Mark Steel: The youth of today – they just don’t show no disrespect

[Agnapostate]

Mark Steel: The youth of today – they just don’t show no disrespect - Mark Steel, Commentators - The Independent

One of the many upsetting aspects to being in your forties, is hearing people your own age grumbling about “young people” the way we were grumbled about ourselves.

Old friends will complain, “Youngsters today have no respect like we did”, and I’ll think: “Hang on. I remember the night you set a puma loose in the soft furnishings section of Pricerite’s.”

There’s also a “radicals” version of this attitude, a strand within the middle-aged who lament how today’s youngsters, “Don’t demonstrate like we did”, because “we were always marching against apartheid or for the miners but students these days don’t seem bothered”.

It would seem natural if they went on: “The bloody youth of today; they’ve no disrespect for authority. In my day you started chanting and if a copper gave you any lip you gave him a clip round the ear, and he didn’t do it again. We’ve lost those values somehow.”

You feel that even if they did come across a mass student protest they’d sneer. “That isn’t a proper rebellion, they’ve used the internet.

“You wouldn’t have caught Spartacus rounding up his forces by putting a message on Facebook saying ‘Hi Cum 2 Rome 4 gr8 fite 2 liber8 slaves lets kill emprer lol’”.

It doesn’t help that many of the student leaders from the sixties and seventies ended up as ministers or journalists, who try to deny they’ve reneged on their principles by making statements such as: “It’s true I used to run the Campaign to Abolish the British Army, but my recent speech in favour of invading every country in the world in alphabetical order merely places those ideals in a modern setting.”

(Continued...)

 

[Diuretic]

Ah yes, I remember the demos of the 1970s well, being involved in many of them (on the "pig" side). Free university education back then, if only they'd had to work to pay for their tuition and rent and food they'd have been too bloody tired for demos - but it would have taken all the fun out of it

 

[editec]

Hilarious take on the youth of today.

We forget that when we Boomers were protesting, we were a HUGE percentage of the population, plus we were the most pampered generation of youth in the world.

Today's youth are too freaking busy trying to stay alive to take on projects other than survival and preparing for their careers, I think.

They're good kids, they know what a shitty world they're coming into.

Give 'em a freaking break.

They have more important things on their minds, right now, than protesting over things they know they cannot effect.

 

[Skull Pilot]

never protested in college

i was too busy studying and working to pay my tuition.

 

[DiamondDave]

Oh.... the attention seeking "anarchist" writing a post that looks supportive of youth protests... what a fucking shock.. NOT!

About time to put this attention whore youth on the ignore list with the other immortals like kirkybot and bobo the assclown

 

[editec]

never protested in college

i was too busy studying and working to pay my tuition.

Me, too.

I did my protesting when I was in the NAV.

I had plenty of time back then.

 

[Newby]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

 

[editec]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

You'll miss us when we're gone, lad.

Whose basement will you live in then?

 

[Newby]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

You'll miss us when we're gone, lad.

Whose basement will you live in then?

I'm not a 'lad', and I have my own very nice sized basement, but thanks for caring.

 

[Amanda]

‘Hi Cum 2 Rome 4 gr8 fite 2 liber8 slaves lets kill emprer lol’

OMFG that got me good.

 

[editec]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

You'll miss us when we're gone, lad.

Whose basement will you live in then?

I'm not a 'lad', and I have my own very nice sized basement, but thanks for caring.

Oh, I am sorry.

You'll miss us when we're gone, Lass, then.

 

[Diuretic]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

All that experience and knowledge gone.

And what will your peers do when their calculator batteries run down? You still only have ten fingers and ten toes so getting to twenty will be okay but past that? Who knows?

 

[Harry Dresden]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

cause little twits like you will do better,especially with the half-ass educations most of you have received.....what a joke...

 

[Amanda]

The sooner the 70's 'protester' crowd are drolling in their soup at the nursing home or six feet under, the better off this country will be. That time is coming and hopefully it won't be too late by then.

cause little twits like you will do better,especially with the half-ass educations most of you have received.....what a joke...

You comment seems oddly self-depreciating. You can't seriously be blaming the crap education system "today's youth" was given on "today's youth" can you?

It's like you're saying "you did a shitty job painting the house and here I gave complete crap to work with, what a loser you are." Seems bizarrely ironic that you'd call someone else out for something that they had zero control over yet YOU did. I don't get it Harry, can you explain it real simple? I'm a product of the crap eduction system previous generations gave mine.

 

[Agnapostate]

Again, like a man locking his son inside the house and then coming home to complain that he hasn't gone outside all day.

 

[catzmeow]

I find my daughter and her peers a breath of fresh air. They are much more interested in the world as a whole, and much more confident and articulate than I ever was as a teenager. I would never disparage them like that. My daughter has more sense in her little finger than many adults have in their entire bodies.

They were very interested in the election this year, and I enjoyed listening to their discussions.

 

[Agnapostate]

I credit the expansion of information technology.

 

[catzmeow]

I credit the expansion of information technology.

I actually agree. They have access to so much more information so much more easily than we did when I was her age. When I think about the hours I spent in moldy libraries researching debate topics....ye gods.

That's not to say that the myspace whores, scene kids and emos don't make me roll my eyes at times, but there have always been plenty of idiots in America. There are, nonetheless, a healthy segment of articulate thoughtful teenagers out there.

 

[Agnapostate]

I actually agree. They have access to so much more information so much more easily than we did when I was her age. When I think about the hours I spent in moldy libraries researching debate topics....ye gods.

I believe the Flynn Effect became especially pronounced in the 1990's, when Internet access started to become widespread, and IQ's increased a more progressive rate.

That's not to say that the myspace whores, scene kids and emos don't make me roll my eyes at times, but there have always been plenty of idiots in America. There are, nonetheless, a healthy segment of articulate thoughtful teenagers out there.

Status offenses, again. I doubt very highly that "myspace whores" would be especially perturbing to many if they were but slightly older.

 

[KittenKoder]

The only true flaw I see with youth today is they just don't do as much real activity, like running, biking, etc.. Skate park turnouts are lower than 20 years ago for example, they are closing a few BMX tracks just because no one is using them now. But then they also don't have the open space we did (my gen) so it's no surprise that they are spending more time with v-games and TV.