As I talk with my grandkids, I note the key disconnect between generations. Not just ours, but probably all since time began.
I’ve been 20, and I’ve had kids who were, and now grandkids. And I’ve read some history. From that point of view it’s easy to see the general pattern of 20 year olds reacting to the world they find themselves in.
It’s a perspective the 20 year old can’t possibly have, and it leads us, the elders to a sort of smug condescending sort of attitude.
But the world this crop of 20 year olds is entering isn’t at all like that of their parents, or grandparents. This is true for every generation, but in our particular case we, the elders, know nothing about the social norms of today, the problems with dating, the difficulty with getting an education, the dismal job prospects, the anger over the environment, etc. etc.
In other words, from the 20 year old’s perspective, we simply don’t get it. They’re right, and our blindness to the current world pisses them off.
So there’s the basis of the conflict. The elders see the larger patterns that the youth can’t see, and the youth see the realities of the day that the elders can’t see.
We, the elders, understand well the pattern of angry young men. But we haven’t a clue as to what it is that makes them angry today.
