The revolution is happening.

The revolution is happening.

The people are protesting (and winning)

shit you should care about

Oct 29, 2026

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I haven’t felt hopeful about the world in years. I mean, I’ve always felt strongly that at some point young people are gonna change things, but it’s always just felt like the same stupid (male) fucks at the top (and their greedy guts fanboys) keep getting in our way.

Today though, I feel hopeful.

Let’s start with Serbia

On Sunday, Serbia held a parliamentary election, and

the student-led protest movement that has been in the streets for almost two years won.

Aleksandar Vučić - the strongman who ruled the country for 14 years - conceded, standing in front of his supporters and saying the words: “It is clear that we have lost these elections.”

The Students’ List, which is a leaderless movement of professors, actors, farmers and a cardiologist, took 135 to 140 seats to his party’s 105, in a 250-seat parliament, with a turnout of nearly 70%,

the highest since Yugoslavia broke up in 1992.

The country erupted! The people won! And they’re going to do it again and again and again.

The young people are not done

Here is what else is happening right now, because with every scroll right now I am seeing protest after protest:

France.

We saw half a million to 800,000 people in the streets on October 17, with students demanding better schools and a lower cost of living.

Belgium.

Inspired by France, students took to the streets in early October over tuition reforms, overcrowded classrooms, and funding cuts.

Italy.

High school occupations are happening in Turin and Rome under the slogan “Let’s do as in France.” Over 100,000 joined protests and strikes on October 20.

Albania.

Student grievances over university conditions, education costs, and limited job prospects have merged with wider protests against corruption and inequality.

Greece.

Students set up tents in Athens’ Syntagma Square, directly opposite Parliament, in mid-October.

Spain.

Housing protests were so significant that the prime minister called an early election.

Portugal.

Students and renters are marching together over housing costs.

Austria.

Around 40,000 people took to the streets in Vienna to protest a proposed 10% cut to the university budget.

Argentina.

Real university budget transfers have fallen 45.6% between 2023 and 2026. Students are in the streets defending public universities.

Chile.

Students marched in Santiago on October 1 to defend public education ahead of budget discussions, as anger grows over President Kast’s austerity measures.

Indonesia.

Students and residents across Java protested on October 20, the second anniversary of President Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, over environmental destruction and the government’s response to toxic haze from forest fires.

India.

The Cockroach Janta Party, the youth movement that started over crumbling schools and 40% graduate unemployment, expanded its fight in October. After a media investigation found that 130 million names had been removed from India’s voter rolls, students and opposition groups marched on Delhi demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

What Does All of This Mean?

Well, it shows that the conditions driving these protests - crumbling public services, a rising cost of living, a generation that feels it is inheriting a broken system while being blamed for it - are not unique to any one country.

They are the conditions of most of the world right now.

It also shows that young people are done waiting for someone else to fix it!!!!!

In Serbia, they ran for office and won. In France, they shut down the country. In Italy, they occupied their schools. In Greece, they camped outside parliament.

The same generation that was told we were too online, too apathetic, too distracted to change anything just beat a 14-year autocrat in a free election and brought half a million people into the streets of Paris on a Saturday.

And for that, I am hopeful ◡̈

Luce x

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