Responsibility
Jun. 13th, 2004 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartThis one is about political awareness and other such stuff. You have been warned.
We have been voting for our Europe Parliament representatives this morning. Mum and I laughed about most people who went voting being 80 or above - unfortunately, it wasn't really a joke. Young people from today are too lazy to do even as much for their country as going to give their vote for those who are going to decide about their future.
Of course, doing so would require political awareness and responsibility. Both have become foreign words for young people nowadays.
Granted, not everyone can be the political animal I am. I've grown up in a time that was impregnated with politics - every aspect of life was. A lot of it was utter crap. Nevertheless, it gave us something for the further way of our lives that young people nowadays completely lack. We have learned that we could make changes, if we stuck to each other and fought hard enough. I think that mentality is still very present in my current life, the real one and the online one as well. The political aspects of life are even present in the stories I write, I think.
Of course, indifferent people were always there. My own cousins couldn't care shit for anything else but their own financial interests all their lives. They usually don't even go to vote. And if they do, they vote for the right wing. I always vote for the socialists. Yes, despite my past, I do.
It's an interesting duality in my life. My grandparents were forcibly moved to a small town after WWII, to live in a small room by strangers, just because my Grandpa was German. The fact that we were Catholic and actively practiced our religion wasn't exactly an advantage when I was young. We all have suffered throwbacks because of that. Oh, and we were quite romantically poor, too.
And yet, I'm still of the opinion that socialism was a more righteous social system than capitalism is. I hated the stupid ideology that was forced upon us, but certain aspects were better for people.
We were taught that the needs of the community come before the needs of the individual. Granted, there were horrible exaggerations, some people suffered greatly under those, but the principle itself was much healthier than the rampant egoism I'm sad to watch by our kids and young people nowadays.
We were taught that the greates value was the human being. Not profit, not economics, not financial interests. Of course, it never worked the way it should have, but at the very least the principle said clearly that you should consider your fellow human being first and your pocket later.
We were taught that knowledge was a value. Education was free, even if you sometimes had to wait years for a study place at university. Books were cheap.
We were taught that building communities was a very important thing. Youth organizations started already in 1st term. The organization for lower primary was called "the little drummers", in rememberance of the young boys who had served as drummers in the army during the great liberation war against the Habsburgs in 1848/49. They had a six-point-codex with rules like "You should love and honour your parents and teachers", "You should always tell the truth", "You should be a good and loyal friend" and the likes, I don't remember all of them. Oh, yea, the first one was about loving your country.
In upper primary, there were the pioneers. It was basically the same organization, under a different name. They had a 12-point-codex with similar rules, rephrased for bigger kids. The groups had a meeting once a week, led by a secondary school student who was responsible for them for a year. They learned games, went to the cinema, to the library or simply played together. It was a little similar to the organization of the boy scouts, without having to buy expensive uniforms.
In secondary school, I worked with younger kids for four years. The experience has cemented my future as a teacher. When I went to college, I already knew how to deal with young kids. What responsibility meant. And thousands of other young students had the same experience.
After the political changes, these organizations had been shattered as reminders of socialism (in the first cycle the right wing gave the govenrment). They gave the kids nothing in exchange. There are no youth organizations now, save from a handful of boy scout groups. After a 40+ year pause, they just couldn't continue where they left off. Besides, they didn't take into consideration the changes of thinking, caused by 40 years of antireligious propaganda.
So, our kids hang out in shopping centers nowaday, or simply are on the streets. The schools struggle heroically to offer afternoon curses that might interest them, but it's not an easy thing. The kids won't do anything that require the slightest work, unless it's directly profitable for them. Not having been in organized groups from the first term on, they haven't developed a sense for shared property, either. Adn they most certainly don't have the slightest sense of responsibility.
When I was a kid, lying was the last resort for us, when we really, really didn't see any way out from a bad situation. Nowadays, the kids simply lie because it's more confortable than admit what they have done - or haven't done. They don't even seem to understand why that's a bad thing. Have watched too many politicians on TV, I guess.
Ummm... I think I forgot the actual point I wanted to make. Ah, well, I'll write a sequel when I remember again what this was all about.
Keep tuned for an analysis about friendships among teenagers today. Coming up soon. ;)
We have been voting for our Europe Parliament representatives this morning. Mum and I laughed about most people who went voting being 80 or above - unfortunately, it wasn't really a joke. Young people from today are too lazy to do even as much for their country as going to give their vote for those who are going to decide about their future.
Of course, doing so would require political awareness and responsibility. Both have become foreign words for young people nowadays.
Granted, not everyone can be the political animal I am. I've grown up in a time that was impregnated with politics - every aspect of life was. A lot of it was utter crap. Nevertheless, it gave us something for the further way of our lives that young people nowadays completely lack. We have learned that we could make changes, if we stuck to each other and fought hard enough. I think that mentality is still very present in my current life, the real one and the online one as well. The political aspects of life are even present in the stories I write, I think.
Of course, indifferent people were always there. My own cousins couldn't care shit for anything else but their own financial interests all their lives. They usually don't even go to vote. And if they do, they vote for the right wing. I always vote for the socialists. Yes, despite my past, I do.
