"Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives."
William Throsby Bridges
"The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world."
Max Weber
"People grow old only by deserting their ideals, Macarthur had written. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope as old as your despair. In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber. So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, so long are you young. When your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and then only, are you grown old. And then, indeed as the ballad says, you just fade away."
Douglas MacArthur
"Youth can be characterized as a transition from childhood to adulthood – a developmental journey during which one gains independence and begins to participate fully in society. This period is fraught with enormous challenges for young people themselves and for the rest of society. It is imperative that societies invest in their youth, as they are especially vulnerable to the increasingly complex problems facing the world today."
United Nations World Youth Report 2003
Good Afternoon, brothers and sisters young and old one and all, this afternoon I want to bear with me another evening as I tackle the issue of the Generation Gap and attack if only intellectually, those who would too quickly, too easily, too readily the plight of the youth, the plight of the young as simply owing to our changes in attitude and belief to theirs. This week I rise to the defence of the young, youthful and inarticulate who cannot, who won't have the chance to or cannot defend themselves and communicate to the minds and brains of yesteryear. Before I continue I would want to share with you a song by The Offspring, a song about the disenchanted American youth called "The Kid's Aren't Alright" that I think many Jamaican maybe able to relate to. " When we were young the future was so bright/The old neighborhood was so alive/And every kid on the whole damn street/Was gonna make it big in every beat/Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn/The kids are grown up but their lives are worn/How can one little street/Swallow so many lives. Chances thrown/Nothing's free/Longing for/Used to be/Still it's hard/Hard to see/Fragile lives/shattered dreams. Jenny had a chance, well she really did/Instead she dropped out and had a couple of kids/Mark still lives at home cause he's got no job/He just plays guitar and smokes a lot of pot/Jay committed suicide/Brandon OD'd and died/What the hell is going on?/The cruellest dream – reality/Chances thrown/Nothing's free/Longing for/what used to be/Still it's hard/Hard to see/Fragile lives/Shattered dreams.
Nowadays it would seem older folks and the younger individuals constantly bicker and complain of generation gap ("Missa So & So nuh see seh a nuh when dem a did yute dis" vs. "Dis gingeration of vipers, yuh nuh see how Eula big bwoy deh gallang") and of breaking down of the communication between these two. But who is to blame, is it Ole Ms. Matty's fault or is it mine? I think both go wrong every now and then.
The elders, seniors, old wizen sages are more critical of the younger generation with a "HUGE-MUNGOUS" catalogue of complaints against the youth (the low pants, the earring, the hair style, the tattoo) and the young for the most part tend to pay no attention (I-Pods and Bluetooth blasting in their ears) to the grumbling, mumbling and occasional loud protestations of the older generation(When Mama seh "Den EH! Weh yuh feel seh yuh a go dress so, not as long as you live unda my roof, poopa Jezaas tek di case and gimmi di pilla, dah lilly piss'n tale gyal yah"). But now and then they do protest. They resent the petting attitude of the elders, who seem to assume the young are too inept to do anything, or know their way in the world.
Generations clash on a variety of topics some are as follows:
- Of ideas on general conduct comprising dress, food habits etc.
- Morality, marriage & career
- Of tastes on art, music, literature, and in short total outlook.
- Family unit breaking up and gradually losing the importance it once had. The central authority of the paternal figure becoming redundant.
- Imposition of the self-righteous attitude of the older generation on the young.
- Biological evolutionary difference
It is generally observed that the old behave like a frog in the well. They are fully convinced that the ideas they have had throughout their lives are the ultimate and ideal. They ignore certain vital factors that are no longer valid in the case of the modernity. There always has been generation gap since the dawn of civilization. The young have always deviated from the older standards and it was well that they did or there wouldn't have been any progress today.
Did you know the largest-ever generation of young people is now entering the transition from childhood to adulthood? According to UN statistics, up to 48 percent of the world population is under the age of 24 and 86 percent of 10-to-24-year-olds live in less developed countries. In many parts of the world, young people are still suffering from hunger, lack of access to education, health services and job opportunities, and are exposed to insecurity and violence and to a large extent, the quality of life for the next generation and society will depend on how today's young people manage their transition to economic independence in difficult environments, such as countries hit by economic recession, or war or famine, or in areas plagued by HIV/AIDS and the oncoming onslaught of global warming. The roles young people are forced to assume in countries affected by war or poverty greatly affects the transitional phase to adulthood, which takes place at an earlier stage than their First World counterparts.
Are you aware the lack of financially viable opportunities in less developed countries makes young people more dependent on their parents? This places them in a situation where they are no longer children, but where they are also deprived of the independence they seek. Without the opportunity to become productive, young people find themselves in a permanent limbo, waiting for a chance to gain economic independence and psychological maturity. Are you aware that when lacking opportunities and means of expression, young people become susceptible to violence, a display of their wish to become more powerful, and have access to the material goods they crave? I'm sure you've all seen many boys hang out in bands on corners and organise themselves in armed clandestine networks, making a living out of illegal trading and as road bandits.
Yannick Nesta Pessoa
http://yahnyk.blogspot.com
yannickpessoa@yahoo.com
PS. Don't touch that dial and stay tuned till next week (yeah right!)
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