The "Generation-Z" Trap: How Bourgeois Identity Politics Obscures Class Struggle
"Every
new generation encounters definite conditions already existing, ready-made when
that generation was born." Stalin, Talk With the German Author
Emil Ludwig
It is a fact that each generation
develops its own character within society, directly influenced by the existing
environment in which it lives. And this character interacts with others and, to
a degree, together they manage to affect the rest of the population in
different shapes and forms: political-apolitical, identity politics-class
politics, conscious-false conscious, manipulated-politically mature, etc. The
capitalist scheme is to create a generation of young people who are politically
naive, ignorant of history, with deviant lifestyles and opposing ideologies,
easy to manipulate (confusion on subjects like freedom and democracy), and
ready to oppose the revolutionary struggle against capitalism on the path of
socialism.
While each generation has its own character, the bourgeois concept of "Generation X, Y, Z" is a deliberate term and tool to erase class consciousness. "One of the bourgeoisie's greatest talents today is reproducing reality through language." This observation, offered by a socialist from Türkiye, cuts to the heart of contemporary ideological warfare. In the 21st century, the ruling class no longer needs to solely rely on police or military force to discipline the masses; it has perfected a subtler, more insidious weapon: the redefinition of social existence through terminology. The most glaring example of this is the global obsession with "Generation X," "Generation Y," and "Generation Z."
On the surface, these labels
appear to be harmless sociological terms—mere demographic markers for marketing
firms and pop-culture commentators. In reality, they represent a deliberate
bourgeois counter-revolutionary strategy and manipulative use of youth. This
conscious shift, from "class politics" to "identity
politics," is a capitalist scheme aimed at dividing the working class and
neutralizing the revolutionary potential of the youth. Their main purpose is
not concealed—as can be seen in the bourgeois theory of the "clash of
cultures" and "clash of generations"—which is to erase the name
of the working class from the lexicon, and with it, the very possibility of
class consciousness. Because what does not exist in language cannot exist in
thought. When the proletariat is rendered invisible, the class struggle is
replaced by a sterile, manufactured "clash of generations."
In no way do I deny that
successive generations develop distinct characteristics. As Stalin
acknowledged, each new generation encounters "definite conditions already
existing, ready-made" at the time of their birth. However, the character
of a generation is determined by its material conditions—its relation to the
means of production, the economic crises it inherits, and the class struggles
it witnesses. The character of a generation is never determined by the
arbitrary accident of a birth year. A billionaire's heir born in 2000 and a
homeless peasant's child born in the same year share no common relation to
production, no common material interest, and no common historical destiny. To
bind them under a single "generational" banner is not sociology; it
is ideological erasure.
Drawing upon the Marxist-Leninist
theory of knowledge and the writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and
Dimitrov, in this article I will try to expose the bourgeois origins of
"Generation Politics." I will contrast how the rising generation is
shaped under socialist versus capitalist systems, critique the false
"universal morality" that accompanies generational discourse, and
demonstrate how the bourgeoisie has cynically transformed class politics into
identity politics. I will further clarify the Leninist-Stalinist principle of
conditional support for oppressed groups—acknowledging real national, racial,
and gender oppressions only insofar as they are subordinated to the unifying
struggle of the proletariat. At the same time, I will be exposing "Generation
Z" as the purest ideological fabrication—a statistical cohort disguised as
a historical subject, designed to politically neuter the youth and secure
capitalist rule for another generation.
I will expose the hypocrisy of
the capitalists in the use of the very term they fabricated, and make the
dialectical connection with "identity politics" in general as opposed
to "class politics."
II. Deconstructing the Bourgeois Theory: "Generations" as a Political Weapon
"One of
the bourgeoisie's greatest talents today is reproducing reality through
language." A Socialist from Türkiye
It always lies in the response to
who the predecessors of this generation are and how "the character"
is being transmitted to them.
The "Generation" label
is a bourgeois invention as part of the "clash of cultures" theory,
with which the bourgeoisie denies the class struggle and replaces it with the
clashes between cultures and generations. As if the subjects who will shape
history and shake the system of exploitation were not workers, peasants, the
unemployed, or students in their unity, but a generation defined by letters.
Yet, if Marx taught us anything, it is this: people's social existence
determines their consciousness. The misery of workers, the cries of the
unemployed, the peasants losing their land, the students grappling with a
futurelessness—all of this is not a "generation problem," but a class
contradiction.
