Younger Generations

[Surtur]

"When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint".
Hesiod, 8th century BC

"What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"
Plato, 4th Century BC

"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint... As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."
Attributed to Peter the Hermit, AD 1274

Source: http://www.anxietyculture.com/antisocial.htm

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”
Socrates, 4th Century BC

By the way, teen pregnancy hit a historic low not too long ago.

This. Society is actually getting better.

 

[The Hunter]

This. Society is actually getting better.

Mega this. We make mistakes yesterday so we don't repeat them today.

 

[MY 405]

I have a DA account where I'm pretty much everyone's mom (because I'm old) and I assure you that while there are douche bags of every stripe and generation, there are also well mannered, well educated and brilliant people in the younger generation and I am proud to know many of them. I saw it in action last Saturday night at a party where the youngest person was 17 and oldest in their late 50s and everyone contributed to a single, evening long conversation, got all the jokes, had each other in hysterics and generally had a ball. Best thing about this -- it was pretty much an IRL chatroom for five hours. And, oh, yeah, there was awesome pizza...

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

But back OT, there's a school of thought that says every generation gets the younger generation it deserves. I assure you there is always gold among the dross. I do, however, absolutely believe that every generation get the (James) Bond that they deserve.

 

[The Hunter]

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

Too late. Smokedaddy is already the forum's cool uncle. Actually, I think you're probably young enough to be his daughter.

I certainly know about that whole junk food thing because of my grandfather. He's diabetic, and he envies my brother for being able to eat Whataburger while he has to stick to his diet of nopalitos, refried beans, and tortillas. It's also a good idea to use your body to your advantage. If you break a bone at age 60, you die. You could probably fall out of a 4 story building and live if you're young. Use that potential to your advantage.

 

[MY 405]

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

Too late. Smokedaddy is already the forum's cool uncle. Actually, I think you're probably young enough to be his daughter.

I certainly know about that whole junk food thing because of my grandfather. He's diabetic, and he envies my brother for being able to eat Whataburger while he has to stick to his diet of nopalitos, refried beans, and tortillas. It's also a good idea to use your body to your advantage. If you break a bone at age 60, you die. You could probably fall out of a 4 story building and live if you're young. Use that potential to your advantage.

Smoke and I are secret pals, and actually no, I'm pretty sure we're the same age. So, maybe I could become the forum's cool aunt one day? Which would make me very proud.

And I love napolitos, Mexican food is my comfort food, cuisine and country both are some of my earliest memories. The using your body to your advantage is probably the best advice i've gotten in a long time!

See there gang?! Younger generation CAN teach a few things to the geezers among you.

 

[The Hunter]

Smoke and I are secret pals, and actually no, I'm pretty sure we're the same age. So, maybe I could become the forum's cool aunt one day? Which would make me very proud.

O: So, if you're the same age as Smoke, I just gotta ask... did you date Jesus? What's he like? Is it true that Napoleon constantly smelled like strawberries? Do you remember where you were on the day Smokedaddy invented video games?

But yeah, if you're as old as him, I'm pretty sure that makes you two the oldest (active) members on the forum. And that's pretty neat.

And I love napolitos, Mexican food is my comfort food, cuisine and country both are some of my earliest memories. The using your body to your advantage is probably the best advice i've gotten in a long time!

I like telling people from different parts that I eat cacti for breakfast. I don't eat it that often because my parents only stick to the standard Mexican stuff (enchiladas, tostadas, rice & beans, etc.), but I manage to get some when I'm with my grandparents. We don't have a shortage of authentic Mexican restaurants here because we practically are part of Mexico (and of course, the only time a nationally renowned food critic (Anthony Bordain) comes to town, he goes to a sushi place in the north side of town and gets the fuck out under the assumption that he'll get shot if he spends anymore time there, I guess). Although I love my food to have variety. I really wish I could live in DC. Last time I went, they had food from every country in the world there.

 

[MY 405]

Smoke and I are secret pals, and actually no, I'm pretty sure we're the same age. So, maybe I could become the forum's cool aunt one day? Which would make me very proud.

O: So, if you're the same age as Smoke, I just gotta ask... did you date Jesus? What's he like? Is it true that Napoleon constantly smelled like strawberries? Do you remember where you were on the day Smokedaddy invented video games?

But yeah, if you're as old as him, I'm pretty sure that makes you two the oldest (active) members on the forum. And that's pretty neat.

And I love napolitos, Mexican food is my comfort food, cuisine and country both are some of my earliest memories. The using your body to your advantage is probably the best advice i've gotten in a long time!

