Generation Z is most likely to consider political violence justified. This is according to a YouGov survey conducted in the US among those born between 1997 and 2012, the day after the murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, BGNES reported, quoted by News.bg.
According to the results, 20% of representatives of this age group believe that violence in the name of political goals can sometimes be legitimate. In comparison, 14% of Generation Y, 8% of Generation X and 3% of Baby Boomers share the same opinion.
This phenomenon covers the entire Generation Z and sometimes leads to concrete actions. In the past year, several prominent figures in the United States, including Donald Trump, Melissa Hortman, Brian Thompson, and Charlie Kirk, have been the targets of assaults or violent attacks. The suspects in most cases have been men from Generation Z, with the only murder of Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Hortman being committed by a 57-year-old man.
Historically, young people have always been more likely to embrace violence as a means of political change. Now, however, factors such as climate, health, financial and geopolitical crises are intensifying this trend, especially in the United States and France.
Professor of youth politics at Monash University in Melbourne, Lucas Walsh, told US media that Generation Z is growing up in a context of constant crises that are undermining trust in democracy.
Young people today are inundated with worrying information - about the debts they will have to pay off, the massacres in Ukraine and Gaza, the threat of new wars, the rise of the far right and global warming. In France, anxiety among young people has reached a record level: a quarter of people between the ages of 15 and 29 suffer from depression, job insecurity and stress about the future.
Amidst sluggish policies and institutions, disillusionment with democracy is growing. Generation Z is questioning whether existing rules make sense. A 2023 survey of 30 countries found that 42% of young people supported military rule, compared to 20% of older people, and a third believed that a strong leader who bypasses elections was a good way to govern.
According to Newsweek, the influence of social media and cultural changes, such as changing gender expectations, are reinforcing attitudes that justify violence. Social media, with its polarizing effect, normalizes it. Generation Z is “fed violent content by algorithms,” exposed to images of police brutality and realistic scenes from video games, movies, and virtual reality, creating a desensitizing effect, notes Joe Jacobson, founder of the Action for Progress Fund.
Young men are particularly vulnerable to online extremism. Subjected to ideological messages that promote hatred, they are at the center of digital radicalization. Jacobson emphasizes that "when a man's masculinity is threatened, he tends to reinforce it," and supporting political violence is one way to do this.