This concept replaces the
contradiction between exploiters and exploited with a superficial conflict
between age groups. The concept of "Generation Z" was actually
invented to erase the name of the working class. Because what does not exist in
language cannot exist in thought. When the working class is not mentioned, it
seems as if there is no such thing as the working class anymore. Through the
elimination of the class concept, a sterile, ideological "generation"
is invented in its place.
This concept is promoted to
create division among the youth, promote "apolitical" lifestyles in
essence but "political" in the form of bourgeois narratives like
"freedom" and "democracy" in their bourgeois meaning.
Especially in the 1960s, the CIA started using "identity politics,"
one of which is generational identity, which was weaponized to break up the
Left by pitting groups against each other and overshadowing class identity.
II.A. Imperialist Function: The "Generation" Label as a Tool for Regime Change
"The bourgeoisie has one
of its greatest talents today reproducing reality through language."
— Socialist from Türkiye
The concept of
"generation" has been promoted and disseminated worldwide, and its
application has been actively exported to the Global South as a sophisticated
tool of regime change, color revolutions, and imperialist subversion.
Western intelligence agencies,
NGOs, and media outlets have systematically repackaged CIA-backed coups and
destabilization operations as "youth-led democratic uprisings." Local
youth, disillusioned by genuine economic grievances, are mobilized under the
banner of "Generation X, Y, Z," but their struggles are carefully
diverted from class struggle and directed towards pro-Western geopolitical
goals. Thus, through the use of "Generation X, Y, or Z," the
bourgeoisie achieves a double victory: domestically, it erases the working
class through generational identity; abroad, it uses the working class of other
nations to serve imperialist interests. In both cases, the
"generation" label is a weapon of subversion.
The Imperialist Playbook: From
Otpor (Resistance) to Euromaidan
The template for this strategy
was perfected in Serbia in 2000 with the U.S.-backed overthrow of Slobodan
Milošević. The Otpor ("Resistance") student group was celebrated in
Western media as a spontaneous "youth revolution." In reality, Otpor
was funded and trained by U.S. intelligence agencies—including the National
Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID)—equipped with nonviolent resistance training, branded merchandise, and
media coaching. The "youth" were mobilized against the Milošević
government, which resisted Western neoliberal impositions and NATO aggression
during the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.
Otpor served as a model for all
subsequent U.S.-backed color revolutions. Training manuals were exported to
Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and elsewhere. The "youth" were used as
a battering ram for U.S. geopolitical interests; the promise of "democracy"
served to mask the reality of neoliberal plunder, NATO expansion, and the
subjugation of sovereign states to imperialist capital.
Selected Case Studies: Gen Z
as Shock Troops for Imperialism
The table below illustrates this
pattern across multiple regions. In each case, the genuine grievances of young
people have been hijacked, amplified, and redirected toward regime change
objectives serving Western imperialist interests.
|
Country |
Year |
Western
Label |
Imperialist
Function |
|
Serbia |
2000 |
"Youth
revolution" (Otpor) |
NATO
expansion, removal of anti-Western government |
|
Georgia |
2003 |
"Rose
Revolution" (Kmara) |
U.S.
penetration of South Caucasus, encirclement of Russia |
|
Ukraine |
2004 /
2013-14 |
"Orange
Revolution" / "Euromaidan" |
NATO
expansion, severing Ukraine from Russian influence |
|
Kyrgyzstan |
2005 |
"Tulip
Revolution" |
U.S.-China
proxy struggle over Central Asian energy routes |
|
Egypt |
2011 |
"Arab
Spring youth" |
Destabilization
of West Asia, removal of Mubarak (initially) |
|
Libya |
2011 |
"Arab
Spring youth" |
NATO
overthrow of Gaddafi, resource extraction |
|
Syria |
2011-present |
"Youth-led
uprising" |
Regime
change, proxy war against Russia and Iran |
|
Hong Kong |
2019-20 |
"Gen Z
democracy movement" |
Destabilization
of China, pressure on Belt and Road Initiative |
|
Belarus |
2020 |
"Youth-led
protests" |
Destabilization
of Russia's border, attempted NATO expansion |
|
Armenia |
2018 |
"Velvet
Revolution" |
Shifting
Armenia away from Russia toward EU/NATO |
|
Myanmar |
2021-present |
"Youth
resistance" |
Destabilization
of China's BRI, access to the Indian Ocean |
|
Iran |
2022-23 |
"Gen Z
women's uprising" |
Regime
change, weakening of key U.S./Israel adversary |
|
Bangladesh |
2024 |
"Student-led
uprising" |
Destabilization
of independent foreign policy, pressure on China |
The Class Dimension Erased
In each of these cases, the
conflict was presented to the world and to local youth as a moral struggle
between "democracy" and "authoritarianism,"
"freedom" and "dictatorship," "young
progressives" and "old reactionaries." This framing was
deliberately designed to conceal the class dimension of the conflict:
Ukraine: The
Euromaidan protests were presented as a clash between "youth and a corrupt
regime," masking the fact that Ukrainian oligarchs (pro-Western and
pro-Russian groups) were vying for control of the state, while Ukrainian
workers and peasants were divided along nationalist lines. The result was a
U.S.-backed coup, civil war, and the establishment of a pro-NATO government
that devastated the Ukrainian working class.
