The prevailing thought of ‘socially empathetic’ adults as of recent has been that teenagers are victims — a group taken advantage of by a world dictated by social media and the harsh opinions of others. I’m here to say this is a misrepresentation at best, and at worst a destructive narrative that is at the core of the seeming intensification of teenage imprudence.
There is some undue criticism of the youth.
For the past few years, the social truth seekers have been grasping for any justification to mitigate the unduly placed contempt for the youth. And, they have reason. For as long as generational conflict has existed, the aging have disgraced the young and imprudent, offering only a face of disdain for those who ‘have it easier’, or ‘don’t respect their elders’.
And some of this disdain is irrational. As industry advances, increasing comforts become accessible and wealth abounds, more and more conveniences and instant gratification seemingly mitigate the problems of yesteryear. Assurance and indulgence have profoundly expanded throughout human history, and they will continue to do so.
The disconnect, that many criticizers of youth fail to see, is that old problems do crumble, but beneath them lay obstacles just as formidable. Replaced by manual labor is the deafening pit of self-esteem. While one is a toilsome task, the other arises and becomes relevant in the absence of greater need. The later should not be dismissed as insignificant. As the state of comfort advances, the insignificant becomes significant.
Arising is one glaring difference: many previous generations generally sought understanding of and faced their oppositions with firm principals. Many current teenagers do not. They are aided by cultural relativism.
What has culturally changed?
The general adult consensus of what ought to be done has shifted from a position of values and absolutes to a happiness-seeking relativism. Those in roles of influence have shifted their thinking. No longer are decisions evaluated in their relation to what is true, and just, and right, but now instead to human’s single greatest purpose: our own flawed perception of what will make us happy.
The constant and persistent conflation of instant gratification with identity derived meaning and purpose has been devastating in many areas.
I have observed, all too many times, those with cultural influence encouraging their young followers to ‘take a day for themselves’. By this, they do not encourage their emerging fans to clean their rooms, sort out their familial relationships, and engage in intense physical exercise. Instead, their explicit instruction is that their fans “eat, drink, and be merry” (behavior, when excessive, warned against in passages of Ecclesiastes and Isaiah). Their instruction is that their followers allow their instant gratifications to rule for a single day, acting in accordance with permissive attitudes characterized by relaxation, accommodation, and indulgence. From excessive does of ice cream to hours of mindless celebrity chatter, these protectors of metal health advocate for doses of self leniency, rooted in the belief that our temporary subserviency to our carnal impulses will heal us, make us happy.
This is not the case. The drama of human history is characterized primarily by a conflict of man vs self. Impulse vs reason. Hypothalamus vs prefrontal cortex. Id vs ego.
What makes modern relativists think that we would be any different? We are healed through reason and discipline.
We are not healed because discipline makes us happy, we are healed because, in discipline, we seek out duty, responsibility, and even burden and fulfill it.
This is not to say that the occasional cake slice is catastrophic to an otherwise healthy diet, but such indulgence must be accompanied by the understanding that the treat is motivation to strive on, not the nutrition that heals our inadequacies.
This brings us to teenagers of today.
I hope that I do not come to any conclusions too quickly, but my primary concern is with people my age who owe themselves first, not to their principals, faith, or virtues, but instead to their peers.
These teenagers become filled with angst, and worse, void of purpose. But the cultural reaction to this suffering is significant. These teenagers are then affirmed, told that their struggles are not their fault. Told that the system is out to get them. Told that one action is not higher than another. Told to be true to their flawed concept of self. Told that the antidote is a relaxation of healthy restraint and discipline. Told that their highest undertaking is the sustaining and increasing of their happiness. It isn’t.
This current movement of thought is reminiscent of a familiar dilemma. One option is that we deceive ourselves and convince ourselves of lies because it is the only method to guarantee positive emotion. The other is that we value truth and candor, even it implies that suffering is imminent. When our teenage cultural ethos is reflected by phrases like You’re doing everything you can, and Know your worth queen, we’ve chosen ignorance to the truth, in favor of blind chemical satisfaction.
And whether the school of thought that cries out ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re perfect the way you are’ should be attributed to teenagers, I do not know. But I will push against it with everything I have.
In this revised edition of my writing, I will not claim to know the antidote to the way of thought that plagues the teenage community, but I will plea that teenagers do not identify themselves first as ‘gen z’ or with their age group. And even more significantly, that they value truth over attractive delusion, because the truth, the truth that we all are deeply flawed and inadequate, is the only way forward.
I hope teenagers don’t miss that.
David
