The end of innocence

Paradoxically, they are the first generation in Portuguese history to have the best level of training and education. They are the ones that emerged from the illiteracy of their grandparents, the low levels of education of their parents (in whose homes a lot of them still live), to go on to higher education. In fact, they’re so well educated that even the organisers of this protest admit, “we’re compacted in this condition”.

Many have already realised that in spite of their diplomas and qualifications, they live as badly, or worse, than their forebears. They’re unemployed; they’re exploited in unpaid apprenticeships; they’re forced to work on green receipts; they earn €500 or less a month; they work in shops in large malls, in call centers, or in some other sub-contracted form of temporary labour. All of it precarious.

In their manifesto, published on the Internet, protest organisers say they don’t want “to be obliged to emigrate – and therefore drag the country further into social and economic decline!”

Thus, they plan to take to the streets “so that all those responsible for our current precarious situations – the politicians, employers, even ourselves – act together to change the reality quickly. It is becoming unsustainable”.

“If we don’t do this, we’ll be wasting competences and resources that could take the country to economic success”. “We believe we have the resources and tools to build a better future, even for ourselves, and certainly for Portugal”, they affirm.

But among all the Utopian statements, and the desire to go out into the streets shouting, one thing is certain: in a present like this, you can barely catch the glimpse of a future.