, please die.\u201d The Twitterverse echoed that sentiment with \u201cmost of the folks that voted for #brexit will be dead within 25 years. 75% of 18-30 voted stay. The old & dying sticking it to the young \u2013 @DJMightyMike\u201d and \u201c\u2026 how long till enough old people die to erase #Brexit majority? Has anyone worked that out? – @matthewjdavies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another take on the lifespan issue: these supposedly selfish and shortsighted olders will live through the short-term turmoil but not long enough to play a central role in the positive changes they envision, nor to benefit from them. Misguided or not, their vote is one of confidence in the vision and abilities of the generations that follow. Nothing matters more to most olders than the welfare of their children and grandchildren, and it is grotesque to propose that their interests and those of the generations that follow are inherently opposed.<\/p>\n
How about a closer look at the data that got people so worked up about this generational divide?<\/p>\n
In the 45-54 age group\u2014not exactly \u201colder people\u201d\u2014a clear majority voted for Leave, and even in the 35-44 age cohort, the numbers for and against differed only slightly. \u201cYou could in fact argue that the key shift occurred in the 45-54 age group,\u201d the Age UK<\/em> blog pointed out. The older voters were, the less faith they retained in the European Union. Nostalgia played a part in their decision but so did lived experience. These are the same people, after all, who voted to join the Common Market in 1975.<\/p>\n More significantly, class, gender and race are all far better indicators of how people vote than age. The working-class vote in the north of England, traditionally loyal to the left, went against the EU; cosmopolitan Londoners leaned heavily the other way; along the coast that faces Europe, concerns about immigration generated a vehement vote to Leave.<\/p>\n I happened to be in London at the time of the Brexit vote, and almost everyone I met voted to Remain. They were largely professionals with degrees, the characteristics identified by the Financial Times <\/em>as most strongly associated with Remain voters. (In comparison, fewer of today\u2019s olders had the chance to go to university.) The third strongest factor cited by the Financial Times<\/em> was \u201cnot holding a passport.\u201d The fourth was income (\u201careas with higher median incomes tended to lean Remain, whilst lower incomes leaned Leave\u201d).<\/p>\n Age and turnout came in fifth. The median age in an area was the strongest predictor of turnout and showed a familiar pattern\u2014the older the median age in an area, the more likely it was to have had a high turnout. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron\u2019s take on this was that \u201cYoung people voted to remain by a considerable margin, but were outvoted.\u201d True, but only 36 percent of eligible 18- to 24-year-olds exercised their right to vote. The overall turnout was 76 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cThrow Granny to the wolves\u201d headlines make good clickbait, and we shouldn\u2019t be surprised when the media fans the flames. Prohibition, rock & roll, Vietnam, the environment\u2014intergenerational conflict makes for a good story. This is the first time age has taken center stage in the political narrative, however, which is a troubling harbinger.<\/p>\n It is critically important to see these headlines for what they are: a distraction from the underlying issues of social and economic inequality that affect the 99 percent\u2014younger workers scrambling for a foothold in the global economy and olders stranded and stigmatized by the same forces. As the 1 percent grow more ruthless in their efforts to maintain the status quo, we can expect more of the same.<\/p>\n In anxious times, we look for scapegoats. But blaming the Brexit on old people is more than reductionist and misinformed. It obscures the origin of the underlying discontents with global capitalism, which profits by pitting us against each other: black factory workers against white ones; working mothers vs stay-at-home moms, old against young. It legitimates austerity measures. It ignores class differences and the racism and sexism that also oppress us. We need a radical age movement now, to add ageism to that sorry list, to mobilize against it and to make common cause against the forces that oppress us all.<\/p>\n In the words of poet Audre Lorde, \u201cThere is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we don\u2019t live single-issue lives.\u201d<\/p>\n On June 23, 2016, a referendum (a vote in which everyone of voting age can take part) was held to decide whether the United Kingdom should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52 percent to 48…<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/userfiles\/image\/Brexit%20Pic2.JPG\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"