An open letter to Gen Z
Dear Zombie Killers,
It’s real now: the myths you grew up on. The stories of dystopian corporatocracies where kids fight corruption, the powerful magic of friendship can overthrow the privileged elite, and worlds where racism and sexism have no place because prejudice is a failing tool of the oppressor; those hold collective hope. Stories are the greatest legacy of previous generations. Everyone doesn’t recognize it yet because real life can’t possibly be as fantastic as fantasy. But this is not a test, this IS the zombie apocalypse; it’s real now.
In modern myth, the zombie virus destroys the individual, absorbing victims into a mindless hoard that adds to its numbers by attacking those nearby. We thought it would come from a secret government laboratory. Oh wait… But the real life zombie contagion is slightly different than the myth. It’s not a flu virus or a misguided cure; we all know no one is working to actually cure anything anyway, only to create more addictions. This contagion is not air-borne, but ear-borne. It is a mantra, not whispered, but screamed at the vulnerable 24/7. It is frighteningly simple. It is the message from those who profit from suffering to the suffering that others who suffer differently are responsible for all suffering. The contagion is: US vs. them.
This not the zombie apocalypse you deserve, but the one you can fight.
You do not enter this fight with visions of a better world. You’re driven by understanding the consequences of this mess far better than those who made it. Historically, leaders have possessed unyielding optimism. You don’t just recognize history’s lies but laugh at them on stage. Your battle cry is not one of optimism, but fatalism. You are Gen Z, the first generation to shun hope in favor of evidence. You fight stark reality because of the certainty of what will come if you don’t. Your motivation is not, “I can make a difference,” but, “if we all don’t make it different, we all don’t make it.”
The cruelest part of your inheritance is that you have glimpsed a liveable-topia, possible if people would simply choose not to be assholes. Instead you will be present as our paradise planet becomes unable to sustain life. You know the odds are not in your favor, but you’ve done the math, and the numbers are. The numbers that have been true in every election: the people can win if the people show up.
Cold logic, not rose-colored optimism, says you have a chance. Your biggest advantage is immunity to the zombie contagion, because the understanding that there is no US vs. them, there is only us, has evolved into your DNA. No one will be insulated from the pains of climate change and oppression in the future. You have the tools and knowledge of those who came before and you wield those tools far more effectively.
You are the wisest generation yet, so I offer no advice except this: Gen Z, don’t ask, tell older generations how to help you as the Zombie Killers. I await your orders when I show up to your march on Saturday.
Sincerely,
Ashlen Roth, a mother of troops in your ranks
