The Individualist 7.23.07: The Kids Are Alright

Posted by Joe Rivett on 07.23.2007

Unlike many Americans, I see great things for America's future... Assuming the old folks don't continue to inflict irreversible damage.

Except for my family which I love unconditionally, I hate old people. When I say old, I mean over 40. In 1989, the band Mike and the Mechanics wrote a song called 'The Living Years'. The first line reads:

"Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door"

The beginning of the second verse reads:

"So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts"

Now this is actually a beautiful song about a guy that had a conflicted relationship with his father. After his father passed away, he realizes they had a strong bond.

But being the political freak I am, I can't help but think of the political implications. I'm tired of the "greatest generation" and the "baby boomers" blaming Generation X or whatever they call anyone age 12-30. Let's take a look at what the old farts are blaming us young folks for…

1. School failures – I'm tired of hearing how stupid today's children are. I'm tired of hearing that back in their day, you didn't disrespect a teacher. Who messed our schools up then? The answer is the lawyers. Lawsuits prevent schools from expelling kids, bad teachers, and allowing teachers to strongly discipline students. Who is responsible for these lawsuits? Old people. Who is responsible for passing knowledge from one generation to the next? Old people. Am I to honestly believe that children were geniuses 50 years ago when most people didn't even feel the need to graduate high school?

2. Sluts – Yes, the older generation thinks we are a bunch of sluts and whores. They can't believe children are having sex in Middle School. They decry the Paris Hilton stereotype. However, teen pregnancy is as low as it has been in a long time. I know many that plan to wait until marriage. Are there some bad apples? Of course. But even in the days of the Scarlet Letter, people were messing around. Mitt Romney wants to save us from porn in his new ad. What Mitt doesn't want to accept is that porn has been around for centuries. Ever since Adam and Eve, we can't just look at a naked woman and not think something sexual. I'm a feminist and I don't' think the law should tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.

3. Violence – Old people love to gripe about school shootings. However an NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll showed: "There was less than a one in two million chance of being killed in a school in America in 1998-1999, yet 71% of Americans felt that a school shooting was likely in their community."

Here is a quote by Mike Males who wrote "Myths About Youth":

"Are today's teenagers more violent than those of the past? No. Uniquely homicidal? Arguable. More criminal? Less so. More in danger of violent death? Safer than ever. Getting pregnant more? Less, actually. Smoking and drinking more? Less. Abusing more dangerous drugs? Far less. Spreading AIDS faster than adults? Not even nearly. More mentally ill? No. More suicidal? Far from it. Failing in school? No… Eight to 90 percent of youth consistently tell surveyors they're happy, self-confident, and get along with their parents."

So why are the old folks blaming us? Well, I have three answers.

1. Politicians want to create fear. Politicians have to run as problem solvers. The problem with that is many politicians have to exaggerate or in some cases make up problems that don't exist. For example, Mitt Romney doesn't like violent video games, yet violence is down among this generation. Yes, there might be two or three kids that turn Grand Theft Auto into real life, but the vast majority understands the difference between reality and fantasy. They understand Spiderman is a character.

2. Politicians want to spend your money. Why are politicians upset at the drop-out rate? Because they want more education funding. This same goes for any facet of society. Making up a teen pregnancy problem leads to abstinence only education. Cost: 1 billion dollars.

3. Number 3 is the biggest. They fucked it up. The older generation is trying to hide their erroneous mistakes. Who's responsible for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid going broke? Old people. Who is responsible for the budget deficit? Old people. Who has put profits above the environment? Old people. Who expects young people to die so they don't fight us over here? Old people. Who is responsible for the cost of college increase? Old people. Who is responsible for schools that actually have failed? Old people.

My wife is pregnant. The most often asked question I get is "how is she doing"? The second question I get is, "Aren't you scared to raise children in this day and age." NO! I'm not scared. I would rather my children grow up today in an age of racial and sexual tolerance where crime is down, religious faith is up, abortions are down, technological innovations are up, etc.

Does America have problems? Yes. I am simply arguing that many of the problems have been created by the baby boomers and older. I have faith that the younger generations are going to make America great. I think this generation is going to solve the problems that the older generation couldn't on the issues of health care, higher education, entitlements, immigration, job losses, etc. And maybe after 20 years when we become "old people" we will figure out how to get the hell out of Iraq.