I like telling people from different parts that I eat cacti for breakfast. I don't eat it that often because my parents only stick to the standard Mexican stuff (enchiladas, tostadas, rice & beans, etc.), but I manage to get some when I'm with my grandparents. We don't have a shortage of authentic Mexican restaurants here because we practically are part of Mexico (and of course, the only time a nationally renowned food critic (Anthony Bordain) comes to town, he goes to a sushi place in the north side of town and gets the fuck out under the assumption that he'll get shot if he spends anymore time there, I guess). Although I love my food to have variety. I really wish I could live in DC. Last time I went, they had food from every country in the world there.

No, I did not date Jesus, mostly because he was usually really busy, but I did go see "Animal House" first run in a theatre with his cousin, Marv. After Jesus went to Jerusalem for that one Spring Break/Passover thing we didn't really hear much from him again. I saw Peter afterwards and HE said he didn't even KNOW Jesus which is total bullshit, and Thomas STILL says he doubts anything really took place. So I dunno. I think Marv's an accountant now...

Yes, Yes Napoleon did smell like strawberries! That's so weird you asked that! But it was those little, itty bitty ones that you find in the forest sometimes -- not those big ones that they sell by the side of the road everywhere and Tony Stark traded his Jaeger-LeCoultre for a flat of them to that guy who I'm pretty sure is named Eusebio, and oh my God, his wife makes the best tamales in Ventura county!

There were no days until Smokedaddy invented video games. Period. It matters not where you were before that.

And proud to be old and here -- and thank you very much.

Yeah, I like fucking with people about eating cactus as well. There is a place here that makes a really mean Chile Verde and we go to the carniceria for beef shanks because they are the ONLY place in town who knows what they're actually supposed to look like and truly the only place in town who ever have proper ox tails. Mexican food is just the finest thing ever, I may have to go out now... And love or hate L.A., world cuisine land of your dreams is only a short drive from wherever you live here.

 

[bradsternum]

I don't know, where I am, I've only met douchebags with severe ADD, who are always bored and/or depressed, can't write for shit, can't pay attention to reading, and can't go longer than five seconds without diddling their iPhones.

 

[Niachu]

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

Too late. Smokedaddy is already the forum's cool uncle. Actually, I think you're probably young enough to be his daughter.

I certainly know about that whole junk food thing because of my grandfather. He's diabetic, and he envies my brother for being able to eat Whataburger while he has to stick to his diet of nopalitos, refried beans, and tortillas. It's also a good idea to use your body to your advantage. If you break a bone at age 60, you die. You could probably fall out of a 4 story building and live if you're young. Use that potential to your advantage.

Smoke and I are secret pals, and actually no, I'm pretty sure we're the same age. So, maybe I could become the forum's cool aunt one day? Which would make me very proud.

You can be MY cool aunt if you want.

 

[shutupman]

I still disagree. The youth of today don't know how to communicate properly face to face.
"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." - Einstein
"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true." - Dickens

Those two quotes kind of sum up a lot of what I feel. That and what is available online kind of skews peoples perception of what is and isn't acceptable. This is, in part, due to the fact that when I was a kid, we didn't have things like YouTube to publicly humiliate ourselves. Nor did things stay around FOREVER once you committed said humiliation. This keeps compounding until you reach today.

 

[LucridMockery]

Sorry, but it's true, the 90's, 80's, 70's, etc., suck much more than the future will. Honestly, who wants to live in a decade where DOMA is constitutional and police officers beat men of color for literally no reason? That sounds like garbage, and it makes the people who lived in that decade sound like garbage.

You probably don't remember the 90s. They were pretty fucking awesome. Current times suck. It's all doom and gloom.

And now police just beat up everyone, so it's not really better. (My family is white and have been harassed by police for no reason.) We live in a total police state with the Department of Homeland Security, post 9/11 and with the damn TSA now (who have never caught even 1 terrorist by the way).

 

[LucridMockery]

#YOLO #swag #lol #FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING HACKER YOU CAN SEE THROUGH WALLS
My generation in a nutshell.
Also, were there this many teen moms in the 80's and 90's?

Yes. They were often thrown out on the streets by their good Christian parents, if not killed outright.

Every generation would force the next to stop progressing and live exactly like their parents if they could.

What the hell are you talking about? Where are you from? The Salem Witch Trial era?

My mom was a teen mom in 1978 and nothing bad happened to her. Cite me the cases where it was common place to kill your our daughters. I have a feeling you take any propaganda you've been forced feed as the gospel.

 

[Niachu]

You probably don't remember the 90s. They were pretty fucking awesome. Current times suck. It's all doom and gloom.

