Saturday 19 October 2013

My Parents The Tories Don’t Understand Me!”

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett worries…
I worry even more for those unlike me, whose parents can't offer anything, even love. Those with perpetually skint but not-so-nice parents, or those coming out of care.
I worry for young mums, with kids to support.
"Young people" are not a homogenous group in need of arbitrary policy – they are adults, quite vulnerable adults, actually, with different needs and desires and circumstances. You can't just slap a Neet label on them and order them back to the tech. You can't just force them to borrow 27 grand for a course they don't want to study.
If they are adults, they can shift for themselves, surely? Isn't that what 'adult' is supposed to mean..?
But then, I suppose if they're in work or education, rather than at home, thinking about other things, such as how spectacularly shafted they have been by the previous generation, then they're that little bit more malleable.
Ahhh, yes. The perpetual cry of today's perpetual childults - 'Waah, everyone else got all the resources and I'm left with nothin'..!'
I probably sound angry, and that's because I am. Over the years I've seen a raft of policies that make things tougher for young people, from the scrapping of education maintenance allowance to workfare to tuition fees. I've felt increasingly alienated by the government's failure to limit the power of the buy-to-let landlords who impoverish us, and the failure to provide us with affordable housing. How can young people hope to engage with a government that seems to hate us so much? How can that government expect to get our vote, when the time comes?
Since all the statistics seem to show that your generation simply don't bother, I guess they aren't worried.
The Conservatives don't understand.
Awwww, diddums! Have a sulk in the pages of CiF rather than your bedroom, then.
They don't understand that some of us don't have parents who can see us through, and that those that do still crave, nonetheless, independence.
Really? It’s a strange sort of ‘independence’ that demands everyone else fund your lifestyle choices, isn’t it?
And as they age, they'll expect this feckless bunch of worthless youngsters to fund their soaring medical bills and spoon-feed them, and nod politely when they make politically incorrect comments about immigrants.
Oh, those wicked racist elderly people! Can't wait for them to die, can you, Rhiannon? Much better to import a bunch of immigrants to do that job of caring for them, leaving your generation to think grand thoughts and be employed by...

Well, by whom? Doing what?

5 comments:

Brian, follower of Deornoth said...

Independence used to mean "freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others."

It now means "freedom from the control, influence, or the like, of others."

Anonymous said...

Oh Julia, I went to read the comments below the article! The pathos, the suffering, the infantilised young minds cris de couer! Were sunk: nobody wants to be a grown up anymore, it's the states teats or revolution (if they can find some functionary to organise it).

Anonymous said...

Bunny

If you want a generation that was royally shafted by the previous generations I would suggest the ones who came of age in 1914 - 18 and 1939 - 45. Getting involved in big European wars with an army designed to be a colonial police force. That is being shafted, not being requested nicely to stand on you own two feet.

As I seem to remember the baby boomers had the 1970s which wasn't a fun period.

Bucko said...

Jeezus! What a winge bag. I'm surprised she can even dress herself in the morning.

She basically wants people to be able to leave home at 16 and have the state provide for their every need. How on earth are people going to learn independance like that. Or even want it.

You may as well just put people in care homes for the rest of their lives from 16

JuliaM said...

"It now means "freedom from the control, influence, or the like, of others.""

Spot on!

"...nobody wants to be a grown up anymore, it's the states teats or revolution..."

I think they want someone else to do the revolting for them as well!

"That is being shafted, not being requested nicely to stand on you own two feet."

Indeed so. Maybe it's time we stopped asking nicely?

"You may as well just put people in care homes for the rest of their lives from 16"

There's a lot more people than you'd suspect that would be very, very happy with just that...