Kids these days - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

Wandering the information superhighway, he came upon the last refuge of civilization, PoFo, the only forum on the internet ...

All general discussion about politics that doesn't belong in any of the other forums.

Moderator: PoFo Political Circus Mods

User avatar
By Hong Wu
#14920025
A story I'm apparently still bitter about was there was this kid in high school who would tear up my homework or my drawings. I told the school librarian and some teachers but they refused to do anything. Since the only way to stop the kid appeared to be to punch him, I gave him a slug and then I got in trouble for that. To this day I refuse to trust authority :lol:

I also made the mistake of joining a quasi-political discussion group on Facebook. I'm a little more cautious there than here obviously. Still, the shit that young people would write was confusing me. One kid seemed to believe that the point of a protest is to force people to do what you want, not to draw attention to an issue or whatever. If you look at the ways young people protest these days (and I'm only in my 30's, I just don't feel young I guess) this seems to be a widespread belief, from blocking roads and grocery stores to physically shutting down venues and calling it a protest.

So how did they come to such a conclusion? I suspect it's because my experience was not unique. What young people are taught these days is this: if you're a little shit and stay under the radar, you can harass someone until they give into you. If you get onto the radar, you're fucked, regardless of who is right or wrong. This is why they think that things like protests are acts of force, instead of acts of discussion; they're essentially reacting to the signals they got when they were growing up.

I somehow got the idea that a protest was meant to draw attention to an issue, not to try and force someone to do anything, or similarly that a debate was about uncovering the truth of a matter, not just a shallow attempt to hurt someone's feelings but these do not appear to be ideas that a majority of young people would recognize today, or at least not a majority of those who are the most politically active.
#14920110
If all people do during any sort of demonstration or protest is talk and not action, there wouldn’t have been the liberal revolutions that swept aside feudalism, nor the socialist revolutions that (while unsuccessful) ultimately convinced Western leaders to improve living conditions for working men, women, and children during the 19th century. There wouldn’t have been the (right or wrong) fascist/nationalist movements in Europe, nor the communist revolutions there and abroad. There wouldn’t have been a reactionary revolution in the former USSR, etc etc.

Talking and doing nothing results in nothing changing and things staying the same.
User avatar
By Hong Wu
#14920138
Bulaba Jones wrote:If all people do during any sort of demonstration or protest is talk and not action, there wouldn’t have been the liberal revolutions that swept aside feudalism, nor the socialist revolutions that (while unsuccessful) ultimately convinced Western leaders to improve living conditions for working men, women, and children during the 19th century. There wouldn’t have been the (right or wrong) fascist/nationalist movements in Europe, nor the communist revolutions there and abroad. There wouldn’t have been a reactionary revolution in the former USSR, etc etc.

Talking and doing nothing results in nothing changing and things staying the same.

Talk and action are not the same thing.
User avatar
By Albert
#14920141
Demonstration is an act of itself. I do not think it should be underestimated. It is not for no reason Soviet Union banned demonstrations. In the west this freedom is sometimes unappreciated for it is so readily possible.
User avatar
By Hong Wu
#14920144
I think another presumption in democracy is that, if your issue is important and legitimate, a successful demonstration should swing voters your way and therefore ultimately solve the issue.

If you can't trust the voters to support you even after you have brought attention to your complaint, you must believe that the democracy is no longer functioning, correct? Or is there some other conception of democracy being applied here?

The ultimate conclusion here of course is that protesters who think they are trying to force people to do things, not to encourage a discussion, want to rule over people by force.
#14920145
Hong Wu wrote:Talk and action are not the same thing.


Even to you, I’m sure the context is obvious, as you are whining about people disobeying the authorities, causing unrest and civil disturbances, blocking off streets etc. If everyone completely behaved themselves, Hong Wu, and only demonstrated, very little would get done.

We are already ruled over by force. The state monopolizes the power of killing its citizens and in suppressing dissent. Further, not everyone here is a liberal democrat.
User avatar
By MistyTiger
#14920146
Protests should lead to plans being made. If people protest and no one wants to make a viable plan, then it's not much use. Or maybe instead of protests, the protesters should create a marketing idea for what they want like the commercials we see on TV or online. People need to persuade others. Persuasion is such a powerful tool not just waving signs in the street or yelling.
User avatar
By MistyTiger
#14920150
But when people say that word, Bulaba, it seems to be said with such a tone of derision or disdain. Why can't it be seen in a more positive light? So maybe it needs a new name or a different approach. :hmm:
User avatar
By Albert
#14920151
Hong Wu wrote:I think another presumption in democracy is that, if your issue is important and legitimate, a successful demonstration should swing voters your way and therefore ultimately solve the issue.

If you can't trust the voters to support you even after you have brought attention to your complaint, you must believe that the democracy is no longer functioning, correct? Or is there some other conception of democracy being applied here?

The ultimate conclusion here of course is that protesters who think they are trying to force people to do things, not to encourage a discussion, want to rule over people by force.

If you view protests and demonstrations in terms of impacting/influencing consciousness of people then you begin to see the power of it. As the real battle takes place in that realm. That is why Soviet Union clamped down on any free organized demonstrations because the authority wanted complete monopoly on thought and what people took into their awareness.

I believe if you fail to "persuade" other people to your cause and the opponents succeeded then you lost the battle in realm of consciousness. It is not the fault of democracy, but of ones own conviction. For convictions that are correct and right should win over the ones that are wrong and unjust. In comparison.
User avatar
By Verv
#14920156
I have some good, conservaitve friends here in Korea from back home in the states. One made an observation that I think others find to be very uncomfortable, but, honestly, quite true...

Many of the young men today seem really soy'ed.