Doom and gloom about what?

 

[LucridMockery]

I don't know, where I am, I've only met douchebags with severe ADD, who are always bored and/or depressed, can't write for shit, can't pay attention to reading, and can't go longer than five seconds without diddling their iPhones.

Ditto this.
I think it has to do with having the Internet at your fingertips and the media influence. People care more about the opinions they see on TV than their real peers or even family and friends. The youths' perception of reality is skewed. They care more about shallow shit (because the advertisers in the media are trying to sell them products to make money off of them), than the things that should matter; honor, virtues, character, intelligence, integrity, etc.

Just remember the motives behind the media.

Throughout history, no one cared if you were homosexual until this Judeo-Christian bullshit came along.

And I was born in '86 and have lived in 50% to majority no-whites neighborhoods for most of my life and have never seen anything racist, sexist, or anti-gay happen to anyone in my real life. The media will always sensationalize stories for ratings. Most people get along very well, all things considered. There was no time in history when a mix of such varied people all lived under the same government together as modern America.

There is alot of doom and gloom meaning we are in 3 wars with talks of going into 2 more (N.Korea and Iran) and every time you turn around some other horrible thing is in the news.
And yeah, that fiddling on the phones is so rude but adults do it too.

 

[Niachu]

No one likes hearing about the doom and gloom about the environment, the economy or nuclear scares but I'd rather be aware of the issues than assume things are "fucking awesome." I'm certain you aren't proposing the 90's were without significant conflict.

I apologize if I come off as curt or presumptuous about anyone's expressed opinions in any way. However, I myself may or many not still qualify as "the youth." I've yet to hit the big 2-0. My high school memories are still extremely fresh and I've recently started transitioning to a college environment. I attended an alternative high school filled with some of the most troubled kids you could imagine who ended up there for various reasons.These are kids who've been severely abused, addicts constantly in and out of rehab, runaways, suffering from debilitating mental disorders or even parents themselves. And yet, many, many of these kids have made an amazing turnaround.

I say this with full confidence because I am one of those kids.

It wasn't them just growing out of it. You don't just grow out of being troubled. It was because they were surrounded by adults who supported them instead of talking down to them all day. These kids, many of whom I've made close friendships with, who have gone on to do the most positive things and be an example for their community, and you know what? It was ultimately them who made the decision make something of themselves. Even if many of them still struggle with demons, they've been taught the skills to manage them. Oftentimes, the adults in their lives had not taught them any better.

So, are there disrespectful kids who do nothing with their lives? Yes. Is the constant diddling with iphones obnoxious? Quite so. But to brush off every single child and teenager today so easily is an absolute insult to the ones who are trying their hardest, and especially the ones who are doing so with all that life has thrown at them.

I don't know, where I am, I've only met douchebags with severe ADD, who are always bored and/or depressed, can't write for shit, can't pay attention to reading, and can't go longer than five seconds without diddling their iPhones.

Something else I've learned that I'd like to say. I've had some traumatic experiences with my peers when I was quite young, so for awhile I was happy to write off the kids at my school as everything you've stated here. You know it's real easy to write a group of people off as one-dimensional rejects? Then I actually had a dialogue with some of them.

 

[Niachu]

Ditto this.
I think it has to do with having the Internet at your fingertips and the media influence. People care more about the opinions they see on TV than their real peers or even family and friends. The youths' perception of reality is skewed. They care more about shallow shit (because the advertisers in the media are trying to sell them products to make money off of them), than the things that should matter; honor, virtues, character, intelligence, integrity, etc.

Just remember the motives behind the media.

Now, to address this point specifically, I'm inclined to agree. However, I would say this is a problem with the general populace. I've already met several kids at the college who I want to grab and shake when they start talking about (extremely uninformed) politics, but I can hardly say I haven't met adults who inspire that urge. It all comes back to that money making machine that influences just about everything you see. People like hearing opinions that mesh with their own. People like to feel right. We're wired for persuasion, not logic. Bringing this back to the youth, I'd like to say that I've met plenty of other kids with a good amount of insight and awareness to the state of society.

 

[MY 405]

No one likes hearing about the doom and gloom about the environment, the economy or nuclear scares but I'd rather be aware of the issues than assume things are "fucking awesome." I'm certain you aren't proposing the 90's were without significant conflict.

I apologize if I come off as curt or presumptuous about anyone's expressed opinions in any way. However, I myself may or many not still qualify as "the youth." I've yet to hit the big 2-0. My high school memories are still extremely fresh and I've recently started transitioning to a college environment. I attended an alternative high school filled with some of the most troubled kids you could imagine who ended up there for various reasons.These are kids who've been severely abused, addicts constantly in and out of rehab, runaways, suffering from debilitating mental disorders or even parents themselves. And yet, many, many of these kids have made an amazing turnaround.

