Why I Hate... Society

Young, Dumb and having all the fun?

This is a response to a society dominated by the idiot. I’m 20 years old and a victim of a promise that has never been delivered. Growing up in the late 1990s we were given false hope; try hard at school, stay on for sixth form, go to university. And what awaits us at the end of this lovely rainbow of education? Our dream job? No, we face the worst recession since the Wall Street crash. There are no jobs, and the few that are out there reject us as having ‘no experience’. Experience? How about 17 years of trying hard, hoping, waiting and being let down.

Who are the winners in our ‘new labour’ generation. Oh, wait it’s the ‘Young, Dumb and Living off Mum’. Just like the Tory government behind them it is the privileged who are laughing in the face of the recession. There is, however, one small difference. These aren’t the kids with trust funds pushed through Eton and taking over Daddy’s empire. These are the kids of the property developers, the credit munchers, the WAG’s and basically anyone who has coasted through life on sheer cheek and luck. While I was in school doing as I was told, they were shouting out, disturbing whatever was left of a lesson ‘controlled’ by a 22 year old student teacher.

I was eight years old when the ‘new labour’ revolution began. It’s hard criticising a labour government, coming from a working class background and considering myself as somewhat of a socialist. But the 1997 changeover was parallel with changes in my own education. Mr Major and Mr Murphy were out; Mr Blair and Mr Anderson were in (The latter, unknown names of each pair being my primary school headmasters). The political change was not something an 8 year old was aware of, yet I knew something was changing at my school. Out were the old affirmative teachers who could frighten a child with a glare, and in were the liberal young teachers who were every bit ‘Cool Britannia’. These may seem the words of a bitter old conservative, but surprisingly I see myself as a socialist. The reason I make this claim is that socialism didn’t help me get through school. I was the boy at the back of the classroom who wasn’t the swot, but I adhered to the social practices; listen, be quiet and do your homework. Maybe it is the parents’ fault?

It was the BBC Three series ‘Young Dumb and Living off Mum’ that inspired me to put finger to keys. These were the kids I mentioned a few paragraphs up, the ones who were treated for being bad. Treated with schemes that were put in place way before Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’. I live in Liverpool, a city like many others in the UK which is plagued by Anti-Social Behaviour (whatever that is), youths on ‘mischief night’ (day before Halloween, look it up) were taken away from their neighbourhoods and instead of being punished, they were taken on trips bowling. Similarly at school, the worst kids were sent to a place called the unit. When teachers couldn’t control a child so much they would expel them from the school and place them inside the ‘unit’. One of these ‘units’ was located in my school. A multi-cultural comprehensive, renamed a ‘specialist sports college’. Whilst I was doing it by the book, these kids were in what would be considered closer to a youth club, rather than a place of learning. Their ‘punishment’ was games consoles, trips to Alton Towers, take away pizzas. Stuff that ‘gifted and talented’ (which I was a member of) could only dream about.



Now, being 20 years old and about to go into my final year of University I should feel like those seventeen years of education have paid off? No way. I’m living in the middle of a generation obsessed with celebrity and wealth, whilst being living in a recession. I’m well aware of this, and so I am apathetic to those in my position, there are millions of us who were tricked into University with the promise of a great job at the end. And it's not just students, look at the apprenticeships. No longer than three years ago there was a call for young people to take up apprenticeships in bricklaying, joinery, electricians (I could go on). Now, even before the recession there was massive unemployment amongst tradesmen, a lot of the time in favour of cheaper European labour. I'm not going all Daily Mail on you, but any idiot can see that unemployment is a devastating problem in our society.

But as I turned on my television this evening I witnessed the biggest kick in the face yet; ‘Young, Dumb and Living off Mum’. The contestants are the kids I’ve spoken of, rounded up from their wealthy slacker lives and given various work experience challenges to eventually wean out who was, as their parents often boasted, ‘the most adult’. This is simply not fair. They were the ignorant school bullies and social retards who disrupted lessons. I was promised by my teachers that if I ignored these idiots that it would all pay off later on in life. Nope. The ‘Young, Dumb’ kids are given work experience opportunities that I could only dream of. I have applied for volunteer positions at various media institutions, only to be refused. But if I would have misbehaved in school and sponged off my parents I would get the opportunity to take part in a television programme with a round the world trip as the ‘winning’ prize. In reality, I’m going to owe upwards of £15,000 of student debts and be unemployed, probably sitting next to the naughty kids in the dole queue.

Despite my frustration, this is not an appeal to vote Tory and demand a conservative society. It's a demand, in the same manner as my last post, to rid our society of the 'quick fixes'. This 'X-factor' generation needs to realise that to achieve recognition, success and fortune you should work hard. It is something that both capitalists and communists alike can agree on, wealth isn't free: it should be earnt. So, instead of awarding undeserving causes, why not award those who have put everything into this society and have been let down. From the labourer to the lecturer, regardless of class or economic background, everyone surely must be as angry as me when these undeserving slackers win at every opportunity.


This is a cry for justice to the generation before us, a warning to the generation behind and a plea for action to anyone who feels in a similar position.