This might seem like it’s coming out of nowhere today but what I’ve heard and read over time is burning me right up, so I’ve got to vent.
This entry is not directed towards those who have and still try their best to make a better tomorrow. This is not directed towards those who do not seriously make sweeping statements against younger age groups. This is not directed towards those who know how one generation is not solely responsible for the issues of today. This is not directed towards those who know waxing nostalgic about the “good-ole days,” ignores how the problems that existed in the past still exists now.
This entry IS directed towards all the ones who DO wax nostalgic, unfairly place blame against generations, and doesn’t work to make a better tomorrow. They may not like what’s next, but it’s got to be said.
To start us off, here is an excerpt from an article from The Guardian, on June 15, 2016, about the spike in US violence possibly attributed to the so-called “Ferguson Effect”:
Early findings from [Richard] Rosenfeld’s study were first reported by the Guardian in early May. Rosenfeld, whose research on homicide trends in St Louis were used to debunk the Ferguson Effect last year, said that his “views have been altered” after doing a broader national analysis.
In interviews with the Guardian, Rosenfeld cautioned that the version of the Ferguson Effect he finds plausible is very different from the one that some leading conservatives have described.
The “dominant interpretation” of the Ferguson Effect, he wrote, is that criticism of the police after the killings of unarmed black citizens causes the police “to disengage from vigorous enforcement actions”. Rosenfeld explores an alternative version of the Ferguson Effect, in which “longstanding grievances and discontent with policing in African American communities” are “activated” by controversial incidents of police violence, and then “chronic discontent erupts into violence”.
Inimai Chettiar, director of the justice program at the liberal Brennan Center for Justice, said Rosenfeld’s findings offer “very similar conclusions” to a report issued by her organization in April. That report found the homicide spike was localized in only a few cities, and pinned blame on “community conditions” – not a “national pandemic”.
- Lartey, Felton and Lois Beckett, June 15, 2016
The Guardian;
‘Ferguson Effect’ is a plausible reason for spike in violent US crime, study says
Granted, the following comments aren’t from The Guardian but from an (shockingly low-on-the-details) article on NPR on the same subject; however, if they read the former news outlet they would’ve likely made the same mentally deficient comments:
Trois Rivieres
Having been a long hair in the 1960's and experienced plenty of police misbehavior, I never had much respect or sympathy for cops. But how can we expect them to enforce any laws where they risk being surrounded by howling mobs waving cell phones and hurling abuse when they try to do their jobs? Mobs backed up by 'civil rights leaders' and ambulance-chasing lawyers just dying to make big bucks from suing the city?
Druid American
A 60's guy myself, and agree 100%. I was military, then, but the difference was that the Nam protesters were never really violent (not talking about SDS or other militant factions), just stopping access to buildings, marching, etc., but mainly because they had a principal to stand up for, as disjointed as many in the "establishment" found it. Today's protesters don't know the meaning if civil disobedience, only rioting and killing.
Carlos Spicyweiner
"Mobs backed up by 'civil rights leaders' and ambulance-chasing lawyers just dying to make big bucks from suing the city?"
Bingo!!
To people like these, THEY know what REAL civil disobedience is, while my generation only riot and murder. THEY were NEVER really violent, the were respectful and held demonstrations led by civil rights leaders, while my generation form disruptive mobs being led by ‘civil rights leaders’.
Let’s point out the obvious that only talking of the Vietnam War protesters to showoff how “non-violent” that decade was, not only downplays how truly violent that time was, but ignores all the other major struggles that existed back then. (You know, like that massive one with all those black people? The same who were called “troublemakers” back then but are now seen in a much better light today?)
They don’t pay attention to the report itself, they just gloat about a past that didn’t exist and pooh-pooh the people fighting today’s struggles as being good-for-nothings. Funny thing is, younger generations including my own, join in with the older generations to unfairly bad mouth this latest generation. They say the latest generations “...should be kicked out their parents’ homes!” and “...get a real job!” They say that say we “...always want free health care and education!”, “...so overly sensitive!” or “...always ask for handouts from crowdfunding!” Overall, it all amounts to how we should “grow up, because that’s just the way it’s always been!”
First off, the reasoning of not trying to change something today or thinking outside of the box because “that’s how it’s always been,” incredibly hypocritical. It may have been that way but that doesn’t mean we should keep it so. If “that’s how it’s always been,” was a good reason to not strive for progress, my generation would still live in a world with no cure for polio, lynch mobs being a normal alternative to a fair trial, and many everyday products produced with lead. Either way, they benefited from calling for and creating change, so why is it wrong for us to do the same?
