WHAT IS WRONG WITH TODAY’S GENERATION??
WHAT
IS WRONG WITH TODAY’S GENERATION??
Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor, once commented:
“We are living in the most peaceful times in human history”. The number of
people that have died as a result of wars, famine, and diseases has tremendously
declined in this generation. In addition, no era has witnessed technology
supremacy as the 21st Century.
It is pretty easy to look at the world we live in
today and come away feeling happy and optimistic. However, on a flip side, we
seem to be living in a time of great uncertainty and unprecedented change that
has enormously affected our way of living. The related effects appear to be
just as destructive as war or famine experienced in the generations gone by.
One of the major problems in society today is the lack
of integrity on the part of our leaders and as a result, corruption has reached
an all-time high. It is unfortunate that this startling vice has infiltrated
almost all sections of Ugandan communities and appears boundless – ravaging through
the ranks of government entities, organisations, schools, religious
institutions and the everyday citizens.
I always wonder where somebody gets the comfort to siphon public funds, say,
meant for construction of a health facility or supply of essential drugs well
aware that the same would benefit a family member, neighbour, friend or even
him/herself.
Today, we live in an information age and in general, we are more educated than
our forefathers. Yet, in my observation, people nowadays are less-informed and
the invention of social media and the ‘cool’ electronic gadgets has not made it
any easier.
Like many of you, I have found it amazing that the
older I get, the more I appreciate the wisdom of my parents and how they solved
quite complex issues with limited access to information. The lack of practical
wisdom in our present society poses a critical threat to the quality of our
lives.
Look at marriage. Coupled with the effects of
globalisation, a substantial disconnect exists in families today - women want
to be like men and men want to be like women, which has left children in
absolute confusion.
Parents of previous generations lived simple yet profound lives but these days,
marriage is only for the strong-hearted. Just a few days ago, I saw a notice
published in the daily monitor newspaper where a wife was warning the general
public against buying land from her husband without her consent. His photo was
also attached!
In workplaces, there’s a stark contrast when you
compare yesterday’s workers with the images of our citizens today. I recall an
elder from an earlier era telling me that back then, people took pride in doing
a good job and they had high expectations of themselves and others.
On the contrary, workforce in the present landscape
seems to be satisfied with mediocrity, no longer enthusiastic about work and
prefers to work on orders like soldiers. In fact, we lack a determined
commitment to be decent, hard-working and honest human beings.
As a nation, we need to undergo a serious paradigm
shift that will reconstitute our priorities. We have to adopt a life-altering
manifesto and re-learn some timeless lessons from the past generations that suggest
stronger family ties, stronger communities, and stronger work environments
where citizens can demonstrate individual commitments to make an impact and
cause change.
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