Young socialists on the march, photo Mary Finch

Young socialists on the march, photo Mary Finch   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Rebecca Gardner, Southampton Socialist Party

Millennials, loosely defined as those born between the 1980s and early 2000s, are significantly more anxious than the generations before us. We have grown up with the horror of imperialism in the Middle East, the misery of austerity and the failure of capitalism to solve the issues of climate change or global poverty.

Our generation is expected to be the first in modern times to be worse off than our parents. We either find it hard to get work or are forced to stick it out in low pay jobs, buried in student loan debts we will likely never pay off.

The housing crisis and cost of rent means we are forced to live with our parents or house share until our thirties.

But we are not only anxious, we are also angry. And we are drawing conclusions.

The majority of us now reject the capitalist system. We are more likely than others to sign a petition and twice as likely to participate in a protest.

More than half of us have suggested we would join an uprising against the government if it was called tomorrow. Young people know that capitalism means crisis. But what is the alternative?

More and more people, especially young people, are turning to socialism. In fact, most young people see socialism more favourably than capitalism.

This is because socialism means power and control is in the hands of the majority. It means society run in the interests of everybody and not the privileged few.

We can win

How we get there depends on people coming together to mount a fightback against the system. Where people have got together and defended their interests, they have won.

Like in Seattle, where a socialist campaign has seen the introduction of $15 an hour minimum wage and a $29 million investment in affordable housing. Kshama Sawant, Socialist Alternative councillor in the city, will be joining hundreds of others to discuss the way out of capitalism at our upcoming event, Socialism 2017.

This generation has the potential to change the world, join us in November to discuss how.