Libya: In Western
media, the "youth uprising" against Gaddafi was celebrated as a
democratic awakening. In reality, NATO intervened to overthrow a regime that
protected the African Union, resisted Western resource exploitation, and
provided its people with a higher standard of living than any subsequent
government. The result was the collapse of the Libyan state, the return of
slavery, and the division of the country into warring principalities, all while
Western powers secured access to Libyan oil.
Hong Kong: The
protests were presented as a "youth-led pro-democracy movement." In
reality, however, they were organized and funded by external forces (U.S.-based
NGOs, remnants of British colonial rule, Taiwanese separatist elements) with
the explicit aim of destabilizing China. The "youth" were mobilized
against Beijing's policies, but Hong Kong's real problem is vast wealth
inequality and high housing prices—problems that can be solved not with
Western-style elections, but with socialist economic restructuring. The
"youth" were used as cannon fodder for U.S. geopolitical interests,
not for their own material freedom.
Iran: The 2022-23
protests were framed as a "Generation Z women's uprising" demanding
"freedom" against the Islamic Republic. While genuine grievances
against the regime's repressive social policies existed, the protests were
amplified and directed by external forces (U.S. intelligence, Saudi and Israeli
interests, Western-centric Persian media) with the explicit goal of regime
change. A Western-backed "democratic" government would almost
certainly implement neoliberal shock therapy, privatize state assets, and open
Iran to Western capital—this would devastate the Iranian working class. The
"youth" were mobilized against the regime, but their material
interests lay in resisting imperialism, not facilitating it.
Myanmar: The
post-2021 protests and armed resistance were supported by Western intelligence
agencies and regional allies with the aim of destabilizing China's Belt and
Road Initiative. The conflict is presented as "dictatorship versus
democracy," obscuring the fact that Myanmar's real crisis is the
overexploitation of its labor force by domestic and foreign capital, the
plundering of its natural resources, and ethnic divisions perpetuated by
colonial-era policies. A genuine revolutionary movement would unite Myanmar's—Shan,
Kachin, Rakhine, and other workers—against their common exploiters; it should
not divide them along ethnic or "generational" lines for the benefit
of external powers.
The Mechanism: How the
Imperialist "Generation" Trap Works
The imperialists' use of the
"Generation" label follows a consistent pattern:
- Identify grievances. The target country
has real, legitimate youth grievances: unemployment, lack of opportunity,
state corruption, social oppression. These grievances are real and should
not be ignored.
- Depoliticize and redirect. Western NGOs,
media, and intelligence agencies step in to provide a framework for these
grievances; however, they carefully steer them away from class-based
analysis and towards Western-style "democracy," "human
rights," and "freedom." Young people are told that their
problems are not capitalism or imperialism, but their own
"authoritarian" governments.
- Erase class consciousness. Young people
are rebranded as "Generation X, Y, Z," a demographic group with
a shared identity based on birth year, not class position. This erases the
fact that wealthy young people in the capital and poor young people in
rural areas have nothing in common materially. It only unites them under a
false flag.
- Mobilization for regime change. The
"generation" is mobilized to demand a change of government, but
not a change of system. The aim is to replace one pro-Western or
anti-Western government with another, depending on the current imperialist
interests. Young people are promised "democracy," but they are
met with neoliberal austerity policies, privatization, and constant
subservience to global capital.
- Abandoning the youth. Once regime change
is achieved, Western powers move on. The youth are left with the same
economic grievances—often worse—and lack a revolutionary framework to
address them. The cycle repeats in the next country.
Lenin's Warning on Imperialist
Manipulation
Lenin, in Imperialism,
the Highest Stage of Capitalism, warned that imperialism would increasingly
rely on dividing the working class of oppressed nations to maintain its
dominance. The "Generation" label is a modern expression of this
strategy: it divides the youth of the Global South from their own class
interests and attaches them to the geopolitical interests of imperialist
powers.
