“Young people these days” get an awful bad rap. Boomers and Generation X tend to view Generation Z and millennials as immature political activists glued to their flickering screens, ungratefully destroying the country which older generations tirelessly built.

But a lot could be said about the boomer mind’s unfair assessment of young people’s beliefs, financial woes, and life goals. For one thing, boomers had it shockingly easy, historically speaking. And as far as pointing fingers about the lure of technology for the younger generations, it’s fair to remember that many of us have a boomer aunt who probably shared an AI-generated photo of Taylor Swift’s wedding to Travis Kelce to the family group chat within the last year, or another relative who has missed an awful lot of moments with grandkids because they were writing 400-word Facebook posts about their last vacation.

Young people are always assumed to be worse than their parents and grandparents, yet all generations have their blights. And when it comes to young people, there is an encouraging development happening, at least regarding the upcoming celebration of America’s birthday this week.

“Those who are married, have children, and are either Gen-Z or Millennial are more likely to celebrate the Fourth of July,” the Spiegel Research Center found.

Likewise, “Men’s Journal” reports that of the percentage of Americans planning to sit out this year’s celebrations, boomers are the most likely, with Generation X coming in second. Generation Z and millennials are slightly more likely to celebrate this year. Yet when it comes to how much planned spending is happening for the holiday, “Men’s Journal” found that boomers weren’t planning on tightening their belts for the holiday, but younger generations were planning to spend less. In other words, the swelling patriotism amongst younger generations has less to do with profligacy, but more to do with their enjoyment of the holiday and what it represents.

Statistics measuring patriotism still indicate that Generation Z is not as likely to self-describe as patriotic compared to their older counterparts. That’s understandable, for this generation came to political awareness in a post-9/11 war, where conflicts in the Middle East demanded more and more of America’s human and economic capital. Wars for this generation were not, as they once were, a chance to rally around your country in support, whatever her flaws. When Generation X and Boomers dealt with the devastation of the Vietnam War, there was a certain post-World War II patriotism to offset the anti-war hippies. No such thing for the newer generation, for which the Iraq War was as certain as death and taxes.

The point is, the anti-America tilt of Generation Z is generally not all about insane “wokeness,” or an inordinate passion for Palestine. The generational malaise regarding our country is understandable, and given the way the generation is celebrating the upcoming holiday, not a reason to give up hope.

Setting off fireworks, throwing burgers on the grill, and inviting friends over is a form of cultural resistance – unlike the one we often think of, namely activists burning President Trump dolls in effigy and marching for ill-defined “justice.” Instead, this cultural resistance fights against the temptation of despair and cynicism through a holiday so delightfully cheesy that it heals historical wounds across generations and political divides.

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The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

Image Credit: Pxhere