Young people’s lives are being wrecked by the billionaires – and we know it. This system is robbing us of our futures.
More primary school children than ever are turning up to their lessons hungry. University students are forced to live in mouldy housing, and work long hours alongside their studies in order to survive.
And graduates, saddled with a lifetime of debt, spend months and even years of degrading, alienating job-hunting, only to land minimum-wage jobs that they could have gotten without a degree.
When we look at our phones for a few minutes of distraction, meanwhile, what do we see? Apocalyptic scenes of wildfires and flooding; far-right conspiracy content and hateful ‘incel’ influencers; and the horrors of famine, mutilation, and genocide in Gaza.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that one in five 8-25 year olds suffer from mental illness, and that suicide is the leading cause of death amongst young people. As one recent study by the UN concluded, youth is no longer the ‘happiest time of your life’ that it was once considered.
These are all symptoms of a sick society. A system that can’t provide a future for the new generation is a system that has no future.
Radicalisation
But it’s not all doom and despair – not at all. All of this anguish is fueling a deep-felt anger. And this anger is searching for a radical outlet.
47 percent of young people in Britain want a revolution. Recent polling by Onward, meanwhile, found that between 32 and 40 percent of young Brits have a positive view of communism.
You can see this radicalisation in action. Hundreds of thousands of young people have taken to the streets in recent years to protest against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, to combat the climate crisis, and to confront far-right violence.
Young people are always at the cutting edge of movements to change society. We are the shock troops of all revolutionary struggles – from Serbia, to Kenya, to Bangladesh.
We are not bogged down by the defeats of the past, nor by the crushing routine of adult life. We have our eyes wide open to the world as it is. And we have the energy and determination to fight!
As Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin put it in 1906:
“We are the party of the future, and the future belongs to the youth. We are a party of innovators, and it is always the youth that most eagerly follows the innovators. We are a party that is waging a self-sacrificing struggle against the old rottenness, and youth is always the first to undertake a self-sacrificing struggle.”
Corbyn’s new party
The announcement of a new party by left-wing MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has been met with enthusiasm and curiosity by young people.
And no wonder. Since the defeat of the last Corbyn movement, young people’s attitudes and aspirations have had barely any reflection in party politics.
10 years ago, Corbyn winning the Labour Party leadership electrified the youth. Voter turnout amongst 18-25 year-olds almost doubled in the 2017 election, attracted by Corbyn’s socialist message.
Young people flooded to Corbyn rallies across the country on an overwhelming scale. The media talked about a ‘youthquake’, which became the word of the year.
2,000+ kids at the Brighton youth #ClimateStrike are shutting down the centre of town to the sound of ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’ pic.twitter.com/mf6vTyldYG
— Callum Cant (@CallumCant1) March 15, 2019
My boi Jeremy Corbyn packing the street out in Hyde Park, Leeds #votelabour🌹 #jeremycorbyn pic.twitter.com/tZ48pbtiea
— Tom Woolley 🐦 (@tcwoolley) May 15, 2017
Incidentally, it was after attending one of these rallies in Gateshead at age 17 that I first decided to get involved in socialist politics. The same is undoubtedly true of many my age.
Today, young people have never been more alienated from the establishment and its parties. There’s a burning desire for radical change, and very little to give it a clear expression.
Already, therefore, without a proper name or a full programme, more than one third of 18-24 year-olds say they would consider voting for a Corbyn-led party – the highest of any age bracket. This support is also evident on social media and in conversations on the street.
18% of Britons would consider voting for a Corbyn-led party. 36% among those 18-24 year old. @YouGov poll https://t.co/xwNNC5LqjN pic.twitter.com/aOGodoSIqA
— Jorge Martin ☭ (@marxistJorge) July 9, 2025
With Starmer’s Labour set to lower the voting age to 16 at the next general election, and the potential appeal of Corbyn and Sultana’s party to young people, the youth vote could well become a crucial factor in the upcoming election.
In turn, this could bring a fresh layer of young people into organised political activism. But that doesn’t mean they’d have any less hatred and distrust of Westminster and its politicians.
Young people today have few illusions in the ‘kinder, gentler politics’ espoused by Corbyn the first time around. They would look to the possible election of a left government as a chance to strike a blow against the entire rigged system.
Generation Revolution
One of the biggest shortcomings of ‘Corbynism 1.0’ was that, despite its seismic support amongst the youth, young people themselves were never put in the drivers’ seat of the movement.
Labour Student clubs and Young Labour branches, with some exceptions, remained breeding grounds for Blairites and careerists. No concerted effort was made to turn the passive support amongst the youth into an active, organised force.
This was ultimately down to the reformist outlook of Corbyn and co. Just as they were unwilling to break with capitalism, so too were they unwilling to wage war with the right-wing agents of capitalism within their own party.
The potential that existed was therefore unfortunately squandered. This same mistake can’t be allowed again.
In order for this new party to truly fight for the interests of workers and young people, it needs to adopt a radical anti-capitalist programme, and an uncompromising, class-struggle outlook.
This would resonate with the consciousness of ‘Generation Revolution’ far more than reheated reformism.
A bold revolutionary programme to stop the genocide; to provide housing, jobs, and free education; and to expropriate the billionaires and profiteers – this could instantly become a point of reference for millions.
An open appeal to school, college, and university students – as well as young workers, apprentices, and unemployed people – to organise meetings and rallies in support of such a programme: this could be the catalyst for yet another ‘youthquake’.
The Revolutionary Communist Party, with its presence in over 50 universities and colleges, is organising young people around such a programme and perspective.
With results days here, schools back next month, and campuses opening back up soon after that, now is the time to educate, agitate, and organise.
If you want to fight to ensure that the movement is armed with the revolutionary programme we need, then join the RCP today!
For a party of the youth! For a party of the future!
Generation Revolution: Get organised!
