You know, I’m 69 years old.
And I think I’m witnessing something extraordinary.
Something I haven’t seen in a very, very long time.
The kids are waking up.
And I’m telling you, it’s about damn time.
I’ve spent the last couple of months talking to young people. Gen Z. Kids in their twenties. College students. Young people trying to figure out how the hell they’re supposed to make a life for themselves.
And you know what I’m discovering?
These kids aren’t stupid.
They’re not lazy.
They’re not sitting around waiting for somebody to hand them something.
They’re paying attention.
And they’re asking some pretty uncomfortable questions.
Like, why the hell does it cost so much to live?
Why can somebody work forty hours a week and still not afford an apartment?
Why does a college education cost a small fortune?
Why is healthcare so expensive?
And here’s my favorite question:
Why the hell are we still doing things this way?
That’s the question that changes everything.
Because once people start questioning the system instead of simply accepting it, things begin to happen.
And it’s not just happening here.
Look at France.
Young people have been challenging political leadership, economic policies, and institutions they believe aren’t listening to them.
Different country. Different political system. Different circumstances.
But some very familiar questions.
Who’s benefiting from the way things work?
Who’s being left behind?
And who’s actually listening?
Now, I’m old enough to remember the 1960s.
I was a kid growing up in Connecticut.
Vietnam. Civil rights. Demonstrations. Be-ins. People marching in the streets.
Young people were questioning everything.
Their parents.
Their government.
Their institutions.
The entire damn establishment.
And the establishment didn’t particularly appreciate being questioned.
Sound familiar?
But here’s something I’ve come to understand.
Every generation eventually reaches a point where it has to decide whether to accept the world it inherited or try to change it.
And I think we’re watching another generation wrestle with that decision right now.
But there’s a difference.
In the 1960s, a lot of the conversation was about freedom, equality, war, and social justice.
Those issues haven’t disappeared.
But today there’s another question hanging over everything.
Can I even afford to have a life?
Think about that.
We’re living in one of the wealthiest countries in the history of civilization.
We have technology that would have seemed like science fiction when I was a kid.
Artificial intelligence.
Self-driving cars.
Computers in our pockets that can access practically all the world’s information.
Hell, I drive a Tesla.
My car can practically drive itself.
But we still haven’t figured out how to make housing, healthcare, and education affordable for everybody.
Does anybody else find that a little ridiculous?
We can send a rocket into space and land it backward.
But we can’t figure out how a schoolteacher can afford a decent apartment?
Come on!
Something isn’t adding up.
And young people are noticing.
Now, here’s where things get interesting.
We’re heading into the midterm elections.
And there’s an enormous amount of frustration in this country.
Some of it is directed at Republicans.
Some at Democrats.
Some at the entire political establishment.
And nobody knows exactly how that’s going to translate into votes.
But I suspect we’re going to learn a great deal about what Americans are thinking.
Because elections have a way of forcing the country to confront questions it would rather avoid.
And there’s one thing I keep coming back to.
The problem isn’t necessarily that Americans disagree about everything.
It’s that we’ve become so consumed with fighting over our differences that we’ve forgotten how much we have in common.
I’ve been talking to strangers all over Greensboro.
Young people. Old people. Black people. White people. People from all kinds of backgrounds.
And I keep hearing variations of the same five things.
People want a place to live.
They want safe streets.
They want an education.
They want healthcare.
And they want the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.
That’s it!
Five basic things.
Now, people disagree about how government should help deliver those things.
And those disagreements matter.
But shouldn’t those five things at least be where we start the conversation?
Instead, turn on the television.
What do you see?
Republicans screaming at Democrats.
Democrats screaming at Republicans.
Everybody blaming everybody else.
It’s like watching two divorced parents fight over custody of a country.
And the kids are sitting in the back seat saying:
“Could somebody just take us home? We’ve got school tomorrow!”
And that’s what I love about talking to Gen Z.
They’re not all the same.
They don’t all agree.
Some are conservative. Some are liberal. Some don’t identify with either party.
But the young people I’ve been meeting are curious.
They ask questions.
They challenge assumptions.
And they don’t automatically accept something just because somebody older tells them that’s the way it’s always been.
I love that!
Because I’m 69 years old, and I’ve spent my entire life asking one question.
WHY?
Why do we do it this way?
Why can’t we do it differently?
Why can’t we make it better?
And now I’m meeting twenty-year-olds asking exactly the same questions.
Hell, I’ve finally found my people!
It only took me 69 years!
But here’s the part I want everybody to understand.
Awareness is wonderful.
Protesting is important.
Talking about change is important.
But none of those things automatically produces change.
You have to participate.
You have to understand the issues.
You have to register.
You have to vote.
You have to pay attention to what happens after the election.
And you have to hold the people you elect accountable.
Not just when they’re running.
When they’re governing.
Because democracy isn’t something you do once every couple of years.
It’s something you practice.
And that’s what I’ve been trying to communicate through the Truth Party.
We’re trying to turn spectators into citizens.
Not because everybody should think alike.
Not because everybody should vote for the same party.
But because everybody deserves to have a voice in shaping the country they live in.
And that brings me back to the young people.
You know what excites me?
It’s not the possibility that one political party might defeat another.
It’s the possibility that an entire generation might decide that being involved matters.
That they don’t have to accept everything they’ve inherited.
That they can question it.
Challenge it.
Improve it.
And maybe even teach some of us old folks a thing or two along the way.
Because here’s something I’ve learned after 69 years.
The future doesn’t belong to the people who are most comfortable with the present.
It belongs to the people willing to imagine something different.
And right now, I see a lot of young people doing exactly that.
So when I look at what’s happening in America, when I read about young people speaking out in France, when I talk to twenty-year-olds here in Greensboro, I don’t just see frustration.
I see questions.
I see curiosity.
I see people searching for answers.
And I see an opportunity for generations to learn from one another.
I’m a Baby Boomer.
They’re Gen Z.
We’ve got fifty years between us.
But you know something?
We might have more in common than either generation realizes.
Because we’re asking the same question.
Can’t we do better than this?
And I believe we can.
But it’s going to take more than anger.
More than slogans.
More than another election.
It’s going to take people showing up, listening to one another, and doing the work.
So here’s my message to Gen Z.
Keep asking questions.
Keep challenging assumptions.
Keep demanding answers.
And don’t forget to participate.
Because this is your country, too.
And to my generation?
Maybe it’s time we listened a little more.
After all, we spent the 1960s telling everybody not to trust the establishment.
Then we grew up and became the establishment!
How the hell did that happen?
I’m John Eagleton.
I’m 69 years old.
And I still believe we can change the world.
The kids are waking up.
And this old man?
I’m wide awake with them.
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