What America's Youth Is Learning
Watergate and Contra taught them that they should not trust their government. The NSA scandal and the sequester have ensured that they don’t forget what they’ve learned.
Hollywood has taught that they should not trust their originality, their creativity, the things that make their stories unique. It will stamp out originality and pave it over with remakes and sequels. It will not allow them to progress as a culture.
The Occupy Wall Street movement taught them that they should not trust their economy. It taught them that student loan bills and cost of living expenses will consume them from the inside out.
Justin Carter taught them that they should not trust the words they say, that a moment of idiocy will cost them for the rest of their lives. He taught them that they cannot trust the social networks that they are chained to. From the moment they enter the internet, their every word will be judged. They are not allowed to make mistakes.
Stand Your Ground laws teach them that they should not trust each other, that approaching a conflict with lethal force is preferable to trusting another human being to act like a decent human being. How are they supposed to work together for a better future with ideas like that in their legal system?
And the net effect is that they will stay inside the comfort zone.
"I could go outside and experiment with science. But I might end up like Kiera Wilmot, so I think I’ll just play Super Meatboy for a few hours."
"I could go for a nature walk, but the park rangers will watch me because I’m black, so I’ll just play some b-ball in the driveway."
"I could start a political blog, but my friend made a mistake on her blog and she got tons of anon hate for it, so I’ll just reblog cat gifs."
"I could do something unique, but the world has taught me that stepping out of line will be punished harshly, so I’ll just prattle away my life on lesser things and pray that I become important in a socially acceptable manner."
Hollywood has taught that they should not trust their originality, their creativity, the things that make their stories unique. It will stamp out originality and pave it over with remakes and sequels. It will not allow them to progress as a culture.
The Occupy Wall Street movement taught them that they should not trust their economy. It taught them that student loan bills and cost of living expenses will consume them from the inside out.
Justin Carter taught them that they should not trust the words they say, that a moment of idiocy will cost them for the rest of their lives. He taught them that they cannot trust the social networks that they are chained to. From the moment they enter the internet, their every word will be judged. They are not allowed to make mistakes.
Stand Your Ground laws teach them that they should not trust each other, that approaching a conflict with lethal force is preferable to trusting another human being to act like a decent human being. How are they supposed to work together for a better future with ideas like that in their legal system?
And the net effect is that they will stay inside the comfort zone.
"I could go outside and experiment with science. But I might end up like Kiera Wilmot, so I think I’ll just play Super Meatboy for a few hours."
"I could go for a nature walk, but the park rangers will watch me because I’m black, so I’ll just play some b-ball in the driveway."
"I could start a political blog, but my friend made a mistake on her blog and she got tons of anon hate for it, so I’ll just reblog cat gifs."
"I could do something unique, but the world has taught me that stepping out of line will be punished harshly, so I’ll just prattle away my life on lesser things and pray that I become important in a socially acceptable manner."
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Comments
I don't want to become important, just happy and also a good person. >_>
Wrong.
America is in a pretty fucked up state right now, to be sure. But the things you are describing are deep running problems in our country, and I see no reason why this generation will simply give up where none of our ancestors did.
If you ask me, that just seems overly pessimistic.
Funny to talk about pessimism in an age like this, but tragedy spurs people to action, it doesn't silence them.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
You're right, I was being a bit dark in that last bit. People are still going to create, experiment and be original. It's part of being human, and society hasn't gotten to the point where it can effectively repress being human. I was playing devil's advocate there, I guess.
My point is less about what is being learnt by the youth and more about what's being taught to them. I feel that the lessons being taught by our government and media are harmful, and that they have a responsibility to provide better lessons.
^^ What do you mean by that?
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
I learned the lessons of life from my family, and they taught me to, in the words of Miss Frizzle, "Take chances. Get messy. Make mistakes.".
Then again, I grew up in a religion that has a long history of going against the grain and learning to not care what the masses think; learning to just make a new town each time the mob burns your town down and kills your loved ones. Learning to just print a new printing of your book each time it gets burned. Learning to be in the world but not of it. Learning to defy the world and its teachings.
Then again, maybe that's just my cynicism with No Child Left Behind talking.