The Kids are Having None of It by Sally Campbell
This title is from Frazey Ford’s wonderful 2020 album, U Kin B the Sun:
“The kids are having none of it.
They can’t be bought; they can’t be taught your hate”.
Thankfully, we saw the expression of that idea in the recent US midterms, where the vote was about a lot more than the price of gas. It was also about the Iran war, genocide in Gaza, corruption, AI data centres, ICE, hyper surveillance, gerrymandering electoral districts, hate messaging and racism, health care for all, plus much more. Hispanic Americans and Black Americans came out in droves, traditionally conservative Texans completely flipped their state. As Naomi Klein stated, in a well-worth-watching analysis of the elections with Astra Taylor and Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, the election results are, among other things, a major repudiation of Trump and his agenda. (“On the Brink: The Meaning of the Midterms”, Haymarket Books, 5 November, 2026, on Youtube.)
Klein and colleagues make clear that this is a time of fundamental transition and there is a lot more work to do. There will of course be a pushback from the pummelled right, as opportunists rush to distance themselves from Trump. Observers will see a lot more use by Trump of the veto. As Klein says, people like the dangerous Marco Rubio will promise a gentler form of fascism. Speaking of fascism, I’ve been reading the works of exiled journalist Ece Temelkuran lately. In her book, How to Lose a Country, she offers many insights into the insidious growth (and acceptance) of fascism in many countries, not just her own nation of Turkiye.
We have seen many indicators of fascism in the US, made more possible by the extreme concentration of power in the executive branch of government that occurred during the Bush/ Cheney/Rumsfeld years in the early 2,000’s. Temelkuran is a journalist who had to leave her country ten years ago because of her criticism of Erdogan and his government. She uses that hardship to explore the sense of millions of people in our world today of being “unhomed” whether by reason of migration, forced exile, being made a refugee, or being rendered homeless by reason of poverty or politics.
Many no longer feel at home in their birthplace; they don’t recognize the country they grew up in. Significant numbers of these “unhomed” in the US came out and took a stand last week. For this, we can be grateful, and hope to eventually restore our historic friendship with the US through a genuine embrace of the values of interconnectedness and “neighbourliness.” As Klein and company make clear, though, progressives everywhere need to keep the pressure up. We need to take a strong stand for shared humanity, for community and affordability, for equality and freedom for everyone, not just the privileged few. We are not going to find our way to peaceful coexistence on our tiny planet through increased militarism and fast-tracking resource extraction. And how can we in Canada participate in this major transition as progressive world citizens, rather than by government initiatives that reflect fear-based defensiveness?