I say this with full confidence because I am one of those kids.

It wasn't them just growing out of it. You don't just grow out of being troubled. It was because they were surrounded by adults who supported them instead of talking down to them all day. These kids, many of whom I've made close friendships with, who have gone on to do the most positive things and be an example for their community, and you know what? It was ultimately them who made the decision make something of themselves. Even if many of them still struggle with demons, they've been taught the skills to manage them. Oftentimes, the adults in their lives had not taught them any better.

So, are there disrespectful kids who do nothing with their lives? Yes. Is the constant diddling with iphones obnoxious? Quite so. But to brush off every single child and teenager today so easily is an absolute insult to the ones who are trying their hardest, and especially the ones who are doing so with all that life has thrown at them.

I don't know, where I am, I've only met douchebags with severe ADD, who are always bored and/or depressed, can't write for shit, can't pay attention to reading, and can't go longer than five seconds without diddling their iPhones.

Something else I've learned that I'd like to say. I've had some traumatic experiences with my peers when I was quite young, so for awhile I was happy to write off the kids at my school as everything you've stated here. You know it's real easy to write a group of people off as one-dimensional rejects? Then I actually had a dialogue with some of them.

It would be my privilege and honor to be your cool aunt.

 

[shutupman]

I have a DA account where I'm pretty much everyone's mom (because I'm old) and I assure you that while there are douche bags of every stripe and generation, there are also well mannered, well educated and brilliant people in the younger generation and I am proud to know many of them. I saw it in action last Saturday night at a party where the youngest person was 17 and oldest in their late 50s and everyone contributed to a single, evening long conversation, got all the jokes, had each other in hysterics and generally had a ball. Best thing about this -- it was pretty much an IRL chatroom for five hours. And, oh, yeah, there was awesome pizza...

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

But back OT, there's a school of thought that says every generation gets the younger generation it deserves. I assure you there is always gold among the dross. I do, however, absolutely believe that every generation get the (James) Bond that they deserve.

Those are exceptions to the rule. As are those who taint my perception of their generation.
As the saying goes, it only takes one bad apple. Those bad apples seem to be getting progressively worse.
The people who fall to the other side of that same equation also seem to be getting more intelligent and artistic; it's only natural after all!
Insert Venn diagram here.

 

[MY 405]

I have a DA account where I'm pretty much everyone's mom (because I'm old) and I assure you that while there are douche bags of every stripe and generation, there are also well mannered, well educated and brilliant people in the younger generation and I am proud to know many of them. I saw it in action last Saturday night at a party where the youngest person was 17 and oldest in their late 50s and everyone contributed to a single, evening long conversation, got all the jokes, had each other in hysterics and generally had a ball. Best thing about this -- it was pretty much an IRL chatroom for five hours. And, oh, yeah, there was awesome pizza...

So feel free to think of me as the forum mom here if you'd like, you can always PM me with "did you have television in 1965?" and "What was the world like before Star Wars?" and crap like that. It's weird growing old in fandom (any fandom) and there's a whole lot I wish someone had warned me about. PRO TIP: Do ALL pizza, fried chicken eating and beer drinking NOW, because when you become 40 this ability completely breaks down! Also, yes, sadly, you will get to a point in your life where you fall asleep in front of the TV before the 11 o'clock news comes on -- yeah, I know, we used to laugh at grandpa too for this.

But back OT, there's a school of thought that says every generation gets the younger generation it deserves. I assure you there is always gold among the dross. I do, however, absolutely believe that every generation get the (James) Bond that they deserve.

Those are exceptions to the rule. As are those who taint my perception of their generation.
As the saying goes, it only takes one bad apple. Those bad apples seem to be getting progressively worse.
The people who fall to the other side of that same equation also seem to be getting more intelligent and artistic; it's only natural after all!
Insert Venn diagram here.

See? You said the same thing I was trying to,only much more succinctly. The Venn diagram should be something like: Older Douche Bags, Younger Douche Bags and The Place Where Acting Like A Douche Will Get You Banned.

 

[Niachu]

See? You said the same thing I was trying to,only much more succinctly. The Venn diagram should be something like: Older Douche Bags, Younger Douche Bags and The Place Where Acting Like A Douche Will Get You Banned.

If the cwcki didn't have a No Douches policy I wouldn't have stuck around to meet my cool new forum auntie.