I attended a recent Bernie Sanders/AOC “Fight Oligarchy” gathering in Los Angeles. 

Thirty-six thousand attended. 

In my mind, I was transported back to the late sixties and early seventies, when I came of age politically.  Back in those days, we protested the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon. 

The hippies of that era had a way of making protests fun adventures. It was the same at the Bernie/AOC rally. 

I saw one lady dressed up as the Statue of Liberty; there were all kinds of t-shirts with clever political slogans printed on them.

I attended with one of our student interns from OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION, Tania Ruedas-Ortiz. 

OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION is a news and opinion platform built primarily by students. We host nonpartisan conversations that lead to common-sense solutions. Check us out at OurNationalConversation.org.

I told Tania she looked like AOC, and I guess that meant I looked like Bernie.  I’m 73; I think Tania is in her mid- to late twenties.

We were able to stand on top of a very crowded press platform, used primarily by reporters with bulky camera equipment.  We had to squeeze in and take turns up on the platform.  The platform was elevated, giving us a better view.

When it was my time to get off the platform – before someone accidentally pushed me off – I sat in a little playground behind the press platform.  Back there, all we could see was the back of the press operation.  Our view of the speakers was blocked.  But we could hear everything just fine.

I caught a few glimpses of Bernie and AOC as they decried wealth inequality, the power of Elon Musk and other “oligarchs” who are “addicted to greed,” according to Bernie. AOC said it was time to put an end to members of congress investing in individual stocks, given that they are privy to so much insider information.

We were told to arrive by 9 a.m., but Bernie and AOC weren’t scheduled till 1 p.m.  There was air to fill.  Warmup speakers were mostly local elected officials and union chiefs, and there was music in between speeches. 

Based on what I could see and hear, I thought it was only younger artists who were playing the music.  When Tania and I were switching positions, I told her the young female singer just played a song by Joan Baez, and the young male singer sang a song by Neal Young. 

Just as I didn’t know the names of the young singers – Tania knew them, of course – Tania had no clue who Joan Baez or Neal Young were. 

I learned only later – after the rally – that it actually WAS Joan Baez and Neal Young!  I wish I had known that at the time; I would have scrambled to get back up on the crowded press platform (without pushing Tania into the crowd, below, I promise).

There are definite parallels between the experiences of the Baby Boomers and Gen Z.  We both entered our twenties in very fraught ages, politically.   

In the sixties and seventies, we were scared – mostly by the prospect of getting shot up or killed over in Vietnam, a particularly unpopular war.  We also didn’t like Richard Nixon. 

Members of Gen Z are scared, too – about cancel culture, job prospects, income inequality, campus shootings, global warming, student debt and what many fear is a slide into authoritarianism. 

It is often said Gen Z is anxious – depressed, even.  But Bernie Sanders said the “fight oligarchy” tour was going to be one of joy. I could feel it. 

I think there is something to be said about the old/young alliance.  Bernie alone would have been quite good.  AOC alone would have been quite good. Together, they were terrific.

We follow the same model at OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION.  Several older mentors and I work with our students, giving them – we hope – the tools they will need to navigate the troubled world they are inheriting.  I think we’re providing hope, really. 

If you might want to mentor one or more of our students, let me know. If you know someone of high school or college age who might want to intern with us, have that person get in touch with me. 

What’s old can become new again!  To my fellow Boomers, I say: “We’re not done yet!”

One final note: My Republican friends find me too liberal; my liberal friends find me too conservative. I must say: my liberal friends were quite pleased to learn I attended this rally.