In Praise of the Innocent Ignorance of Youth

Sometimes when I’m in a lively discussion with some people who, like me, are well into middle age (or older), they seem surprised that I stand out in support of today’s youth. They complain about how they are directionless, how they are irresponsible…basically, they label them as lazy (at best) or as hooligans or criminals who will bring about the end of civilization (at worst). It makes me chuckle.

For millennia (and we have historical quotes to prove it), the most “seasoned” among us have had the same complaints about the young. What’s funny is that these people, who are supposedly more experienced, totally forget that they are not the first to have to endure the vicissitudes of life…pretty much the same thing they accusatively say about the young.

But, you see, that is the strength of youth. They see a problem and will act on it. Their elders will poo-poo the notion, saying that the problem is an old one and that there are no new solution because everything has been tried. And then, some callow student will see a problem for the first time, treat it as if it were new, and then (seemingly by magic) come up with a solution.

And that is why I praise young people. While I might not agree with them, they figure out new ways of living this thing called life. No generation ever wants to do it like their parents did. It’s through this evolution using trial and error that we are able to go from stone tools to living in space in just 5,000 years (just 280 generations of young people). It’s all too easy to forget that many of those who actually accomplished the feat of sending people to the moon were in their 20s or early 30s. Younger people are definitely able to do great things.

While I praise youth, that doesn’t mean that I necessarily understand or agree with what they do. I don’t relate to the music (esp. hip-hop, gangsta, etc.), their sartorial sense often leaves me perplexed (shants, droopy over-sized pants, etc. …. though I like goth just as much as I enjoyed the punk scene in my own youth), and some of their choices just boggle my mind. But then I look back at the standard that was imprinted on my brain: bell-bottom jeans, tie-died t-shirts, long hair and beards…and a social movement that included ending an unpopular war, women’s rights, and civil rights. I remember how the generations ahead of me railed at how these insolent youths were destroying civilization.

In 2008, I witnessed the wisdom of those insolent youths coming to fruition. In a campaign that saw Barack, Hillary, and Sarah garnering serious interest…well, it makes those young 60s radicals seem sort of smart. So, I have no reason to doubt today’s young people. They will likely not make the same choices my generation did, and that’s probably for the good.

While the “boomers” get to crow about the presidential race, they also need to lower their heads when it comes to the economy and the environment. That’s the mess those of us with “more experience and wisdom” are leaving to our children and grandchildren. We are dependent on them to find the solutions that we couldn’t. I don’t want them following in our footsteps. I want them to forge new paths. Sure, they’ll make mistakes, but they will also have some wonderful successes.

So, when the young take for granted that they can communicate with people around the world for essentially nothing; when the young think that Vietnam is an interesting place to visit and not some relic of conscripted death; when the young boast that they can do it better than their parents… I say yay for the young. Go do it.

I don’t always understand these people with only a couple of decades under their belts, if that (that’s not my job), but I appreciate their possibilities. They’ll do OK. They’ll go to work. They’ll have babies. They’ll solve global problems. They’ll make their pages in the history books. And they’ll bemoan the fact that their own children don’t understand the complexities of the world because they live in a lazy condition where their only problems are friends, their allowance, and if they’ll get to use the car.

We all become old fuddy-duddies. The question is, what are we going to do with it?