Youth- Near Future

Date: October.24.1999







The youth of today, for the most part, across this world within all societies, are discouraged by their lack of opportunity to fully participate as their parents were able to do when they first entered the work-force. Their parents experienced historic economic growth, career opportunity, rapid advancement and an ever increasing standard of living. Interest and tax rates were low with very little inflation and their take-home pay went further resulting in substantial wealth accumulation over their work-life. The only reasons that isn't so today is that their government's increasing debt load resulting in higher taxes and the expensive social welfare programs. The young people know that.

Todays youth are divided in two camps. One with the minimum life skills, a barely functional education level (ability to read, write and understand data) and generally lacking social skills with which to carry on easily understandable communications with others other than those in their particular clique. The more compassionate societies are giving them another chance to re-educate and 'try again' to get their act together. The poorer countries or those that just don't care, have let them fall to the way-side. Sort of as an outsider looking in. Add drug and alcohol abuse and you've got a lethal mix for the future of those youth and society as a whole. Dis-enfranchised youth, with no substantial opportunity, idle time on their hands to obsess on sex and drugs, are ticking time bombs for crime, violence and destructive behaviour to themselves and their families. One parent families on welfare or abandoned children are just one of the results. They also resort to tribal 'think' for protection and friendship hanging out with like-circumstance individuals since they're alienated from the mainstream. They will continue to be tomorrows problem child.

The other group of youth are on the other end of the spectrum. They've grasped words and concepts, discovered their life goals early and had the family resources and/or self-motivation to work hard early to find out what they needed to know to achieve their objectives. At the very least, along their way to higher paying professional careers or journeyman status in labor trades of high demand. They are truly tomorrows leaders.

Tomorrows leaders who will not tolerate what's been going on in our societies over the last forty or fifty years. Although carefully groomed in the schools to embrace the political ideology of their countries ruling party, they're smarter, more 'me' orientated and generally don't give a rats ass for people who don't take care of themselves.

Unfortunately, the gap is growing wider between these two groups within the ages of twenty and thirty. The youth that have pulled their weight, gotten high paying, in demand jobs or created their own opportunities, are not going to tolerate the excessive taxes levied on their incomes to support the national debt or social welfare as much as our current middle class, middle age population are willing to bear presently. In other words, a tax revolt. Except, this one will be at the voting booth in most civilized countries, not on the streets. Tax riots will happen in places where they cannot go to the elections to bring about change.

We're presently seeing the world governments putting forth the face of compassionate socialism yet quietly practicing fiscal conservative policy changes. They're slowly weaning their social service recepients off the welfare teat. To do otherwise is to bring on the wrath of the generation of independent thinking mavericks I describe above.

You've probably heard it stated that the national debts (not the deficit) accumulated by all countries cannot be paid down in one or two generations without ever increasing taxes on the working class. I beg to differ. Our youth, as they grow older and bear the brunt of the various levels of government debt in the form of ever increasing taxes will not tolerate it for long. Plain and simple. If that means work-fare for welfare, so be it. I think it's a given. It's going to happen and it's starting to happen now.

Nothing much will be visible in changes for our young people for the next two years but the change is occuring. Those on social programs, unless disabled or elderly, have only a few short years more before the next generation of high achievers force the government, through elections or riot, to cut them off and send them onto work programs.


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