"We should listen to these kids and pay attention. They have the luxury of having a conscience and not being ground down by the weight of obligation and worry. The kids can see with clear eyes."

A friend of mine said this about the pro-Palestine protests at our local university. The more I think about it the more I like it. It's, like, the opposite framing of "you'll understand when you're older" or "they don't know what it's like in the real world" or whatever.

I love the implication that these concerns of the "real world" are, in fact, artificial impositions that cloud our judgement, rather than inevitable constraints that must be accommodated. Bowing our ideals to the "realities of adulthood" is just accommodating the comfort of those of us who have carved out a space in a fucked up system. Maybe some things are more important than our comfort.