Monday 10 June 2019

Millennials

In the 5th century Socrates said "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Does that ring a bell?

Do we believe that indulgent parenting, educational strategies or technological addiction have produced a generation of people who simultaneously have an overinflated sense of self-worth and a lack of the patience required to achieve their goals,  individuals willing to ban anyone who says anything that hurts their feelings, and a bunch of people who indulge in politically correct nonsense on campus instead of entering the real world and getting a job.

Politically their view seems to go in the opposite direction, as they overwhelming throw their support behind one-size-fits-all public bodies like the National Health Service and state-managed schools over healthcare reform and free schools. But why is this the case?

The reason is the extremely justifiable anger coursing through young people today due to the political choices of previous generations. They are the ones who will be picking up the tab for benefits they are unlikely to ever receive.

Technology has also allowed people to become very insular, gaming on PC's rather than as a group, communicating via social media on mobiles, the joke where two people on a park bench talk to each other via phones is no longer funny but realistic.

How long before we return to extended family groups being the norm?

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