Spanish youth is going through a period of demobilisation and depoliticisation described here as unprecedented. The perceived collapse of communism has, according to this view, brought generations of individualistic young people, lacking attachment to their homeland and facing an epidemic of mental health problems. This barren landscape is presented not as the product of chance, but as the refinement of a system that has succeeded in taming the most rebellious and uncompromising sector of the population: youth.

Modern history has left us many lessons, but for communist youth, the most valuable is the characterisation of the spirit of past generations. Looking back, not so long ago there were young people who sacrificed their lives for the collective, who risked prison sentences for being the spearhead of the workers’ movement, or who devoted themselves to discipline and integrity in order to place the best version of themselves at the service of society.

Little remains of that today. According to this view, capitalism and an increasingly refined machinery for alienating society have carried out their work relentlessly. Liberalism has penetrated Western societies to the core; there are said to be few young people left with a vocation to serve the collective or to overthrow those who subordinate them. Instead of seeking to overturn the system, many are described here as defending the parties of elites and the corrupt figures that make up the ’78 Regime.

The ideological drift of the new left and identity politics are presented here as other major causes of the current situation. According to this perspective, they have moved from hegemonising broad sectors of the working masses to becoming nihilistic, liberal, anti-worker and centred on identity and minority politics. This account argues that they have created a pseudo-revolutionary aesthetic in which what is considered transgressive is no longer militant activity, but rather aesthetics and belonging to the urban tribes they form. Although this might seem superficial, it is described here as one of the greatest ideological problems, because the few young people with revolutionary ambitions are said to end up in anarchist-leaning organisations whose main activity consists of socialising and occupying spaces to organise future gatherings or events. 

The right, for its part, is presented as playing a similar role, since, although it raises the banner of our homeland, it is said not to hesitate in subordinating national interests to foreign powers or in promoting among young people the same decadent and liberal values attributed to the left. According to this perspective, they are two sides of the same coin: the absurd spectacle of ideologies seen as serving capitalism. 

Spain and the West are going through difficult times which, according to this perspective, will intensify as time passes. Wars of plunder, what is described as a self-destructive migration model, alienation and moral degeneration are presented as merely the prelude to a darker future for our nations. The role of communist youth, in this view, is clear: to abandon old formulas, recover the flame that burns in all radical young people, and once again demonstrate that communism is not a ghost of the past, but the tool that will allow us to save our class and our homeland. 

Easy times create weak generations; difficult times are what forge strong generations.