The Younger Generation Knows Best

Old people are always saying that the young are not what they were. The same comment is made from generation to generation and it is always true. It has never been truer than it is today. The young are better educated. They have more money to spend and enjoy theirfreedom. They grow up more quickly and are not so dependant on their parents. They think more for themselves and do not so blindly accept the ideas of their elders. Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed.

The old always assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around a little longer. They don’t like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this is precisely what the young are doing. They take leave to doubt that the older generation has created the best of all possible worlds. What they reject more than anything is conformity. Office hours, for instance, are nothing more than enforced slavery. Wouldn’t people work better if they were given complete freedom and responsibility? And what about clothing? Who said that all men in the world should wear dull grey suits and short haircuts? If we turn our minds to more serious matters, why have the older generation so often used violence to solve their problems? Why are they so unhappy and guilt-ridden in their personal lives, so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more material possessions? Haven’t the old lost touch with all that is important in life?

These are not questions the older generation can shrug off lightly. Their record over the past fifty years or so hasn’t been exactly spotless. Traditionally, the young have turned to their elders for guidance. Today, the situation might be reversed. The old, if they are prepared to admit it, could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment is not “sinful”. Enjoyment is a principle one could apply to all aspects of life. It is surely not wrong to enjoy your work and to enjoy your leisure. It is surely not wrong to live in the present rather than the past or future.

Notes

guilt-ridden – страдающий комплексом вины

shrug off – сбрасывать со счетов

IV. Read the text once again and mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F):

Vocabulary Practice

I. Give the Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases:

● conformity ● enforced slavery ● complete freedom and responsibility ● mean ambitions ● blindly accept ● to precede ● guidance ● spotless ● sinful ● to shed restricting inhibitions ● material ● possessions.