The youth of today
I’m not exactly old, but when I have the misfortune of observing the coming generation of adults, I can’t help but feel a deep, deep sense of despair.
Whilst on a train back from the city with a mate last year, we heard two teenagers yakking loudly in front of us, talking about various topics which were fairly mundane, till one had the ignorance and audacity to ask “is communism a fruit?”
*cue crickets chirping*
I thought that it was a once off, that that was about as fucking stupid as you could get…that is, till I encountered a bunch of teens on my train ride home this afternoon:
Dumb blonde: “Hey, what’s a nazi?”
Dumb guy: “I dunno…” [looks around at other friends]
Dumb blonde: [louder] “HEY, WHAT’S A NAZI? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT A NAZI IS?”
Dumb brunette: “I think it’s a German…the Germans used to be nazis…”
Dumb blonde: “Oooooh, so if you’re German, then you’re a nazi!” [looks around at friends] “HEY! IS ANYONE GERMAN?”
Dumb guy: [laughing] “I am!”
Dumb blonde: “Awesome! High five, you’re a nazi!”
At this point, I was gripping my metal crochet hook so hard that it was digging into my hand, and it took all my self control to contain myself from LEAPING OUT OF MY CHAIR AND SLAPPING THE STUPIDITY OUT OF HER BRAIN. However, self control won out and I tried to ignore their idiotic yellings (though it was a bit hard as they were sitting all around me), till the next gem came along…
Dumb blonde: “Asians who dye their hair blonde are stupid. They should just be Asian. [weird segue] And you’re all stupid - you['re race] was in a war, you['re race] was in a war, all you[re races] were in wars except me!”
Dumb brunette: “Really? What are you?”
Dumb blonde: “I’m half English and half Irish…I think”
*cue my wanting to stab myself in the brain to save myself from the insanity at this point*
Not so dumb brunette: “Hang on, but the English were in wars…”
Dumb blonde: “Oh, I don’t care about my English half, they’re stupid. I like my Irish half, they’re harmless, all they do is dance around in kilts all day, they’ve never been in a war”
(The kilts are for SCOTS, and two words - Sinn Fein)
Now, while you may forgive this level of ignorance in a child, THESE WERE NOT CHILDREN. No, these teenagers were talking about driving around, petrol prices being so expensive and exams - so at the VERY youngest, they would’ve been 17-18.
Dear sweet geezus. These teenagers are the FUTURE. That thought alone is enough to make me want to immigrate to the North Pole. However, I propose a solution to deal with the problem of the ignorant youth of today:
Step 1. Write a large, heavy history book detailing the most significant historical events of the past century.
Step 2. Gather all the idiots in a room.
Step 3. Beat them over the head with the aforementioned book.
I’m STILL shellshocked. Fucking hell.
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Comments
Joff Think of someone you know of average intelligence, then realise that half of everyone on the planet is stupider than that person
– with credits to George Carlin, RIP.
Adam Oh dear… what a sad tale although I am not too surprised really. I recall a few years ago when a colleague of mine saw me reading a book of Australian History and asked "What is Federation?".
Another person I knew in her 40’s decided to rant and rave one day that there was no constitutional protection for religious discrimination from the government until I pointed her to Section 116 of the Constitution.
In the US, this would form the basics of their education, but not here. The lack of awareness of both Australian and global history is very poor.
Kat Moon Haha! I guess that makes me even less optimistic than before. I experienced a similar situation while taking the metro home from NYC. This is how the conversation went:
(seat in front of me, 3 teenagers)
Dumb guy 1: Like Aladdin was amazing man, Disney didn’t think of it all by themselves right?
Dumb guy 2: Naw, it’s from a book called Arabian something . . .
Dumb girl: Yah, Arabian Nights.
Dumb guy 1: Is that "Knights" spelled with a K?
Dumb girl: I dunno.
It would be fine if they just stopped there but they continued . . . Talking about if birds could exist in space (regardless of no oxygen) and what would happen if all the radiation from all the nuclear plants went out into space. My brain began to hurt.
When I mentioned this to a friend, he told me that sure they may be stupid, but not to get too righteous about their stupidity, seeing as I was probably comparing the finer moments of my intelligence rather than my incompetent moments (which there is an abundance of at times).
Still . . . in retrospect, it is a nice anecdote 
Go future generation!
therese "I like my Irish half, they’re harmless, all they do is dance around in kilts all day, they’ve never been in a war”"
I really hate this crap.
I live in Korea. So most don’t know anything about Ireland which is so much better then the Canadians and Americans.Telling me about their grandparents and how they love corn beef.
I think you might mean the IRA not Sinn Fein.
Sinn Fein are a political party.
IRA is what you are looking.
Love your food blog 
Lula I too find myself lamenting over the ‘youth of today’ etc… but then if I think hard enough back to high school, well, those kind of people existed then too - I just chose to avoid them to the point where I’ve near forgotten them. Actually, I take that back, they weren’t this bad!!
I don’t mean to get on a high horse, but as someone who is all-too-aware of the current educational system, I must say that the current model does not value humanities, and the fact that schools are measured (and soon to be rewarded) based on the results of numerical and literacy tests, schools are pressured to pay lip service to these areas and teach to the test. "Crowded curriculum" etc.
…and this all leads to kids on a train talking like this *shudders*
jai does not matter where one lives… they are all self absorbed dumbshits who seem to have been educated by MTV. They are focused on one thing, and one thing only, they are in pursuit of money to buy everything they don’t need. I hope that there are more than just the average rabble out there or those of us who might need them later to take care of things are shit out of luck…. ever seen the movie Idiocracy? You should watch it…. makes a lot of sense, even if it a spoof of sorts.
Kimbers *sigh* It’s sad…very very sad. I really don’t know how some people can be soooo stupid!
Ellie @Joff - Awesome quote!
@Adam - You’re right…when I was studying overseas at the international school, at yr 10 level history the depth of understanding being taught was far more in-depth than what I experienced here. Sad.
@Kat Moon - Your friend has a point, but frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever been quite that ignorant *head desk*
@therese - Cheers - I thought the IRA were the…*cough* activist arm of Sinn Fein but google has proven me wrong!
@Scott - Yuuuuuup.
@Lula - That’s such a sad state of affairs! I don’t understand why such emphasis is placed on the sciences, the humanities are JUST as important for developing analytical and other skills!
@jai - I have actually seen it! It’s a crap movie, but terrifyingly enough I can see something close to that happening!!
@Kimbers - I live in constant fear that there are people more stupid than this out there (o_O)
Wow..
That IS bad!! Sadly funny… 