Boomers coming out to protest isn't exactly surprising. The leftists of that generation have always been the type to get out and "do something," with that "something" usually boiling down to standing outside a location and chanting — or worse, performing. 

For instance, boomer leftists labeled as "faith leaders" were standing in front of an ICE facility in Newark with arms linked, while other boomers sang out in front of them about fascism... or something. 

They're singing again pic.twitter.com/v8zn8eMgEz

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 12, 2025

The increased activity of the old hippies is noticeable enough that even news outlets have taken notice. Business Insider wrote an entire piece on their loud and proud presence, with this bit being the most interesting to me: 

Consider some of the things boomers take pride in their generation pushing for: civil rights, women's rights, environmental causes — they may feel an urgency to come to the rescue of those things being under threat.

A generation that attended concerts for Live Aid, the Concert for Bangladesh, and made a Christmas song with the lyrics "Do they know it's Christmastime at all?" might have a different perspective about the implications of pulling USAID out of developing nations where part of its work was addressing global hunger.

I've been trying to figure out what the boomers have been trying to accomplish lately. Their protests are often this way — performative, brightly colored, and hard to watch. I couldn't tell who they were trying to convince with these displays. Then the Insider bit hit me. 

I think they're truly fighting for their legacy, because they see themselves as the great movers and shakers of their day, responsible for changes to the American social and political structure that's resonated for decades. 

And perhaps they're right to a degree. Leftist boomers are responsible for what I would say is a lot of the issues we're having today. They invaded colleges, became professors, and transferred their prejudices and sentiments to the young, who went on to become media figures, politicians, directors, actors, producers, and the forerunners of campus radicals. Their effect on the culture can't be shrugged off. 

The thing is, these boomer leftists aren't exactly moving the needle anymore, and that's what makes them seem so funny to a point where it's sad to see. Their behavior is so ridiculous that I too often hear other boomers tell me, "we're not with them." 

But behind all the cringey nonsense is, what I think, a sense of something slipping away that they believe is theirs, and they're reacting to it the only way they know how, which is to do what hippies do. They gather together and virtue signal, not to the outside world, but to one another. This is their "one last ride" moment where they're reliving their glory days against a man they were brainwashed into thinking is the new Hitler, just like they were brainwashed into thinking every media target was Hitler before him. 

They're more than aware they aren't going to see the end result of anything they're protesting. Some of them are wondering if they've got four years left, and so they're looking to bookend their time with that "do something" mentality. They won't change anything, but I think they know that. This isn't about changing anything, this is just a self-congratulatory ritual based on nostalgic idealism. The cameras might be on them, but the audience is themselves. 

Think of an aging rock star going on tour. The vast majority of the audience will be people that loved them when they were popular decades ago, and while it may help people to relive something that once gave them life, it's not going to effect the world. Not in the way it used to. Everyone claps, everyone sings along, but no one is buying their new album.

If they were truly trying to affect change, they'd adopt more updated tactics, but they're not interested in that. That's for the youngsters, anyway. More fun to get the ol' guitar out, craft a badly written protest song, and rage against the dying of the light. 

But I've got bad news for the hippies: The things that are dying are, like their protest methods and beliefs, outdated, untenable, and in desperate need of retirement. The things they supported back then might have even had good intentions back in the day, but have proven to be corrupt and highly partisan, which might be fine for them, but for people living in reality, it's time for the mark these leftist boomers left to be scrubbed clean.