Barack Obama isn’t a fan of cancel culture; he has made it clear that he thinks ostracizing heretics on Twitter is a poor substitute for actually organizing and getting things done. The NYT ran the predictable response from an obscure millennial a few days ago. The writer essentially said that Obama was just a typical Boomer sellout who didn’t understand social media, and that he and his friends would continue to fearlessly use their thumbs to expunge heterodox ideas from cyberspace, because they, unlike their elders, actually cared about social justice.
OK, millennial! Ironically, his stupid moral certitude reminds me of nothing more than . . . that timeless piece of Boomer self-righteousness, “The Graduate.” Can’t you just imagine Obama as the old guy who says “Plastics?”
For better and for worse–and there has been plenty of both–Boomers will always be associated with the quest for freedom from traditional norms. Gen Z appears to be going a completely different direction. Its calling card is the enforcement of orthodoxy at the expense of free thought and speech.
As the title to this post suggests, the Puritans have always been among us. Their record in power is not particularly encouraging. Let’s try to put it off as long as possible.