There's no doubt, that the young write the best music, which is helps define the prevailing zeitgeist. Maybe one day people will eulogise over a facebook campaign to free the Arctic 30, in the same way as they might over Jerry Dammers' free Nelson Mandela.
Have my doubts, mind
No doubt that people are increasingly apathetic towards politics in the UK, not just the younger generations, and that of course will have impacted on the music and wider art scene.
My experience in Norway was that people are generally far more politically engaged, especially the youth (despite Breivik's attempts) yet there's very little political music about