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The anger of protestors who for months now have invaded the public squares of half the world is that of a generation at a standstill, disillusioned by dreams of narcissistic and quarrelsome fathers. The slow death of liberalism of the 80’s and 90’s, is leaving us with a world split in two: countries that are no longer growing and are populated by a mass of unemployed, and countries that are growing too much and paying a high price in terms of rights, respect for the environment and growing poverty. There is no doubt: youthful rhetoric has always been the preferred argument of political classes unable to decide. Today, however, from the void created by choices not made, a more frightening monster could arise, one of violence and terrorism. Who is responsible? Outdated politics, inept governments, a backwards cultural system? Or is it the young people themselves who should be issuing a mea culpa?
According to the latest report of the ILO (International Labour Organization) the generation of 20-30-year-olds is marked by a dangerous combination of high unemployment, growing inactivity and precariousness making it difficult to plan an acceptable future and make long- term plans. This situation, “brings not only current discomfort from unemployment, under-employment and the stress of social hazards associated with joblessness and prolonged inactivity, but also possible longer term consequences in terms of lower future wages and distrust of the political and economic system.” It is becoming impossible for a young person to find anything more than part-time or underpaid work and this phenomenon – perhaps for the first time in history – has a planetary dimension: in the last twenty years in the Middle East and North Africa, nearly one youth in four has been unemployed, despite progress made in education.
Full Article: L’Osservatore Romano
Image: Pluto Press
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