Where to begin...
While I don't know quite where you place the cutoff for "the youth of
today", I think I'm probably young enough to qualify (26).
I take exception to your blanket characterization of upcoming generations as
apathetic and undriven. While it's certainly true that there are a bunch of
slackers my age and younger. I know just as many old farts who share their
apathy.
Furthermore, I know a tremendous number of young people in this country who
are driven to improve things for themselves and for those around them. I
don't know where you're meeting people, but perhaps you're looking in the
wrong places. A lot of the tools you take for granted (including a whole
bunch of the hardware and software that the drivel you just posted traversed
on its way to the rest of us) was designed and built by those apathetic kids
you're maligining.
Regardless however, I would argue that the problems of my generation (if
indeed they are any worse that those of any prior one) are more directly
attributable to the very lack of entheusiasm for energizing and inspiring
youth on the part of their role models than to any shortcomings of their
own. Yes, you can turn this around and claim that I'm making your point by
shouting "victim", but that's a gross oversimplification. People's
behaviors are primarily learned. It's not like there's something in the
water that's leading more people to slackerdom. (Sapping and impurifying
our precious bodily fluids, as it were.)
In your stated case of young people shouting "victim", I'd say that when you
look at the litigous, blame placing culture that the baby boomers have
created, it's only rational that the people who look up to them would key
off of that trend. How many grey haired Senators are out there blaming guns
for school shootings. The logic is exactly the same. "There's gotta be
someone evil we can blame for the bad things that are happening."
If you want to focus on your problems, and don't want to make yourself
available to youth to share your experiences and wisdom that's fine, but
don't go spouting off about how bad they are if you do. People like YOU are
the very root of the problems you're lamenting.
Of course, there's at least some possibility you intended your post to be
tongue-in-cheek. While it didn't sound like it (hence my reply) please
accept my appologies if you did. Otherwise, I humbly submit that you're a
crazy old bastard and you should find a porch somewhere with a rocker where
you can whittle little wooden Rovers (in bone stock configuration) and
mumble about how "they don't make 'em like they used to".
Best,
-Ben Mitchell
'94 D90
'70 SIIA 88" (undergoing a ground up restoration by a not-so-apathetic
youth)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed Apr 04 2001 - 22:40:37 EDT