Youth of America: Apathetic or Politically Correct?
@dreamdistrict (33)
United States
January 31, 2007 2:49pm CST
I remember in the early 90's, if you were in your late teens and early 20's, chances were that you had beef with what was going on in the White House, entrepreneural enough to start your own internet company, and chock full of buzzwords. The youth seemed to make it their business to know what was going on in the country so they would have something to complain about over a starbuck's coffee. Feminism reached new heights, homosexuals were coming out and proud of it, and music was rich with political undertones.
I unfortunately became a teen in the mid 90's where that pro-knowledge, pro-action spirit seemed to veer off into apathy where all you cared about was getting drunk, high, watching T.V. to see what crazy Clinton was up to today, setting couches on fire, starting riots over your favorite sports team winning, and shooting up your school cause mommy and daddy didn't hug you enough. It seemed that that age where the youth of America actually cared about the world around them had permanently dissapeared. Present Day- pseudo-real Reality TV, Paris Hilton, Scientology, anorexia, and false "Idols" have taken priority over all else. Or has it? I know during the Kerry/Bush presidential race, alot of teens seemed to do their homework and got very involved. There was the whole "Rock the Vote" campaign. Now there are things like "Current TV" which is specifically geared towards youth knowing more about the world around them
U2 & Greenday wrote songs obviously speaking to youth about the current political state of America, and there's this "Break the Addiction" thing being promoted by MTV that's pretty much pro-ecological harmony, anti-drugs & tobbaco, informational resource.
So what do you guys think? Are we overcoming the Age of Apathy and finally getting involved? Are the youth gearing themselves toward a social utopia or a Pod-utopia -all things material and technologically flashy. Will teens start living in reality instead of Celebreality?
I have a newborn girl and the future that awaits her really concerns me. I know no matter how much I try to protect her, she'll have to face the world someday. I know the world will never be perfect but I sure hope right now it starts taking a turn for the better and I think todays 16-25 year olds will be instrumental in this.
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