The Right Opinion
Young Westerners -- Deprived or Decadent?
A once civil and orderly England was recently torn apart by rioting and looting -- at first by mostly minority youth, but eventually also by young Brits in general. This summer, a number of American cities witnessed so-called "flash mobs" -- mostly African-American youths who swarmed at prearranged times to loot stores or randomly attack those of other races and classes.
The mayhem has reignited an old debate in the West. Are such criminally minded young Americans and British turning to violence in protest over inequality, poverty and bleak opportunities? The Left, of course, often blames cutbacks in the tottering welfare state and high unemployment. The havoc and mayhem, in other words, are a supposed wake-up call in an age of insolvency not to cut entitlements, but to tax the affluent to redistribute more of their earnings to those unfairly deprived.
The Right counters that the problem is not too few state subsidies, but far too many. The growing -- and now unsustainable -- state dole of the last half-century eroded self-reliance and personal initiative. The logical result is a dependent underclass spanning generations that becomes ever more unhappy and unsatisfied the more it is given from others. Today's looters have plenty to eat. That is why they target sneaker and electronics stores -- to enjoy the perks of life they either cannot or will not work for.
We might at least agree on a few facts behind the violence. First, much of the furor is because poverty is now seen as a relative, not an absolute, condition. Per-capita GDP is $47,000 in the U.S. and $35,000 in Britain. In contrast, those rioting in impoverished Syria (where average GDP is about $5,000) or Egypt (about $6,000) worry about being hungry or being shot for their views, rather than not acquiring a new BlackBerry or a pair of Nikes. Inequality, not Tiny Tim-like poverty, is the new Western looter's complaint.
So when the president lectures about fat-cat "corporate jet owners," he doesn't mean that greed prevents the lower classes from flying on affordable commercial jets -- only that a chosen few in luxury aircraft, like himself, reach their destinations a little more quickly and easily. Not having what someone richer has is our generation's lament instead of lacking elemental shelter, food or electricity. The problem is not that the bathwater in Philadelphia is not as hot as in Martha's Vineyard, but that the conditions under which it is delivered in comparison are far more basic and ordinary.
Second, the wealthy have not set an example that hard work and self-discipline leads to well-deserved success and the good life. Recently, a drunken, affluent young prospect for the U.S. ski team urinated on a sleeping 11-year old during a transcontinental flight. And the more the psychodramas of drones like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, or some members of the royal family, become headline news, the more we see boredom and corruption among the pampered elite. The behavior of John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Dominique Strauss-Kahn or Arnold Schwarzenegger does not remind us that good habits of elite public figures follow from well-deserved riches and acclaim -- but only that with today's wealth and power comes inevitable license and decadence.
Third, communism may be dead, but Marxist-inspired materialism still measures the good life only by equal access to "things." We can argue whether those who loot a computer store are spoiled or oppressed. But even a person in faded jeans and a worn T-shirt can still find all sorts of spiritual enrichment at no cost in either a museum or a good book. Did we forget that in our affluent postmodern society, being poor is often an impoverishment of the mind, not necessarily the result of a cruel physical world?
Finally, there is far too much emphasis on government as the doting, problem-solving parent. What made Western civilization rich and liberal was not just free-market capitalism and well-funded constitutional government, but the role of the family, community and church in reminding the emancipated individual of an affluent society that he should not always do what he was legally permitted to. Destroy these bridles, ridicule the old shame culture of the past, and we end up with unchecked appetites -- as we now witness from a smoldering London to the flash mobbing in Wisconsin.
Our high-tech angry youth are deprived not just because their elders put at risk their future subsidies, but because they were not taught what real wealth is -- and where and how it is obtained and should be used.
(C) 2011 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
9 Comments
LegacyAmerica
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Excellent article. Unfortunately a combination of the things that has made the West great combined with a weakening of the role of family, community and church has brought us to where we are. In Europe there appears to be an added ingredient to the curdling of society, the half century prescience of the U.S. military - as addressed at American Thinker - 'Did American Military Over involvement Hasten Europe's Cultural Decay?'. For utmost good reasons, at enormous cost to American taxpayers we stayed after WWII to keep the Great Powers from yet again embroiling the Continent and the globe in another 'war to end all wars', and dragging America into future carnage. We stayed to prevent the degradation of war, but may have contributed to the Europeans cultural degradation. We've been forced to do for them what they should but wouldn't do, and that is to stop destroying each other, and us as well. We've been a welfare agent for them and they've been encouraged to spend their resources on their own welfare systems, in many cases spoiling themselves with the results we've recently seen.It's catch-22, damned if we don't, damned if we do. Left to themselves Europe has fought each other and everyone else, but our intervention allows them to turn on themselves. Maybe that's better than another world wide conflagration. But maybe it's time to rethink our presence there, and demand they act responsibly, internationally and nationally.