As Dimitrov warned in his fight
against fascism:
"Depriving
the young generation of working people of all rights, the fascist governments
militarize the entire youth, and try to train from their ranks obedient slaves
of finance capital in civil as well as imperialist war."
Today, the method is more
sophisticated—but the purpose is the same. The "Generation" label is
used to create obedient slaves of finance capital, not through military
conscription alone, but through ideological conscription. The youth are made to
believe they are fighting for "freedom," when in fact they are
fighting for the freedom of capital to exploit their nations without
resistance.
The Dual Function of the
"Generation" Label
The "Generation"
concept serves a dual imperialist function:
- Domestically (in imperialist countries):
It erases the working class, replaces class struggle with generational
identity, and ensures that the youth of the imperialist core remain
politically naive, historically ignorant, and incapable of revolutionary
consciousness.
- Internationally (in the Global South): It
serves as a tool for regime change, color revolutions, and imperialist
subversion. It mobilizes genuine youth grievances, redirects them toward
pro-Western objectives, and leaves the youth of oppressed nations divided,
confused, and ultimately exploited.
In both functions, the
bourgeoisie achieves its goal: the working class—whether in the imperialist
core or the oppressed periphery—is fragmented, demobilized, and rendered
incapable of uniting against its common enemy. The "Generation" label
is not a sociological observation; it is a weapon of class war, wielded by the
bourgeoisie to maintain its global domination.
Dialectical Hypocrisy:
Palestine, Afghanistan, Venezuela
The hypocrisy of this imperialist
deployment is nowhere more evident than in Palestine, Afghanistan, and
Venezuela.
Palestine: Western
media celebrates Palestinian youth as "Gen Z activists" when they
document their suffering, but brands them as "terrorists" the moment
they engage in armed resistance against occupation—reducing a national
liberation struggle to digital content. The "Gen Z" label is
selectively applied to depoliticize their struggle, reducing it to "youth
energy" rather than a national liberation movement against settler
colonialism. Palestinian youth are not a "generation" defined by
birth year—they are a colonized population subjected to military occupation,
land theft, siege, and periodic mass slaughter. Their "identity" is
not demographic; it is the identity of an oppressed nation fighting for its
survival. The Palestinian working class—whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or the
diaspora—is united not by a birth year, but by its common exploitation under
Israeli capital and its common resistance to imperialist-Zionist domination.
The "Gen Z" label divides them from their own class and national struggle.
Afghanistan: Afghan
youth are mourned as a "lost generation" under the Taliban, while the
U.S. occupation that destroyed their country—bombing schools, killing children,
displacing millions—is erased from the narrative. The same powers that bombed
Afghan schools, killed Afghan children, and displaced millions now weep for the
"lost generation." Afghan youth are not "lost" because of
the Taliban; they are impoverished, traumatized, and dispossessed because U.S.
imperialism devastated their country. Afghan workers, peasants, and urban poor
are united by their shared poverty, their dependence on remittances, and their
resistance to both foreign occupation and domestic reaction. A genuine
revolutionary movement would unite them against imperialism and feudalism
alike—not divide them into "generations" that have no material basis.
Venezuela: Venezuelan
youth are depicted as "pro-democracy" protesters against
"dictatorship," while the U.S. sanctions that have starved them,
devalued their wages, and destroyed their economy are actively celebrated in
Washington. Western media portrays Venezuelan youth as "pro-democracy
protesters" against the "dictatorship" of Nicolás Maduro, while
ignoring that U.S. sanctions—not the Bolivarian government—are responsible for
the economic crisis driving their desperation. Venezuelan youth are not
"pro-democracy" because they love the U.S. political system; they are
desperate because sanctions have destroyed their economy, devalued their wages,
and made basic necessities unaffordable. Venezuelan workers, peasants, and
informal sector laborers are united not by a birth year, but by their common
struggle against U.S. imperialism and their common need for food, medicine, and
employment. A genuine revolutionary movement would defend the Bolivarian
process while demanding radical reforms from within—not align with U.S. imperialist
objectives under the banner of "democracy."
In each case, the
"Generation" label serves not to understand the youth, but to
weaponize their suffering for imperialist objectives.
III. The Marxist-Leninist Theory of Knowledge and Generational Transmission
"Every
new generation encounters definite conditions already existing, ready-made when
that generation was born." Stalin
Materialist Conception of
Knowledge
This materialist conception of
knowledge is not abstract theory—it has concrete implications for how
generations are formed under different social systems.
