Approaching the subject of old farts and political activism, my acquaintance Comrade Kevin asks some interesting questions:
Does maturity mean that you [have to] find tactful ways to be an activist?
Do I worry unnecessarily that growing older means you don't want to fight anymore...or rather you know how to pick your battles?
See, I think of middle aged people as having lost their will to fight when they see injustice...but maybe it's that they manage to do so in less bullheaded, stubborn ways.
And I see young people as having lost their will to fight because they don't have to. Something about that military draft brought out the radical in lots of people who otherwise might have gone over to The Man. For us older lefties, some of us simply want to keep our jobs. Added responsibilities like children and mortgages make you less likely to want to do things like, oh, get arrested. But I think the question goes deeper than that, and we should address here some generational issues blah blah blah. Oh gawd do I sound like an old fart.
Please, you fellow old farts, how do you keep your activism fresh?
This cross posted from
my own blog. Visit there where the comments are happenin' or here is fine too.