So what to do now? Fox ran the risk of looking like they recklessly endorsed a policy that was putting their loyal viewers in the cross hairs. Even the most devoted audience might at some point question this position. Also, with older conservatives laughing it off, and taking selfies in crowded places, young people, who were reportedly less at risk from the virus, definitely didn't have to be worried. As a result many carried on business as usual, including typical spring break debauchery.
Of course this didn't apply equally to all young people because many have children. (Boomers tend to forget that many millennials are also parents.)
So the messaging in conservative media quickly pivoted. All of a sudden, the same media which decried the virus as a hoax, now said it was a grave threat to the elderly and attacked the spring beach revelers as "reckless, selfish young people" defying the somehow suddenly dangerous virus. The pundits railed against these young people's nearly sociopathic lack of concern for their elders. "This could kill your grandparents!" they scolded.
In reality, many young people were being responsible right from the start. These young people after all put much more faith in science than the conservative boomer. They also tend to see things from a global perspective rather than a strictly American one. I had many young people tell me they were shocked at how many older people seemed to be blowing off the warnings about the virus in spite of what was happening all around the world.
None the less, conservative media railed against the young with all the familiar insults and condemnations. The most amusing part of watching this was that the 180 degree pivot happened so fast that many conservatives who adopted the message of a "democratic hoax" and were so eager to show a fearless courage in ignoring it, were still out there being reckless while also condemning the younger generation for doing so. Ah such pure hypocrisy!
The response from young people to all this criticism was detached indifference. Millenials have been attacked by conservative boomers as a group for their entire adult life. The barrage of undeserved insults has been going on for so long that the boomers didn't even realize that it was gen z on the beaches at Spring break, not millenials as most millennials have graduated college and have children in school.
As for both millenials and gen z, the constant derision by boomers has given them quite a thick skin. Many tell me they have felt abandoned by their elders. They feel our society doesn't care to offer them the same support structure that benefited generations of young people before them, including the boomers.
From some there was palpable hurt and cynicism. "What have they (Boomers) ever done for me?" Another told me, "I wonder if they realize that young people are so poor and can't afford a vacation so maybe they took advantage of the low prices as their only chance to go. And they surely aren't going to cancel if they've already paid for it" This generational gap was only exacerbated by the conservative media once again excoriating young adults as a whole for the irresponsible acts of a few beach goers - especially when that same media was saying it was all a hoax only a week before.
My point here is not to excuse the young people who disregarded the warnings and went on Spring break anyway. Obviously a poor choice. Their acts deserve criticism. But what I hope to contrast here is the underlying reason for the generational hostility that was highlighted by this virus and the media coverage of it.
The conservative boomers who readily bemoaned the youth's lack of compassion for their elders, their selfish acts of of being "carriers" when they probably won't succumb to the disease themselves, should pause for some much needed self reflection on how we got here. But I don't expect that to happen any more than I expect a sign of humility or an act of contrition from Donald Trump.
Some older conservatives, especially those of the religious community are still patting themselves on the back as the responsible "tough" generation while still engaging in their own boomer "crowd challenge" continuing to go to large church services, to casinos and shopping as usual. In Louisiana pastor Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge held services busing in roughly 1,000 people for services. Even as church members test positive and even die, the pastors continue to say God will protect them.
As for the so called liberal media, they eagerly jumped on the band wagon of attacking the youth at the beach for one time spring break event, yet mega church services packed to the brim with senior citizens were hardly being mentioned as they continued to hold services week after week. Why? Because even liberal media is dominated by older Americans.
The left and right media has become the battle of the boomers. Neoliberal Hillary Clinton supporters vs. Neocon Trump supporters. The youth are for the most part excluded from the political and mainstream media except when needed as a punching bag or a scapegoat.
The political divide in our country is much more than left vs right. And this virus, and our reaction to it, much like the democratic primary exposed, is a divide between an aging demographic struggling to maintain its grip on power and a youth completely detached from it - looming as the inevitable force to change the world.
Many young adults have taken an approach to this crisis that I said critics of Donald Trump should have taken a long time ago. Rather than fight him, insult him, attack him, get into propaganda wars with him, whine about him etc. They should have stepped up and done their jobs in spite of him. Politicians at all levels should have risen to the occasion and made Trump and his incompetence irrelevant.
It has been a sad divide to witness. My grandmother was my greatest ally. My self concerned boomer parents are the model of the Fox News audience. I am somewhere in the middle, hoping to support and encourage my children. I want to have the bond with my grandchildren that my grandmother and I shared.
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