Youthquake

David Robinson is an economics professor and dean of the Faculty of
Social Sciences at Laurentian University.

Youthquake is fun. It is full of wild rhetoric and calculated passion. A
few examples will give you the flavour: the GST stands for
“Generational Servitude Tax”; Canada is caught in a “debt hold
trap”; we are headed for an “economic heart attack.” Type art and
clip art ornament the margins, highlighting thoughtful remarks like,
“Instead of helping people to help themselves the government CUDDLES
them to death.” Not only is the book fun and easy to read, it is a
brilliant attempt to create intergenerational hostilities that the
political right can exploit.

The premise is simple. Baby boomers made a deal: “Give up some of
your freedom and a lot of your money and the government will take care
of you from cradle to grave.” Boomers callously plan to pass the bills
on to their kids. For Ezra Levant, the boomers are like the racists and
the segregationists that the youth movement of the 1960s took on. The
big difference is that they are committed to big government, which is to
say government that helps them stuff themselves at the expense of the
next generation.

Balance is not the author’s strong point. It hardly matters that much
of the debt provided services for the generation he is calling on to
rebel, nor that the boomers have been taking the problems on precisely
because they are worried about their kids. Nor does he care to point out
that the anti-tax program he advocates will guarantee that debt is
carried over to the next generation. Levine will say anything to create
a resentful political constituency for the right. It is this drive that
makes his book worthy of consideration by readers of all political
stripes.