Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times
February saw a cohort of European students descend on Beijing to take part in a semester abroad study program organized by Chinese universities in conjunction with sister institutions in Europe. Despite studying different majors, the students had also chosen to incorporate not just the Chinese language into their degree studies, but also an understanding of the history and culture of China.
For students like Gideon Redwitz, a German doing his study abroad semester at Peking University, it is more than just a smart career move; the study abroad program will go a long way toward creating understanding on an interpersonal level for Gen Z students in Germany and China.
Gideon has admittedly had various conversations about China with his father, and unsurprisingly, their viewpoints are vastly different. While his father is far more antagonistic toward China, Gideon takes a far more pragmatic approach, advocating a view that is based on facts rather than on West-versus-East bloc politics.
Gideon's conversations with his father are a microcosm of a change in attitude toward how global politics should be handled among the younger generation. Gen Zers are dismantling and questioning established systems of global governance that advocate for animosity rather than cooperation. They are ready to steer the ship in a whole new direction.
For far too long, global political and financial oligarchies have built bulwarks on the shifting sands of panic and fear. Every so often, or even every generation, the foundations upholding unsustainable political and financial systems are reinforced with another once-in-a-generation panic, whether it be the great fear of communism that permeated throughout much of the West for over 50 years, birthing McCarthyism in the US, or speculative market bubbles and imminent financial collapse that led to the 2008 economic crash.
Conspicuously, however, is how for all their doom forecasting and post-hoc proselytizing, the oligarchs benefit tremendously, harvesting big from violent conflict, a la the military-industrial complex, and the financial demise of large swathes of society as has been seen when banks rather than regular people are bailed out after each financial crash.
No more, say Gen Zers who are working to pull the wool from societies' eyes, breaking with the toxic political and financial status quo that only benefits those at the very top of the pyramid. This generation has been widely maligned in the media worldwide by the old guard who accuses them of all manner of unimaginable evils, from an unwillingness to "go above and beyond" as did the generations before them who gave too much for very little in return, to being "snowflakes," a term coined by political talking heads in the US to describe individuals who are sensitive to social injustice.
Far from these characterizations of egotistical bad-faith actors only too eager to break with tradition, Gen Zers are eager to preserve what is good about society, while doing away with what seems amiss.
This trend has been seen across the world, with Gen Zers from China and Australia to the UK and the US railing against overwork, resulting in a change in labor laws that see workers' off-duty time respected and protected, as just one example. And in the same way that they are questioning toxic workplace culture, so too are they questioning long-standing geopolitical feuds, carried on by successive governments with no real tangible benefits for regular citizens.
It is increasingly clear that much of the insistence on tradition and precedence is an exercise in hubris by political fogies who wish for current unipolar systems to remain. Gen Zers, however, have more questions as to why the status quo must remain than those fighting to uphold it have answers. Initiatives like the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are proving there are mutually beneficial alternatives, as opposed to outmoded notions that only a few and deserving countries or peoples should and can benefit from global systems.
The generation is also questioning social and financial policies that are no more than a kicking of the proverbial can further down the road, with successive governments in certain countries instituting piecemeal changes, using the promise of more substantive reform as currency to buy another term in office. Nowhere has this been more exemplified than in matters of climate change, in which many world leaders continue to drag their feet. But Gen Zers are clear that the permanent effects of inaction in this matter will affect them far more than it will the current generation of "Boomer" politicians, many of whom remain unconvinced about the science.
Millennials and Gen X before them bought into the capitalist fallacy, and they too have spoken out, passing on the lessons they learned so that Gen Z does not fall for the same sleight of hand. The commingling of "big man" politics with a pseudo-assurance of a guaranteed future is being challenged. Outmoded ideas of top-heavy capitalism are being set aside, and a world where one has to choose one side over another based solely on political affiliation is coming to an end. Gen Zers see the world for what it is, and for what it could be, and refuse to live in the reverie of a glorious past constantly reinvented to fit new hateful narratives about the presumed competition.
Living in the information age has also worked to help Gen Zers dispel misinformation and disinformation. Whereas before conspiracy theories and false narratives about countries and peoples were hard to disprove, now a quick internet search will set the record straight. Social media platforms like TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, among others, do not show that the grass is greener on the other side, but rather what other shades of green exist around the world. Differences are viewed through a more globalized lens that allows coexistence and encourages curiosity about other countries' cultures and peoples.
Though accused of apathy, Gen Zers do care deeply about global issues like global governance and climate change but refuse to fall prey to mawkish political rhetoric promising them a tomorrow that never comes. They want change here and now, and as the most educated generation in history, they have the facts at their fingertips to effect the changes needed, if only they were given the chance. Where previous generations would have viewed geopolitical conflicts as fodder for the growth of national status and pride, Gen Zers see the reality of assured mutual destruction, and demand for peace and pluralistic coexistence.
Research shows that, with very few exceptions, Gen Zers globally are far less radicalized than their parents, hold far fewer political hardlines than generations before them, and are more inclined to globalization as inspired by an eschewing of nation-state individualism and generic-brand democracy. For the younger generation, it is clear: The path forward is not to work in opposition to one another. Like rowers on the same boat, it serves no purpose for each to row in an opposite direction. That only sends the boat spiraling before it capsizes. Instead, rowing toward a common goal of a mutually assured prosperous future, of halted climate change, and of moderate prosperity for all is the way to go.
The author is an editor of the Global Times.
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