According to Marxist theory of
knowledge:
"Social
knowledge can only come into existence on the basis of a development of
material production in the process of which every new generation receives from
its predecessor, together with the accumulated heritage of productive forces, a
heritage of experience embodied in a known sum of knowledge."
From generation to generation,
each acquires new "knowledge," perspectives, aspirations, and goals. A
person could use the knowledge not only of previous generations, but also of
his contemporaries. Each individual would have to begin the knowledge of the
objective world from the beginning. Only with the help of oral and written
speech do people pass on from generation to generation, continuously
accumulating knowledge and thus moving science forward. Thanks to this, as
Engels pointed out, people do not need "that every single
individual should personally experience everything in his own experience; his
individual experience may, to a certain extent, be replaced by the results of
the experience of a number of his ancestors."
Marx and Engels, in The
German Ideology, explain the material basis of generational succession:
"History is nothing but the
succession of the separate generations, each of which exploits the materials,
the capital funds, the productive forces handed down to it by all preceding
generations, and thus, on the one hand, continues the traditional activity in
completely changed circumstances and, on the other, modifies the old
circumstances with a completely changed activity."
"History does not end by
being resolved into 'self-consciousness as spirit of the spirit,' but that in
it at each stage there is found a material result: a sum of productive forces,
a historically created relation of individuals to nature and to one another,
which is handed down to each generation from its predecessor; a mass of
productive forces, capital funds and conditions, which, on the one hand, is
indeed modified by the new generation, but also on the other prescribes for it
its conditions of life and gives it a definite development, a special
character. It shows that circumstances make men just as much as men make
circumstances."
"This sum of productive
forces, capital funds and social forms of intercourse, which every individual
and generation finds in existence as something given, is the real basis of what
the philosophers have conceived as 'substance' and 'essence of man,' and what
they have deified and attacked; a real basis which is not in the least
disturbed, in its effect and influence on the development of men, by the fact
that these philosophers revolt against it as 'self-consciousness' and the
'Unique.' These conditions of life, which different generations find in
existence, decide also whether or not the periodically recurring revolutionary
convulsion will be strong enough to overthrow the basis of the entire existing
system."
The Role of the Predecessors
The role of the
"predecessors," as well as the existence of a strong socialist
organization and media, are crucial in shaping the minds and perspectives of
the new "generation." As Lenin stated:
"A whole
generation of the revolutionary proletariat was backed by Pravda, the
generation which subsequently made the October Socialist Revolution. Special
importance is attached by the Party to the molding of the rising
generation."
Lenin, What Is To Be Done?
In the absence or weakness of socialist educational tools, organizations, and parties, capitalist media and academic institutions, along with other state institutions, will shape the minds and perspectives of the "generation" and use them as a tool for counter-revolution and government change practices that serve their own interests.
IV. Comparative Analysis:
Forming the New Generation
"Any
being only considers itself independent when it stands on its own two feet, and
it only stands on its own two feet when it exists on its own." Marx, Economic
and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
A) Under Socialism
The transformation of the old
capitalist society—the upbringing, training, and education of the new
generations that will create the communist society—cannot be conducted on the
old lines. The teaching, training, and education of the youth must proceed from
the material that has been left to us by the old society.
"Only by
radically remoulding the teaching, organisation and training of the youth shall
we be able to ensure that the efforts of the younger generation will result in
the creation of a society that will be unlike the old society, i.e., in the
creation of a communist society."
"If you
were to ask why the teachings of Marx have been able to win the hearts and
minds of millions and tens of millions of the most revolutionary class, you
would receive only one answer: it was because Marx based his work on the firm
foundation of the human knowledge acquired under capitalism."
"This has
to be learnt for oneself, and it must be taught to the entire rising generation
of working people."
"It was the
task of the older generation to overthrow the bourgeoisie. The main task then
was to criticise the bourgeoisie, arouse hatred of the bourgeoisie among the
masses, and foster class-consciousness and the ability to unite their forces.
The new generation is confronted with a far more complex task."
"That is
the task you should pursue in educating, training and rousing the entire
younger generation."
"That is
why we say that to us there is no such thing as a morality that stands outside
human society; that is a fraud." Lenin, The Tasks of the Youth Leagues
The Democratic People's Republic
of Korea's "Protection of the Elderly Law," regarding the
transmission of a "noble struggle mentality," states:
"The
elderly are the advanced generation who have devotedly worked by dedicating
their wisdom and passion in the struggle for the consolidation and development
of the State and society and the creation of economic and cultural
wealth."