It's an interesting duality in my life. My grandparents were forcibly moved to a small town after WWII, to live in a small room by strangers, just because my Grandpa was German. The fact that we were Catholic and actively practiced our religion wasn't exactly an advantage when I was young. We all have suffered throwbacks because of that. Oh, and we were quite romantically poor, too.
And yet, I'm still of the opinion that socialism was a more righteous social system than capitalism is. I hated the stupid ideology that was forced upon us, but certain aspects were better for people.
We were taught that the needs of the community come before the needs of the individual. Granted, there were horrible exaggerations, some people suffered greatly under those, but the principle itself was much healthier than the rampant egoism I'm sad to watch by our kids and young people nowadays.
We were taught that the greates value was the human being. Not profit, not economics, not financial interests. Of course, it never worked the way it should have, but at the very least the principle said clearly that you should consider your fellow human being first and your pocket later.
We were taught that knowledge was a value. Education was free, even if you sometimes had to wait years for a study place at university. Books were cheap.
We were taught that building communities was a very important thing. Youth organizations started already in 1st term. The organization for lower primary was called "the little drummers", in rememberance of the young boys who had served as drummers in the army during the great liberation war against the Habsburgs in 1848/49. They had a six-point-codex with rules like "You should love and honour your parents and teachers", "You should always tell the truth", "You should be a good and loyal friend" and the likes, I don't remember all of them. Oh, yea, the first one was about loving your country.
In upper primary, there were the pioneers. It was basically the same organization, under a different name. They had a 12-point-codex with similar rules, rephrased for bigger kids. The groups had a meeting once a week, led by a secondary school student who was responsible for them for a year. They learned games, went to the cinema, to the library or simply played together. It was a little similar to the organization of the boy scouts, without having to buy expensive uniforms.
In secondary school, I worked with younger kids for four years. The experience has cemented my future as a teacher. When I went to college, I already knew how to deal with young kids. What responsibility meant. And thousands of other young students had the same experience.
After the political changes, these organizations had been shattered as reminders of socialism (in the first cycle the right wing gave the govenrment). They gave the kids nothing in exchange. There are no youth organizations now, save from a handful of boy scout groups. After a 40+ year pause, they just couldn't continue where they left off. Besides, they didn't take into consideration the changes of thinking, caused by 40 years of antireligious propaganda.
So, our kids hang out in shopping centers nowaday, or simply are on the streets. The schools struggle heroically to offer afternoon curses that might interest them, but it's not an easy thing. The kids won't do anything that require the slightest work, unless it's directly profitable for them. Not having been in organized groups from the first term on, they haven't developed a sense for shared property, either. Adn they most certainly don't have the slightest sense of responsibility.
When I was a kid, lying was the last resort for us, when we really, really didn't see any way out from a bad situation. Nowadays, the kids simply lie because it's more confortable than admit what they have done - or haven't done. They don't even seem to understand why that's a bad thing. Have watched too many politicians on TV, I guess.
Ummm... I think I forgot the actual point I wanted to make. Ah, well, I'll write a sequel when I remember again what this was all about.
Keep tuned for an analysis about friendships among teenagers today. Coming up soon. ;)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-13 10:39 am (UTC)I always vote, but most people I know who are my age and younger (I'm 23) don't, and especially not in the European and local council elections (which took place on the same day). People seem so apathetic - "but it's not like my vote can change anything all by itself, is it?" - and a lot of the people who do vote are voting for the extremist right-wing parties.
More and more people are against Britain being part of the EU, it seems, but haven't really thought too much about what that would involve - much closer ties to America, which most people don't want either. There's a big reluctance here to be part of Europe at all, and working together with other countries doesn't seem accepted as a good idea any more. I disagree, so I vote accordingly.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-13 09:13 pm (UTC)As for political right and leftness; any system taken to extremes causes problems. Take the Nazis, extreme right wingness. Any system has faults! I figure each person has the ability to to make up his or her mind for themselves. Me, now I've been voting for independants for nearly 10 years because I dispise our two major parties so much. Many people are starting to vote for independants, indeed our local state representative is independant, and a bloke I went to High School with, which got a bit embarressing at the last elections. He was outside the local polling booth (kindergarten converted for the day's use) handing out his 'how to vote cards' a thankless task. He remembered me, and how I hit him in the ribs with a baseball bat. Yeah, I had a bad temper as a teenager.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-14 12:56 pm (UTC)You're right, every system can be abused. Perhaps because people mostly are just not mature enough for the freedom they deserve as Human Beings.
As you said, Soledad - the socialism based on good principles, it wasn't the system that failed but the people in charge. And here in Germany, I fear it's the people who fail. They simply don't appreciate the fact that they can go and vote freely at all! But as I say (perhaps much too often) - one of the main traits of Germans is the ingratefulness... :(
Perhaps the mixture with socialism and our captialism would be better - something that gives people both groups or other social 'structures' to orient themselves and the freedom to find their own way. Probably I just suggested to eat the cake and keep it at the same time.
I voted for 'the Greens', the Left, as they propagate conversation and a multi-cultural society, something Europe needs in my opinion, both on the economical and - even more - on the political field. Okay, I also simply like the idea of a country called Europe with Poland, French, Netherlands etc. as Federal States. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-14 05:13 pm (UTC)