As a Gen Z myself, I think there's a clearer reason people my age are increasingly turning toward authoritarianism. Most of us were born in a society that told us if we follow the official paths we would have stable incomes, independence, a home of our own, and stability. Fast forward to 2025, and housing is completely out of reach for all but the luckiest and/or cleverest among our demographic, meanwhile many of us pursued university degrees because we were told that was the way to get a well paying job, and now those degrees are becoming largely useless in large part due to AI suffocating traditional pathways, leaving us with crippling debt and no hope for a better future.
Naturally, when you're born and raised into a society like this, you lose faith in the status quo (liberal democracy) and turn toward radical alternatives. Aside from niche ideologies, the main options that people my age come across are Marxism, Technocracy, Fascism, Minarchism, or Anarchism. Unfortunately most people are afraid of freedom, so naturally they are more likely to turn toward one of the first three, or toward a butchered version of anarchism that enforces mob rule.
I'm not exempt from this, I'm a flippin' Market Anarchist, and ironically I probably wouldn't be here if I were born into a functioning society. But unfortunately the economy has been butchered by Keynesian economics, so people like me have no choice but to look to radical solutions. I just hope our ideas (self-ownership and voluntary association) can win out against the wave of authoritarianism, I fear that is unlikely though.
On another note, I would be curious to know how many undemocratic countries are Christian in nature. I can tell you've done your research here, so you might know the answer.
'How many undemocratic countries are Christian in nature?' Interesting question. The instinctive answer, based on true Christian principles, would of course be none. There are however a number of African countries that are nominally Christian (Catholic being the official religion) that are either dictatorships or under military/militia control. These being Equatorial Guinea, DR Congo, Burundi and the Central African Republic. Trust that helps.
Interesting. That was the main reason I was curious, because I've noticed a lot of countries in Africa are undemocratic, and also have either a Muslim or Christian background. I suppose Catholicism being the main branch of Christianity in those countries would make sense, Catholicism to my knowledge is quite hierarchical in nature. I've done a fair bit of research on countries myself, mostly because I was hoping to learn if there are some countries that have a more libertarian culture (I've been quite disappointed with my findings, but I suppose I have very high standards in that regard).
A very timely reflection! Australians take their liberties and the origins of them for granted and it is no surprise we are losing them. The statists and the Socialists have taken control of school curriculum,thus Magna Carta and its origins are a passing sentence in a dreary text. Decontextualized, without reference to the grievances which produced it or consideration of the alternatives it is inevitable the young regard it as irrelevant.
I think it's less a sense of security and more desperation. A counter-response to the status quo. I kinda got sucked into the tankie mentality as a teenager because of exactly that.
The reasons why Gen Z feel this way would make for a very good article. There is no doubt that the 'self-selected' (online) worlds and communities they inhabit are a factor. Boomers like me grew up having to deal with all kinds of people. You had no choice. Not so Gen Z. Go for it Sunset Vigilante ...!
As a Gen Z myself, I think there's a clearer reason people my age are increasingly turning toward authoritarianism. Most of us were born in a society that told us if we follow the official paths we would have stable incomes, independence, a home of our own, and stability. Fast forward to 2025, and housing is completely out of reach for all but the luckiest and/or cleverest among our demographic, meanwhile many of us pursued university degrees because we were told that was the way to get a well paying job, and now those degrees are becoming largely useless in large part due to AI suffocating traditional pathways, leaving us with crippling debt and no hope for a better future.
Naturally, when you're born and raised into a society like this, you lose faith in the status quo (liberal democracy) and turn toward radical alternatives. Aside from niche ideologies, the main options that people my age come across are Marxism, Technocracy, Fascism, Minarchism, or Anarchism. Unfortunately most people are afraid of freedom, so naturally they are more likely to turn toward one of the first three, or toward a butchered version of anarchism that enforces mob rule.
I'm not exempt from this, I'm a flippin' Market Anarchist, and ironically I probably wouldn't be here if I were born into a functioning society. But unfortunately the economy has been butchered by Keynesian economics, so people like me have no choice but to look to radical solutions. I just hope our ideas (self-ownership and voluntary association) can win out against the wave of authoritarianism, I fear that is unlikely though.
On another note, I would be curious to know how many undemocratic countries are Christian in nature. I can tell you've done your research here, so you might know the answer.
'How many undemocratic countries are Christian in nature?' Interesting question. The instinctive answer, based on true Christian principles, would of course be none. There are however a number of African countries that are nominally Christian (Catholic being the official religion) that are either dictatorships or under military/militia control. These being Equatorial Guinea, DR Congo, Burundi and the Central African Republic. Trust that helps.
Interesting. That was the main reason I was curious, because I've noticed a lot of countries in Africa are undemocratic, and also have either a Muslim or Christian background. I suppose Catholicism being the main branch of Christianity in those countries would make sense, Catholicism to my knowledge is quite hierarchical in nature. I've done a fair bit of research on countries myself, mostly because I was hoping to learn if there are some countries that have a more libertarian culture (I've been quite disappointed with my findings, but I suppose I have very high standards in that regard).
A very timely reflection! Australians take their liberties and the origins of them for granted and it is no surprise we are losing them. The statists and the Socialists have taken control of school curriculum,thus Magna Carta and its origins are a passing sentence in a dreary text. Decontextualized, without reference to the grievances which produced it or consideration of the alternatives it is inevitable the young regard it as irrelevant.
An alarming finding, Bob.
But yes, it seems the young have been swept up into a false sense of security where government is concerned.
One day they will realise how wrong they’ve been.
It also reminds me that they don’t always live by examples, of which the world has many.
Very sad.
I think it's less a sense of security and more desperation. A counter-response to the status quo. I kinda got sucked into the tankie mentality as a teenager because of exactly that.
The reasons why Gen Z feel this way would make for a very good article. There is no doubt that the 'self-selected' (online) worlds and communities they inhabit are a factor. Boomers like me grew up having to deal with all kinds of people. You had no choice. Not so Gen Z. Go for it Sunset Vigilante ...!
Thanks for the inspiration! I can already see some ideas popping up.