"The
elderly participating in societal activities is work that passes on the noble
struggle mentality and experience, and the popular culture and customs, of the
advanced generation to the rising generation, and serves society using their
knowledge and abilities."
Dimitrov, in Youth
Against Fascism, spells out the task:
"We can and
must place in opposition to it the union of all anti-fascist forces and, first
and foremost, the union of all the forces of the young generation of working
people, at the same time enhancing a thousandfold the role and activity of the
youth in the struggle of the working class for its own interests, for its own
cause."
B) Under Capitalism
Expectedly, the scheme of
capitalists is to create a generation of young people who are politically
naive, ignorant of history, with deviant lifestyles and opposing ideologies,
easy to manipulate and ready to oppose the revolutionary struggle against capitalism
on the path of socialism.
Under socialism and socialist
education, the aim is to form a class-"conscious" generation. Under
capitalist conditions and capitalist education, the aim is to form "false
consciousness," having the youth think and act against their own class.
The divergence in material
conditions under socialism—or under the influence of socialist education—and
capitalism inevitably produces two irreconcilable political moral systems.
V. Morality: Bourgeois
Universalism vs. Proletarian Class Morality
"We say
that our morality is entirely subordinated to the interests of the
proletariat's class struggle. Our morality stems from the interests of the
class struggle of the proletariat." Lenin, The Tasks of the Youth Leagues,
October 2, 1920
The bourgeoisie, having invented
the new concept of "generation," attached to it its old political
morality—"democracy," "freedom," and "freedom of
speech"—presenting these as the foundation of youth morality, as if they
existed outside of society and class interest.
For Marxist-Leninists, a
conception of morality existing "outside of human society" is an
ideological myth designed to preserve class privilege. By framing moral rules
as eternal, divine, or universal, the ruling class conceals the fact that morality
is actually created by humans to serve specific economic interests. Marx and
Engels explain that moral concepts stem entirely from the material reality of
class conflict, rather than from an objective realm. They point out that past
societies were based on class exploitation and shared similar oppressive
realities; therefore, their moral frameworks only appear "eternal"
because class structures persist. Lenin explicitly targeted any conception of
morality derived from "non-human" or "non-class" concepts
such as God's commandments or abstract idealist philosophies. He declared these
concepts to be entirely "fraudulent" and a tool for "dumbing
down workers and peasants."
Lenin argued that proclaiming a
universal conception of morality independent of human society was a deliberate
ploy by the ruling class. This conceals the material reality that landowners
and capitalists exploit the working class. It appeases the oppressed by
convincing them that existing property laws and social structures are bound by
eternal, sacred rules. As Lenin clearly stated, as long as class divisions
still exist, any moral code claiming to speak on behalf of all humanity is an
ideological weapon used to protect private property. Arguing otherwise is a false consciousness for the members of the laboring masses.
"It is all
the more necessary to dwell on this question because in a certain sense it may
be said that it is the youth that will be faced with the actual task of
creating a communist society. For it is clear that the generation of working
people brought up in capitalist society can, at best, accomplish the task of
destroying the foundations of the old, the capitalist way of life, which was
built on exploitation. At best it will be able to accomplish the tasks of
creating a social system that will help the proletariat and the working classes
retain power and lay a firm foundation, which can be built on only by a
generation that is starting to work under the new conditions, in a situation in
which relations based on the exploitation of man by man no longer exist."
Lenin, The Tasks of the
Youth Leagues
True morality serves to "help
human society rise to a higher level and rid itself of the exploitation of
labour."
"To us
morality is subordinated to the interests of the proletariat's class
struggle."
"When
people tell us about morality, we say: to a Communist all morality lies in this
united discipline and conscious mass struggle against the exploiters. We do not
believe in eternal morality, and we expose the falseness of all the fables
about morality. Morality serves the purpose of helping human society rise to a
higher level and rid itself of the exploitation of labour."
"To achieve
this we need that generation of young people who began to reach political
maturity in the midst of a disciplined and desperate struggle against the
bourgeoisie. In this struggle that generation is training genuine
Communists…"
"As long as
the workers and peasants are oppressed by the landowners and capitalists, and
as long as the schools are controlled by the landowners and capitalists, the
young generation will remain blind and ignorant."
Lenin, The Tasks of the Youth
Leagues
This bourgeois political morality
finds its most sophisticated expression in the transformation of class politics
into identity politics.