That is to say, they have a very feminine and almost "gay" vocal pattern. They also appear to be weaker and somehow smaller and more timid than before. I am not even one to say that my generation was particularly masculine, I am only saying that I have actually noticed the emasculation of young whites.

There has been a certain feminization of men that I think is the most alarming thing about 'kids these days.'

Has anyone else noticed it?
User avatar
By Hong Wu
#14920253
Verv wrote:I have some good, conservaitve friends here in Korea from back home in the states. One made an observation that I think others find to be very uncomfortable, but, honestly, quite true...

Many of the young men today seem really soy'ed.

That is to say, they have a very feminine and almost "gay" vocal pattern. They also appear to be weaker and somehow smaller and more timid than before. I am not even one to say that my generation was particularly masculine, I am only saying that I have actually noticed the emasculation of young whites.

There has been a certain feminization of men that I think is the most alarming thing about 'kids these days.'

Has anyone else noticed it?

I can't say for sure about the size thing, or the aggression thing really but I swear they're getting less mature. I was around some college kids about a year or two ago when I first started studying Chinese. At first I was like "yay I'm in college again :excited: " but then I started remembering all of the bad things about college because they were all so immature :hmm:

Mostly I have high hopes for generation Z, it's just that when they go bad they seem to go really bad.
By SolarCross
#14920275
Verv wrote:I have some good, conservaitve friends here in Korea from back home in the states. One made an observation that I think others find to be very uncomfortable, but, honestly, quite true...

Many of the young men today seem really soy'ed.

That is to say, they have a very feminine and almost "gay" vocal pattern. They also appear to be weaker and somehow smaller and more timid than before. I am not even one to say that my generation was particularly masculine, I am only saying that I have actually noticed the emasculation of young whites.

There has been a certain feminization of men that I think is the most alarming thing about 'kids these days.'

Has anyone else noticed it?

I can't say I have. They are more housebound than previous generations due to the severe addictiveness of computer games but that is as far as it goes really. Once they are old enough to start boozing, driving, chasing skirt and fighting each other then the macho is as evident as ever.
User avatar
By Heisenberg
#14920276
In this thread, Hong Wu is complaining about people being immature. Let that sink in. :lol:
User avatar
By anarchist23
#14920277
My youngest kid is now 12 and the oldest is 47 years old.
This short video explains what has changed over the years, from the kids wanting to go outside to play and now wanting to stay inside. It's convenient for the parents as most parents work. There is no stranger danger as well. Stranger danger is a myth perpetuated by the media..


User avatar
By One Degree
#14920278
As an old person, I have witnessed an ever increasing number of things the young are suppose to be afraid of. If you convince people to be afraid, they become weak. This means they ask the government for more protection. This is the fallacy of liberalism. It claims greater equality but the fear it induces requires voluntarily giving up rights for government protection.
Think about something as simple as our ‘emergency sirens’. They use to only be used when a tornado was actually sited. Now they are used when the ‘conditions make it likely’.
The more afraid you make people, the easier for them to accept an authoritarian government. We have even convinced them to be afraid of words and passed laws to protect them from words.
Each generation becomes weaker due to increased fear resulting in a more authoritarian government inducing more fear. It is quite clear what the goal is. We are safer than we have ever been, yet have more irrational fears than ever before.
No generation is more guilty, it is just each is another step in the wrong direction.
User avatar
By MistyTiger
#14920279
@anarchist23 It's so sad that kids these days prefer being inside and in front of the tube. I grew up in the 90s but I preferred the outdoors mostly. From the age of 2 until 7, I loved being outside. But moving to the East coast changed that because the warm season is much shorter. I'm glad that my parents never let me get addicted to Nintendo or Gameboys. Those weren't in my home and I didn't feel curious about them until I was 12.

Stranger danger is still a thing. Plus, even if you know someone, you don't always know what they're thinking. I have a friend who was molested and abused by her maternal uncle for years. And many cases of rape and abuse are not by strangers.

@Verv I've noticed that a lot of men's hairstyles right now seem a bit feminine. I'm talking the long parts on their crown and the bottom is shaved clean. And some guys grow their hair out long and I always want to ask them what conditioner they use. LOL.
By Rich
#14920280
Verv wrote:I have some good, conservaitve friends here in Korea from back home in the states. One made an observation that I think others find to be very uncomfortable, but, honestly, quite true...

Many of the young men today seem really soy'ed.

That is to say, they have a very feminine and almost "gay" vocal pattern. They also appear to be weaker and somehow smaller and more timid than before. I am not even one to say that my generation was particularly masculine, I am only saying that I have actually noticed the emasculation of young whites.

There has been a certain feminization of men that I think is the most alarming thing about 'kids these days.'

Has anyone else noticed it?

I feel like the question should be, has anyone not noticed it.

However its amusing to note that both the radical Left and the conservative Right believe in the same pathetic fantasy. Both left and right think that suffragettes got women the vote. They just disagree on whether it was a good thing. Its men like James Watt that got women the vote. As the nature of production and warfare has changed, society has inevitably been revolutionised. There have been no political revolutions in Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark or Sweden since the seventeenth centuries, yet their societies have been revolutionised almost beyond recognition. Marx was not a materialist he was an romantic, idealist posing as a historical materialist.

The Agrarian Patriarchy that preceded industrialisation was itself brought about by changes in the modes of production, not just because some loony had an idea. Loony patriarchy, loony feminism, both were grounded in economic conditions present at their inception.
Russia-Ukraine War 2022

Are people on this thread actually trying to argu[…]

Isn't oil and electricity bought and sold like ev[…]

@Potemkin I heard this song in the Plaza Grande […]

I (still) have a dream

Even with those millions though. I will not be ab[…]