The Youth of the Nation
Thursday, November 08, 2007
♥ Thursday, November 08, 2007
Let me give you my take on Young Adults.
I think there's a certain governance amongst young adults, an unspoken assumption of authority that all young adults yield to unconsciously. This is that of the age.
The age governs the young adults. This is an age of blogging, an age where the newest ministry is not of the fine arts, but of Sound, an age where we are measured according to what we wear and where we shop at, an age of decadence. This is an age of computer games, an age of escape, an age where violence and entertainment mells into one, where hedonism and libertinism becomes the new god, where masochism blends in with sadism, where there is a thinner and thinner line between crying and laughing. This is the age.
I think the young adults, wherever they are, yield to this authority of the Age. And of course, there are certain perks to this "Big Brother" doesnt it. You get accepted, you become popular, the girl you like takes a second look at you, whats there not to like??
Not only are the perks attractive, they are a force that not many cant stand up against. Look to the movies, its there. Look to your friends, they are walking apotheoses of the notion " just do it". Look to education, and you get people who stand by beliefs and people who are martyred for their ideals?? Ha.. Right.
BUT what exactly is the age's main thrust? How does the age "hold" onto the minds and hearts of teenagers? What is the general principle, that this age, uses to build its onslaught of "kidnapping"? Who is the pied piper of this age, who blows his flute and draws all to him?
Kierkegaard deals with this aptly. He proposes the first sphere of existence as the one most people are caught in. This is the sphere of the aesthetic. In today's terms, it'll be called the shallow, the superficial and the bimbotic. You see, the age has no authority and can not draw people to itself unless there was already something inherently wayward. The church calls this concupiscence. I'll still stick with the term "aesthetic".
Our aesthetic appreciation is a virtue. Where it becomes a vice, is when this appreciation becomes a need. A need for the aesthetic. And no it has little to do with our conception of beauty, it has ironically everything to do with someone else's notion of beauty.
With that pandora's box, comes out a whole vista of ideas that entrap the young adult's feeble and un-principled mind. Today's notion is not to be the best you can be, but be the most beautiful that you can be. Mirrors take up more space in a shop than the clothes or wardrobes. On an educational level, an intellectual aesthetic is being sought- only one who has a brain will make it, and hardly those who have brains, ever have spines. Lets look at people's hair. Its becoming more and more flamboyant isnt it. From black, to brown., to blue, to green, to yellow to purple. From straight to spiky to permed to curls??
But i think theres a weapon of mass destruction that this age has unleashed.
In hall you have this thing called " f*** buddies", its almost a trend to 'do it' there. And i think thats a new facet to this age, and probably its strongest assault.
It used to be called a relationship in the past. Now i think we should settle for the term 'accessory'. Something that we can do without, but something we wouldnt mind having. Its not how madly in love is he, but how good in bed is he. People are becoming more and more creative in the bedroom, you can almost make a museum out of the gadgets, devices and methods people use. The young adults have lost all notion of sanctity. And now its permeating like a virus. The idea of what used to be a sacred act, has been utterly and flagrantly desecrated. Now as thio li ann says, its no longer about a moral imperative. Its about the penetrator and the penetrated. And behind all this is that inherent aesthetic need that yearns to be appreciated. What is it to be vain? To have someone's eyes on you. Doesnt matter, who or how.
Where is all this leading to? Oblivion.
Of course, the age would offer a cure. A pedicure.