VI. The Transformation of "Class Politics" into "Identity Politics"
"Working-class
consciousness cannot be genuine political consciousness unless the workers are
trained to react to all cases of tyranny, oppression, violence, and abuse, no
matter what class is affected — unless they are trained, moreover, to react from
a Social-Democratic point of view and no other." Lenin, What Is To Be Done?
"After
all, the fact that we recognize the right of all citizens to form free
associations does not at all commit us." Lenin, The National
Question in Our Programme
In classical Marxist-Leninist
theory, we cannot find a specific treatise on "identity politics"
because the term itself is a post-1960s bourgeois-academic invention. We can,
however, find related approaches in the rigorous treatment of the National
Question (Stalin's Marxism and the National Question) and the
Women's Question (Lenin/Krupskaya/Zetkin).
Identity politics is a product of
capitalism and its intelligence agencies' subversion to destroy the Left's
material analysis of power relations under capitalism. Identity politics,
especially during the late 1960s, became a CIA and other institutions tactic to
divide and conquer the Left, pitting groups against each other, overshadowing
"class identity" and class struggle.
The precise Marxist-Leninist
position is that we support the struggle of oppressed groups (identities like
nationalities, women, racialized minorities) against specific capitalist
oppressions, but this support is tactical, conditional, and strictly subordinated
to the overarching class struggle. It is not a permanent alliance with their
bourgeoisie or a replacement for proletarian internationalism.
As Stalin clarified, while we
support the just struggles of oppressed nationalities and groups against their
suppressors, this support is never unconditional. It depends entirely on
whether that struggle strengthens, or weakens, the unity of the proletariat.
Bourgeois identity politics—and specifically its latest offspring,
"Generation politics"—reverses this formula. It demands that the
proletariat fracture itself along demographic lines, precisely so the
capitalist class can remain intact. Lenin's words remind us that recognition of
oppressed groups does not imply permanent alliance. Our support is always
conditional, always subordinated to the unity of the proletariat.
Unlike nationality or
gender—which, while distorted by bourgeois politics, at least originate from
tangible historical divisions in the material relations of production—the
so-called "Generation Z" has no basis in political economy
whatsoever. It is neither a class, nor a nation, nor a historically oppressed
group. "Generation Z" is not even a historically oppressed group; it
is a statistical cohort. It has no material history, no unique relation to
production, and no objective class interest. It is the purest ideological
fabrication of the bourgeoisie to ensure that working-class youth never
recognize their true enemy.
The ultimate aim is to abolish
the material conditions that create these oppressions of identities, not to
manage or police each and every identity. Bourgeois "identity
politics" takes this Marxist-Leninist principle and turns it upside down.
It severs the oppressed group from the proletariat and elevates their specific
oppression to the primary contradiction. Instead of uniting workers across
racial/gender lines against capital, it pits oppressed groups against each
other in a hierarchy of victimhood, effectively dividing the working class. It
changes the demand from "end the capitalist system that exploits
us all" to "manage society so my specific identity
group gets a bigger share of the spoils."
A rich bourgeois Gen-Z kid and a
poor proletarian Gen-Z kid have nothing in common in their relation to the
means of production. By defining them by their birth year, the bourgeoisie
creates a completely artificial, ahistorical category. Therefore, "Generation
Politics" is an even more degenerate form of identity politics than race
or gender identity politics. At least race and gender have a tangible history
of systemic exploitation under capitalism. "Generation Z" is purely
demographic—a floating signifier designed to erase class entirely.
The bourgeoisie uses language to
change the battlefield. "Because what doesn't exist in language
can't exist in thought." By eliminating the concept of the
worker, they eliminate the existence of the struggle. Thus, "identity
politics" replaces material analysis. It focuses on individual traits
rather than the collective economic exploitation of the proletariat.
Having replaced class with
identity, the bourgeoisie must now ensure that the youth remain theoretically
unprepared to see through the deception.
VII. The Danger of Superficial Knowledge (The "Quotation" Generation)
The aim of the socialists is to
create a generation capable of building Communism, not just destroying the old.
Reading Stalin (Conversation on Political Economy), we notice that the
problem we are facing today—including in the existing socialist states,
probably with the exception of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea—is not
so much different from what it was during the Soviet times.
"We need
our cadres to be well aware of Marxist economic theory."
"The
first, older generation of Bolsheviks was theoretically savvy. We crammed
Capital, took notes, argued, checked each other. This was our strength. This
helped us a lot."