Ol'Joe
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 12:33 PM
These are subservient people who have had their lives and basic needs supplied free by their masters, i.e. the Democrats in government. I would not describe these outbreaks as riots, I see them as slave revolts.
Brian
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 12:41 PM
The irony is, both ends of the spectrum have the same shorcoming: Namely, having grown up with everything handed to them, whether it be from affluent parents who "want [their] kids to not have to work hard and suffer they way [they] did", or a government that believes people incapable of helping themselves. In either case, we end up with a generation of immature young adults who lack any knowledge or appreciation of the value of hard work. Or the value of a dollar. A generation of socially underdeveloped brats that think whatever they want should be handed to them, simply because they want it.
Frank E.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 1:13 PM
08/18/11 Well said BRAIN!Young people of CRADLE TO GRAVE Living Soceities never get the chance too Learn the effort of earning because its always given too Them.
Matt Dillon
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Who really cares...Many youths that cause no trouble, grow up as fine citizens....shoot those that would do you bodily harm ! Oh sure, it would stop ! But idiot do gooders that live in gated comunities will cry foul...P C is killing freedoms.
Fed Up
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 4:35 PM
One only has to watch reality TV series such as Cops, Dumbest Criminals, America’s Most Wanted, and like live soap opera TV to see the majority of crimes, statistically as a representative sampling, are committed by Black and Hispanic Americans. But, some would say, it is because of their hardships growing up, their marginalization, the challenging environmental conditions, lack of educational opportunities, and lack of assured futures.I say, it is both a learned and natural basis of behavior, but one more ingrained now because of acute dependency, cultured lethargy, and or their determined hold onto “victim” status. I, like many other “Americans,” Black, Yellow, Brown, and White grew up in very poor families, and didn't result to violence, stealing, murder, and the like anarchy that the too many of the criminal "minorities" exhibit. I, like successful others, worked our butts off, found a way to get an education no matter the circumstances, to get out of poverty and make something of ourselves. Their own, and ‘their leaders’ excuses are getting way too old in contemporary America, and with even now ‘their own’ first Black president. No more excuses, no more Affirmative Actions, and no more ‘injured party’ classifications. You either work harder to make something of yourself, or you don't. Unfortunately, many are taught or prefer not to, and will continue to blame it on the "White, Rich Man" for holding them down. If this sounds harsh, it is because this is the reality in contemporary America. You would never hear any politician mutter such word like for fear of political correctness, scorn, character attacks, and being called a bigot. But I suppose that is why the minorities continue to portray themselves and act like the victims and wards of the states and federal government. Until someone, or the many leaders in the Black community stands up and says it like it is, this will sadly always be the case.
MAJ USA Ret
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 5:38 PM
Is this not obvious? Give a man a fish - He eats for a day Teach a man to fish - He eats for a lifetimeBut more importantly:The wealthy have a choice: - give and destroy the recipient's self determination or - teach and empower the student to actualize their potential. The less wealthy have a choice: - Learn and earn with integrity or - Take and watch your soul waste away.Any will be fortunate to have a headstone. Then, the wealth of this world will make no difference. What makes a difference is not what is accumulated, nor the pleasures of this life. The trek makes the difference. The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one. Choose the high road, do the tough things, do not be conformed to worldly lusts of pleasure, power, popularity. As your eyes close for the last time, your memories will be far richer regardless of what the world judges. And the next sound you may hear: "Well done!"
Brian
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Forgive me, maj USA, but you overlooked the liberal interpretation of that proverb: teach a man to fish, and you can force him to give up half his catch to divide up amongst those who refuse to fish.
Doktor Riktor Von Zhades
Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:47 AM
"Today's looters have plenty to eat. That is why they target sneaker and electronics stores -- to enjoy the perks of life they either cannot or will not work for."I would beg to differ Dr. Hanson, on the flash mobbing. Most flash mobs are semi-organized events stating action, time and place. Basically, one texts one's friends, and like the old shampoo commercial, they tell two friends and so on and so on, until you have a flash riot. I think way to many of those involved have to much time on their hands, and do it more for the "thrill" than for any reason of want of material objects. It would not surprise me to see photos surfacing on the net of people involved in these riots, texting others to come along and join in the fun. Also, even some of the poorest among us have a computer, a cell phone, and other items (courtesy of the taxpayer), within their financial resources.