[Stratovarius]

I was wondering if there's any particular reason why young people and old people seem to have a significant contrast in their convictions on pretty much anything especially in Western society. Take a random group of kids aged 14-20 and a random group of old farts aged 50+ and survey their views on social issues, politics, philosophy, tastes in music and art etc. and without even actually doing the survey, it's apparent that you'll probably see a similarity within groups and a major contrast between groups. But what's the underlying attitude that distinguishes the groups? One thing that's obvious is that young people seem to be radical while old people are generally sentimental and boring.

I recently finished reading Les Miserables which is basically about French society immediately following the French Revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic wars. One of our main characters Marius was the son of an officer under Napoleon but Marius' grandfather ended up raising Marius because he opposed Napoleon and thought his son was unfit to be a father since he was a "traitor" to France.

Marius ended up conforming to his grandfather's views and subsequently hated his father until he got old enough to discover and read about Napoleon in detail. Suddenly the serious, realistic, rustic tone of the novel while Marius was being introduced changes into something poetic, magical, and idealistic. Marius rebels against his grandfather by embracing these radical new opinions and visits his father's grave (who died of illness IIRC) to set flowers and weep.

The term "kids these days" is inaccurate. I'm sure that anytime between Athens, Greece and today it's been the same. Young people think old people are stupid and old people think young people are wild and rebellious.

I think I'm a lot like my own peers who are into things like (in any combination): alternative religion, anarchism, Marxism, extreme “left-wing” views, anti-establishment anything, continental philosophy (notably guys like Nietzsche and Derrida), postmodernism anything, secularism/atheism, an obsession with -isms, abstract/surreal art (Picasso, Kadinsky, movies such as Waking Life), French and Russian literature (seems like everyone is reading Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and various 19th and 18th century French authors), scientism, new-age practices, delusions of grandeur and world peace etc. Basically, they're all really romantic/idealistic, and their opinions seem reactionary against what they see as old-world bullshit and also consumerism; it's time to embrace progressive ideas and buy a new hat.

Or maybe I'm totally wrong in all this and the idea that young people and old people are so much more different is due to various media of all kinds that have propagated the idea inaccurately.

[Ludi]

It depends on the old farts. Some old farts retain or acquire non-conservative views. I was much more conservative in my teens and early 20s; as I'm aging I'm becoming less and less conservative in most of my views (in some I am still old fashioned).

But you're right. "Kids these days" has been around since the Greeks at least.

[vision-master]

I was young at age 45, now at age 55, I'm feeling it! All your sins of youth start showing up in your 50's.........

[Cloud9]

Young men are liberals. If it were not so they would not have hearts. Old men are conservatives. If it were not so, they would not have brains.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', 'I') was wondering if there's any particular reason why young people and old people seem to have a significant contrast in their convictions on pretty much anything especially in Western society.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'Y')oung men are liberals. If it were not so they would not have hearts. Old men are conservatives. If it were not so, they would not have brains.

[Stratovarius]

One thing I forgot to add that's important is this quote, "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again." (Alexander Pope). This sums up the situation nicely I think. Young people get introduced to a ton of information and ideas once they hit their teenage years that deviate from what they've been immersed in all their years and at first, it seems like something so astoundingly grand that they believe they must have hit upon the truth and the fact that their elders seem to not recognize it, they see them as simply stupid.

When you first learn about something especially if it's some heavy philosophy or whatever, you are "intoxicated", but once you get exposure to more things and build an interlocking worldview that actually makes some sense, you become humbled. Then, when you become old, rather than being a bitter cane-raiser, you can be that humble wiseman with a large beard, a large heart, and pithy sayings (unless you're a woman then you should cut the beard).

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', ',') results in the "wisdom" of elders being little appreciated.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', ',') results in the "wisdom" of elders being little appreciated.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')You missed the party. Too bad for you!

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', ',') results in the "wisdom" of elders being little appreciated.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', ',') results in the "wisdom" of elders being little appreciated.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Its often the third generation that are wastrels and "spend down" all the wealth acquired by their parsimonious parents and grandparents.

The boomers have been wastrels, spending down the hard won gains of their parents and grand-parents.

[kpeavey]

While it has always been and always will be true that youth is wasted on the young, it is the bonds between the old and the young which makes a group strong. The overwhelming majority of people I've ever known have nothing but good things to say about their grandparents. Combining the wisdom and experience that comes with a long life with the strength, vitality and passion of the young is how great things are achieved. Take out the elders, the young will be without direction. Take out the young, the old are left with no future. The combination is what creates culture, society, and the human experience.

I spent a great deal of time with my great grandmother when I was growing up. Those are days which I remember with much longing. I learned more from her each summer than a couple of decades of formal education. The way she did things, how things work together, the reasons why, the ease with which she explained all this can not be reproduced in a structured educational environment.

When I was older and on my own making my way working in a restaurant, I was taken under the wing of an older guy named Ed. He carried me to the next level. Reteaching me how to cook was a simple matter of scolding and cursing. Beyond that he helped me to develop skills with people and relationships. There was never a lecture, just casual talk about every subject under the sun.

Nannie, Ed, other grandparents, aunts and uncles, even my parents, none of them ever quit on me or gave up on a lifetime of encouragement, attention to detail, and promoting honor, duty, integrity, responsibility and character. It is the realization of these rewards that make the journey worthwhile. These teachers are not the recipients of those rewards, I am. That I have developed these values is all the reward they would ever want in return for their contribution.


Now, I find myself filling their shoes.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Its often the third generation that are wastrels and "spend down" all the wealth acquired by their parsimonious parents and grandparents.

The boomers have been wastrels, spending down the hard won gains of their parents and grand-parents.

[Stratovarius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') learned more from her each summer than a couple of decades of formal education.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Its often the third generation that are wastrels and "spend down" all the wealth acquired by their parsimonious parents and grandparents.

The boomers have been wastrels, spending down the hard won gains of their parents and grand-parents.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Its often the third generation that are wastrels and "spend down" all the wealth acquired by their parsimonious parents and grandparents.

The boomers have been wastrels, spending down the hard won gains of their parents and grand-parents.

[emersonbiggins]

Sounds pretty swank. 19" TV? - that's damn near shangri-la!

You were so spoiled.

Just for comparison, I do have a push reel mower and a 14' kayak (hand powered, of course) and a 26" color TV.

No iphone, though. (yet)

[eyeballandme]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Its often the third generation that are wastrels and "spend down" all the wealth acquired by their parsimonious parents and grandparents.

The boomers have been wastrels, spending down the hard won gains of their parents and grand-parents.