"The
second generation is less prepared. People were busy with practical work and
construction. Marxism was studied from pamphlets."
"The
third generation is being brought up on feuilletons and newspaper articles.
They don't have deep knowledge. They need to be given food that is digestible.
Most of them were brought up not by studying the works of Marx and Lenin, but
by quotations." Stalin, Conversation
on Political Economy
Memorizing and sloganizing
theories from quotations—and applying them as a prescription that fits all
conditions—stems from either petty-bourgeois laziness or the confusion that
theories are immutable principles. Theories are, in fact, the generalization of
conclusions drawn from specific analyses under specific conditions. It is
crucially important for the Marxist-Leninist to return to reading and
re-reading Lenin and Stalin, not contending with "quotes," especially
without understanding the entire context. A Marxist-Leninist does not, and
cannot, know "everything"; that is why they constantly study
Marxism-Leninism from its main sources and research to deepen their knowledge,
which is a responsibility and an unending task.
Another necessity for studying
Marxism-Leninism is the application of the dialectics of Marxism when applying
a theory to any given conditions. Marxism-Leninism without the application of
the dialectics of Marxism turns it into a soulless theory learned by rote,
abstract slogans, and statements repeated on any given issue.
With these warnings in mind, we
return to the revolutionary task that faces the rising generation.
VIII. Conclusion: The Revolutionary Task of the Youth
The task of socialist media is to
expose the nature of the concept of Gen Z. Inform and call upon the younger
generation to reject the labels of "Gen Z" and embrace their identity
as workers and students fighting the system.
The new generation must not
merely inherit the world but "radically remold the teaching,
organisation and training of the youth" to achieve socialism.
The struggle is not between
generations, but between capital and labor. The path forward is not
"Identity Politics" but the relentless class struggle for socialism.
We do not believe in eternal
morality, especially the bourgeois "morality" imposed on the youth in
the form of "democracy and freedom," and we expose the falseness of
all the fables about morality. Lenin's words to the Youth Leagues in 1920 ring
with prophetic urgency today. The fable of our era is the
"Generation"—a myth propagated by the bourgeoisie to convince young
workers that their primary conflict is with their parents, their elders, or
their cultural peers, rather than with the capitalist system that exploits them
all. By replacing the material analysis of class with the demographic
abstraction of "Gen Z," the ruling class seeks to ensure that the
youth remain politically naive, historically ignorant, and easy to manipulate.
We have seen that the Marxist
theory of knowledge teaches us otherwise. Consciousness is not born from a
birth certificate; it is forged in the crucible of material production and
class struggle. The "knowledge" transmitted to the rising generation
is either the revolutionary science of Marxism-Leninism—which arms the youth to
overthrow exploitation—or the bourgeois poison of identity politics, which
fractures the working class into isolated, competing factions. The
bourgeoisie's "clash of cultures" and "clash of
generations" are nothing but ideological smokescreens designed to obscure
the only genuine contradiction of our time: the irreconcilable antagonism
between capital and labor.
Let us be unequivocal. Marxists
do not dismiss the real sufferings of oppressed nationalities, women, or
racialized groups under capitalism. Following Stalin's clarification, we offer
our unconditional support to their struggle against their suppressors—but
this support is tactical, conditional, and strictly subordinated to the
overarching unity of the proletariat. We support the oppressed as long as the
condition remains current and insofar as they are part of the working masses,
not as separate political endpoints. However, the invention of "Generation
Z" does not even qualify for this conditional support. It has no history
of systemic exploitation, no unique relation to the means of production, and no
objective class interest. It is a hollow statistical container, intentionally
emptied of class content so that it may be filled with apolitical consumerism,
digital distractions, and cultural friction.
The older generation of
Bolsheviks had the task of overthrowing the bourgeoisie. They accomplished this
by studying Capital, debating theory, and uniting the workers under
the banner of scientific socialism. Today's generation faces an equally complex
task: to reject the labels imposed upon them by their oppressors, to dig deep
into the theoretical foundations of Marxism-Leninism, and to recognize that
their salvation lies not in "generational rebellion," but in
disciplined, conscious class struggle. History is not a succession of birth
cohorts; it is the succession of class struggles. The youth must choose whether
to remain a passive demographic statistic, or to become active historical
subjects alongside the workers, peasants, and unemployed in the revolutionary
fight for socialism.
The bourgeoisie offers them an
identity; Marxism offers them a weapon. The choice is theirs—and history will
judge their decision.
August 23, 2026
