my generation

(disclaimer: do not read if you STARE at the juice box when it said CONCENTRATE. haha ok just kidding. ripped it off Facebook.)

You know if I see another one of those hoity-toity remarks in the newspaper/magazine about this youtube/myspace/insert-popular-culture generation again, I swear I'm gonna blow.

I mean seriously, this is the new and evolved racism and discrimination. Forget nigger or chingchongChinaman, the new white is black shit schmits. Yes pick on us. Each time I see that freaking phrase, it's usually followed or preceded by a negative impression of kids these days. "oh you know this ~ generation, they are all bout the (insert any form of youth-related activity/passion/hobby). where has all the cerebral action gone too? I mean these days, the movies they watch are all action and bangs, and booms and........." you get what I mean. You might be thinking, this guy is seriously warped and making a mountain of a molehill. But hey blame me from standing up for our people.

To a large extent, these indeed are things that characterize our generation. Myspace, Youtube, Friendster, Facebook, etcetera etcetera. But ever thought the idea of why they use these words coupled with the word generation. I hate generalizations; they are often unfair and untrue for the majority. Such as "kids these days". Yes I'm an anti-adults-who-hate-or-pick-on-teens kinda of guy. Generally I hate people who make assumptions/perceptions/remarks about groups of people that they 1. don't understand, 2. don't know anyone from that particular group and 3. make on a single or few encounters. Here's a little logics lesson. Basically, there are two types of LOGIC. Deductive logic is from the general (premises) to the particular (conclusion). For example (which is used a lot in Philosophy or KI):

Premise 1. All Men are Mortals

Premise 2. Plato is a man.

Conclusion . Therefore Plato is a Mortal.

Simple right? Induction is the opposite. Inductive logic is from the particular to the general. Meaning, if I have seen 10,000 or 100,000,000 white swans, I could inductively conclude that all swans are white. While this is true for most cases (as we use induction most of the time), it is not always right for there are black swans. In this case, 3. in the hate people group, they would fall under biased induction, in which a certain event/action done by a single member of a group is then implicated onto all the members of the group. Here we can derive two things. Firstly, do all teens watch Youtube? or take part in Myspace? or have MTV? Flawed Induction. Secondly, if there were two million teenager Ah Bengs/Lians in the world, does it mean all teens are Ah Bengs/Lians?

The point I'm trying to get at is that we aren't defined solely by what we do, and definitely not by what others do. I think it's an unfair indicator of our generation to pin something like "teenage smoking" on all of us, and say "kids these days". I mean I could be studying for A&C and P&P now for Lit tomorrow, but will I be a "muggertoad" just because I did so? Here, it's not just those few adults who do so; we are at fault. Now, generalizations are not all bad. We use them all the time. Even the previous sentence was a generalization. It's convenient and useful in helping us make sentences about activities that most if not all people partake in. However, the line needs to be drawn at irrationality on people's part. This is where my earlier charge of "this is the new racism" comes from. Bias and prejudice is both a cause and effect of irrational induction. By forming preconceived notions that are flawed or untrue are the basis of racism or any other form of discrimination. I do not believe racism is innate, but rather a consequence of the environment around us and the way we think. Though some scientific reports have reportedly concluded that racism is partly biological, I believe firmly, whether the reports are true or not, discrimination is a conscious thought that becomes a subconscious paradigm. The Indian man who has a funny accent does not mean all Indian have funny accents (and perhaps why we think its funny it's probably due to cultural differences in that to us, it's abnormal or strange. they probably think the same of us) . I love racist jokes, no doubt most people do. But this ain't no hypocrisy. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of groupings of people based on bias and prejudice notions. And I deem the unfair generalization of our generation a discrimination which serves to not only undermine our generation and what we do/could do, but as a platform for the breeding of such discrimination.

Discrimination ain't no lone soul; it begets it itself through speech and action and through common prejudices. Imagine this scenario; Aunty A who does not like teenagers after a traumatic incident involving a teenager robbing her of her precious LV bag and Aunty B who is neutral (in the truest sense of the word despite full knowledge it may never exist).

Aunty A: You know ah, that day, this stupid boy, stole my bag.

Aunty B: Oh, were you hurt?

Aunty A: Nope, but he took my LV bag which cost $3000. Kids these days are getting from bad to worse. Like that also want to steal my bag.

Aunty B: But it was only one kid, why blame all?

Aunty A: I tell you, all of them are the same one lah. All up to no good. Look at the girl, see how her skirt is so short?

Aunty B: But your skirt is shorter than hers................

And you see how one things lead to another, and how sometimes, they themselves practice double standards.

Now this ain't no call for arms against adults nor those hate-rs. Just my venting of exam frustration and sparked off by some stupid newspaper article. I like our generation. We are different, have different values, believe different things. I don't think it's right for people to enforce what they think or believe on us. Different generations have different values. I do believe in universal moral standards and codes of conduct that should be appropriately followed at certain times, but I draw the line at criticizing others for their short skirt/long hair. But on another note, difference in values is normal and part and parcel of evolving societies and cultures. I mean, girls go to school, afro-Americans are allowed to sit on the bus, and all that are signs of changing times (I know it's not a recent phenomenon but it's just an example). As such discrimination evolves into subtler forms, through the use of non-offensive words to mean otherwise. So its time we learn not only to stand up for what we believe, but take charge of what we do feel for. Apathy is just so passe. But also I think we are equally at fault in not being understanding of previous generations. I'm certain years down the road when we have our own kids, I'm sure I'll ask my daughter to change out of that mini-skirt. I guess it's not just a matter of perspective or age, but rather inner beliefs and paradigms which are being sculpted by the environment in which live in.

(Disclaimer, this next section is a step away from the previous logical argument made.)

But then again. Think what you want, believe what you want, feel what you want. At the end of this mini-essay, I guess I really don't care. I used to care for what is being said and the unjust things; but I guess sometimes I care too much/think too much about small little shitty things and it just makes me unnecessarily upset. So I guess I shouldn't care at all; and perhaps that's why we don't care about anything.

Jadedness is the new apathy. Yes I'm a hypocrite. But hey, I'm a teenager.

- You laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh at you because you are all the same.