Highly principled or out of touch with reality? When it comes to ‘Generation Woke, Joanna Wane discovers even some of the most liberal parents admit their kids are driving them crazy. When Ava, a 21-year-old university student, decided she didn’t want to become a capitalist stooge and planned to volunteer for a community group after graduating, her parents gave her a swift reality check. The Bank of Mum and Dad was officially closed for business.
Lofty social values are all very well, she was told by her exasperated mother, Victoria, but you still need a job that pays the rent. “It’s this idea that you don’t want to be part of the rat race, but you still want the privilege of the rat race,” says Victoria, a feminist Green Party supporter with socialist, centre-left views. “Not buying into corporate life and choosing to live differently from the way your parents’ generation did, that’s great.
That’s fantastic. But how do you actually get that tiny house or earth home or whatever it is you want — who’s going to pay for that?”.
