No Gen Z, it’s not over. While the passionate words of those who feel disconnected from the current path are loud and clear, they often mistake a period of necessary repair for a final ending. It is common for a younger generation to feel that the systems around them are slow or outdated, especially when compared to the instant world of smartphones and social media. However, what is often seen as a “disconnect” is actually a difference in responsibility. While the youth look at the speed of the future, the senior guardians of this nation must look at the safety and stability of the present. To say that the story of our nation is finished is to ignore the deep roots that are still holding us steady in a very stormy world.
The permanent institutions of our state, which some might call the “Senior Stewards,” are doing an amazing job that rarely gets the credit it deserves. Their work is not found in catchy headlines or viral videos, but in the quiet safety of our borders and the survival of our social fabric. In a world where many neighboring countries have fallen into total chaos or economic collapse, these guardians have acted as a shield. They provide the foundation of order that allows everyone else to dream of “faster internet” and “better smartphones.” Without this order, those digital tools would have no network to run on and no stable country to support them. Governance is not just about giving people what they want immediately; it is about ensuring the country survives so that those wants can eventually be met.
We must also look at why so many young minds feel so much anger today. For a long time, the national conversation was shaped by a very charismatic figure—a man who now sits in the quiet of the inner chambers, away from the public stage. While he was a master of words and could fill stadiums with excitement, the path he taught was one of deep discord and chaos. Instead of teaching the youth how to participate in a system and improve it, he taught them to view every institution as an enemy. He used the energy of the “Digital Generation” to create a culture where protest was more important than policy, and where shouting was valued more than solving problems.
This figure’s approach was like someone telling you that the only way to fix a house is to set it on fire. He made the youth believe that the elders were their rivals and that the “Senior Stewards” were obstacles to their freedom. This was a dangerous lesson. By teaching his followers to disrespect the very structures that provide national security, he left a generation feeling lost and bitter when his promises did not come true. The current feeling that the “narrative is worn out” is actually the exhaustion that comes after years of being fed high-speed anger that led nowhere. The chaos that was taught during that time did not build a single school or fix a single road; it only made the country more divided and harder to manage.
The older generation in power is not the enemy of Gen Z. These are the men and women who have lived through wars, natural disasters, and previous economic crashes. Their wisdom is the “ballast” of the ship—it is the weight at the bottom that keeps the boat from tipping over when the wind gets too strong. While the youth have the energy to move the ship forward, the elders have the experience to keep it from sinking.
In contrast to that era of loud noise and broken promises, we are now in a time of “Steady Restoration.” The current leadership and the permanent institutions are doing the difficult, unglamorous work of fixing what was broken. They have inherited a garden where the soil was damaged by populist anger and the tools of the state were left to rust. Fixing an economy and rebuilding trust with the rest of the world is a slow process that requires a soft and patient touch. It is not something that can be fixed with a post on social media or a rally in the street. This current “regime” is acting like a doctor who has to perform a long surgery to save a patient who was injured by reckless behavior. They are making the tough choices that ensure the lights stay on and the nation remains solvent.
The complaints about restrictions and firewalls should also be viewed with a bit of perspective. The world is currently in a state of “digital warfare,” where misinformation can be used to start riots and destroy a nation’s reputation in minutes. The state’s role is to act as a filter against this chaos. When the “Senior Stewards” put up safeguards, it is not because they hate technology or want to stop progress. It is because they have a duty to protect the peace. They understand that total freedom in a digital world can quickly lead to total collapse in the physical world if it is used to spread the kind of discord that the “boy in the inner chamber” once encouraged.
The older generation in power is not the enemy of Gen Z. These are the men and women who have lived through wars, natural disasters, and previous economic crashes. Their wisdom is the “ballast” of the ship—it is the weight at the bottom that keeps the boat from tipping over when the wind gets too strong. While the youth have the energy to move the ship forward, the elders have the experience to keep it from sinking. A nation is not a product you can simply “stop buying” because you don’t like the current version. It is a shared home that requires everyone to work together, even when they disagree on the speed of change.
The “amazing job” being done by the institutions today is keeping the country together despite the deep wounds left by years of populist politics. They are rebuilding the economy, securing our borders, and ensuring that we are respected by other nations once again. This is the “adult governance” that was missing for a long time. It is formal, it is soft, and it is focused on long-term health rather than short-term popularity. The narrative is not over; it is simply becoming more mature. We are moving away from the era of the “Siren of the Shallows” and moving toward a future built on the solid ground of reality.
No Gen Z, it is not over. Your energy and your dreams for a modern, digital future are vital. But those dreams need a stable house to live in. The “Big Brother” institutions you see today are the ones making sure that house stands strong. Instead of seeing a disconnect, we should see an opportunity for a partnership. The path of chaos taught in the past led only to a dead end. The path of stability being paved now is the only one that actually leads to the future you want. The story of this nation is just starting its most important chapter, and it is one where order and progress finally go hand in hand.