Second, there is no shame in admitting that you need help. Of course, there are those who take advantage purely out of laziness, but that’s nothing new. As long as you are not taking advantage of one’s goodwill, as long as you aim to improve yourself, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. The older people who make gripes about the younger needing help, come off as petty, envious, petulant children, as they often give the reasoning of “I never had anything like that when I was younger! Why should I help someone else go to college/ get proper healthcare/ achieve their life-long dream if no one ever helped me?” (The younger people who do the same to their own generation...to feel superior? Ignorance? Wanting acceptance from their elders? I don’t know but the do it anyway.)
Third, the thing about over-sensitivity (I’ve got plenty to say about that in another entry,) is just one of the stereotypes being pinned on this latest generation, whereas there are members of older generations who behave the same way. This also applies to the ones who bury their noses in the latest tech, who still live with their parents, who sit around and get high, who don’t get politically involved, who act like they’re owed something because they’re such a special little snowflake. Yet that doesn’t stop them complaining about how the later generations are the ones ruining everything. They’re somewhat right though, because there are members from the younger generations committing themselves to perpetuating mistakes similar to the older generations. Mistakes that waste our precious time and energy with their frivolous distractions. When you boil them down to their basics, there’s no real difference between this panic over political correctness/incorrectness and yesteryear’s Red Scare; the near obsession over gossip/entertainment and the spectacles of the Roman coliseum; the weakening of our valuable public services for the sake of tax cuts and the willingness to turn a blind-eye on shady Wall Street in the name of profit.
Hence, it is there lies the final counterpoint: My generation wouldn’t be the despised “lazy freeloaders” we are today, if people in each of the generations in existence today didn’t leave every other individual working towards change in the lurch. Inflation, job insecurity and the like didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Though there are certainly members of my own generation that are guilty of this, we didn’t exist for as long as the older generations to possibly fix the problems. Then, avarice may be a big reason for members of the same generation to neglect or actively fight change, but there are those who leave the cause for change because they somehow feel what they did was enough.
(For that, the following paragraph is specially aimed at these types from the older generations.)
You fought the power? Good for you! You may feel accomplished, sleep better at night, tell yourself that you did your part and everyone learned a valuable lesson, but the opposition still exists and the lessons they learn aren’t always the one you wanted them to see. You may have defeated them but they’re still around, plotting new ways to undermine all you fought so hard for. They will continue to reproduce, spread lies, sabotage, corrupt, even if it means they’ll have to act like they want be your friend. As long as they’re alive, they’re a threat. If the threat still exists, then vigilance is still required to keep the changes intact and/or encourage progression of those changes. Yet here you are; after years of abandoning, not just a chance to better the future of the younger generations, but those of your own generation who have continued to struggle against these problems in your absence. You help let these problems fester, defang and drag the rest of us down and we eventually have our hands forced to fight back, one way or another. Then you have the absolute nerve to come strolling in and blame us for making things worse. Where were you and your sage advice, oh ever watchful sentinel? How did the barbarians ever get pass you to pillage and burn all that was so hard to build? You left your post vacant for so long and now you come back to wag your insolent finger and blame us when we opt to fight back? YOU may not like what you see but YOU failed to watch over the opposition, now WE’RE going to have to clean up this mess YOU allowed to happen. I could be wrong about you not being politically active anymore. You’re still not helpful solely for the reason that your resolve revolves around scapegoating.
I guess that’s my biggest problem with undue generalized age discrimination. Instead of looking to the actual root of a problem, they’d rather take the lazy and disingenuous route by making this another simple “us vs them” distraction when it is actually not so clear cut. Worse, is that it is seen as an acceptable prejudice even amongst moderates and the Left; not all, but more than it really should. We’re supposed to be not cool with racism, sexism and the discrimination of one’s sexual preferences because people are born that way, so why is it okay to unjustly trash entire generations that were born when they were? Isn’t that the ultimate “born-this-way” attribute? That alone shouldn’t be the determining factor to damn someone. As with color, gender, sex, sexual preferences and creed, what you do is what truly defines you, NOT the actions of others. It gives me the feeling that if it one day became somehow “cool” to mistreat others based on the aforementioned qualities, there would be a lot of people jumping onto one or a few of those bandwagons too. Last thing I want is for progression to slide backwards into expanding the old tradition of unjust blaming.