To the Editor:
Re “Why Aren’t the Kids Out Protesting Against Trump?,” by Thomas B. Edsall (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, April 14):
As a Gen Z participant in No Kings who has been dismayed to find myself quite alone, demographically speaking, at each protest, I have thought long and hard about how this came to be. I believe that Mr. Edsall’s essay accurately underscores many of the contributing factors. Here are two more to consider.
First, the protests evoke an America that my generation feels we don’t know. The No Kings movement centers largely on the idea of restoration — of democratic principles, political normalcy and American decency. Gen Z, having come of age in the Trump era of political discord and the erosion of democracy, has hardly known any of these things.
Second, precisely because the No Kings protests evoke the past, they fail to appeal to our appetite for change. Young people by nature desire to reform, rectify, reshape. We want to tear down the existing structures we deem unjust and rebuild better ones in their place. To stand against apartheid, sexual harassment or police brutality is to dismantle the present and reconstruct the future.
While the notion of restoration is a noble one, it simply does not motivate people my age in the same way the promise of radical change does. It implies a return to the status quo, and for a generation that considers the status quo one of great injustice, it is fundamentally unpalatable.
Juliana Birkenkamp Boulder, Colo.
To the Editor:
Thomas B. Edsall may be onto something about youth demobilization. But the decades-long trends and technological change he cites are hard to square with relatively recent evidence. No Kings events are not the only metric of youth involvement.
In 2020, young people played a major role in the racial justice uprisings. In 2024, college students at over 100 campuses built pro-Palestine, anti-genocide encampments. And this year, high school students have regularly been walking out to protest against ICE repression. Even in the face of attempted federal suppression of demonstrations, the record is more mixed than Mr. Edsall suggests.
Jeremy Pressman Storrs, Conn. The writer is a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut and a director of the Crowd Counting Consortium.
To the Editor:
Thomas B. Edsall lays much of the blame for lack of student involvement in No Kings protests on A.I. and the internet, but does not even mention the main driver of the huge student antiwar protests of the 1960s and ’70s: the draft.
All the young men of that era were given draft numbers by the Selective Service, determining when they would be sent to Vietnam, where 58,000 American service members eventually died. It was as if they had been placed on a conveyor belt, whether they supported the war or not.
This single fact motivated hundreds of thousands of young men, girlfriends, wives, sisters, teachers and parents to get involved. It was different then. The threat was clear, measurable and personal.
Terry Lochhead Brownfield, Maine
To the Editor:
Thomas B. Edsall makes strong points regarding the effects of A.I. and technology on young people’s engagement with political causes generally. How about an additional answer to the question he poses? Vulnerability.
Working multiple jobs and side hustles leaves less free time, and less money for gas and parking at an all-day event. And those who are working may have less control over their schedules than in the past, or they may feel less confident about replacing a lost gig.
Social media also carries the risk of being tagged or identified, which could limit already scarce employment opportunities. And there is increased awareness of the possibility of arrest, even for peaceful protesters — a risk that established professionals and retirees can more easily bear.
Noble Novitzki New York
To the Editor:
I’m 76 years old and have been involved with protests and direct action in Connecticut for about a decade. The young activists I’ve met seem to think that No Kings Day isn’t radical enough.
Many of these young people have become disenchanted with both the Democratic and the Republican Parties, yet they actively support the rights of immigrants, workers, L.G.B.T.Q.+ people and the unhoused, and more. They showed up to protest Avelo Airlines, and they succeeded in stopping the airline’s deportation flights.
The young people I know are disillusioned with politics as usual; they don’t expect the Democratic Party to save them, and they suspect that No Kings Day is a lot of noise and flag waving with little or no substance. I don’t entirely agree with them, but I understand where they’re coming from.
Robert Menefee New Haven, Conn.
To the Editor:
Thomas B. Edsall offers several theories in this essay, but doesn’t ask an actual average kid like me why I’m not out protesting against President Trump. So I’ll tell you. These protests are a huge waste of time. Their utility date is way past due.
My generation knows more than you think. We know, for example, that if folks want to unseat the administration then they need to march on weekdays, in Midtown Manhattan (not on family-friendly Saturdays) or encircle the White House and start camping out there.
Every civil resistance movement goes through stages to be effective. The tactics of staging large demonstrations are worn out. People of my generation know it’s time for the next stage. That’s why we aren’t out on the streets with our esteemed elders.
Charles Huschle Middletown, Conn.
Psychotherapy for a Change
To the Editor:
Re “Good Luck Changing Yourself,” by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Opinion guest essay, April 12):
Mr. Denizet-Lewis is correct that changing oneself in a vacuum is challenging because we are all intrinsically attachment-seeking creatures connected to one another and much of our sense of self is formed and reinvented through the mirror of others’ gaze.
Yet the author does offer a possible solution when he argues against self-scolding and self-flagellation and for “creating the right conditions” for change in ourselves — “feeling seen and valued without being shielded from discomfort, and being in the presence of people and settings that draw out curiosity and awe.” This is something that psychotherapy can sometimes provide.
I am a longtime psychotherapist. My curiosity and regard for each patient are expansive, although, unlike most robotic A.I. chats used for therapy, I am willing to push against discomfort in the service of well-being.
I am always hopeful that patients have the courage to recognize that resistance to change doesn’t serve their purposes. Sometimes a patient will abandon the effort, but most often I see meaningful, positive change. But here’s where a patient’s individual agency is key: They have to want to change.
Elizabeth Wolfson Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Danish Example
To the Editor:
Re “How Danish Aid Pulled a Ruined City From the Brink of Collapse” (Ukraine Dispatch, April 15):
Denmark’s help to Ukraine surely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
Providing this down-to-earth way of assisting and engaging the residents is the way America once was. Under better leadership than that from our current autocratic, arrogant president and his minions, we can regain our standing in the world.
Molly Larson Cook Freeland, Wash.
The post Some Young People Think No Kings Is Old News appeared first on New York Times.
