Month: January 2015

It is often said that youth is often wasted on the young. How far do you agree?

Youth has its own natural attributes- energised physique makes everything seem easy and accessible, cognitive intelligence paves the path. Hence, innovative ideas develop and find implementation. The enhanced standards of education and introduction of science and technology adds to their efficiency making them charismatic workers. However, the other side of the coin presents a different picture. The youth is the embodiment of rigid, inflexible stubbornness. They lack in patience and experience. As such the rare gifts and natural talents are recklessly wasted. The abundance of glamour and pleasures make time slip away unnoticed. The counselling of the venerable class goes unheeded. It would be well to understand that the young generation is immature and cannot decide which path to adopt and which to abandon. The role of parents, teachers and society together with the standard of education are the deciding factors that make the young people to utilize fruitfully or to waste heedlessly the wealth of youth.

Young people, as opposed to the senior citizens, possess the potentials to bring about positive transformation in societies, to write success stories and to add to the aesthetic world by creative intervention, provided that their natural instincts and strengths are directed and channelized properly. Young people bring an end to age old conservative thoughts, dogmas and social evils.
The greatest barrier in social progress is ignorance and age old conservative thoughts. It is the young group that can help to eradicate these.

In many of the lesser developed societies, we still find gender-based bias, early marriages, dowry deaths, and child labour as highly prevalent. Despite attempts made by national and international organizations active in this direction, these enigmatic features continue to shame humanity. The young generation can do a lot to clean the society of such evils. They have the insight to comprehend the problem, the ability to find a solution and also the strength to have them implemented. There are many examples that show the revolutionary attitude of the millennials to wage a war against social evils. History has evidence of major changes brought through youthful initiatives and influences. As the young freedom fighters could achieve Independence for their country, today’s youth can free the societies of its foes in the shape of evils. The millennials extend support to social well- being through modern thoughts and innovative functioning

Young people today are successful entrepreneurs and social activists. They can not only revolutionize the digital scene but can also help fight against pollution, conserve natural resources and eradicate poverty. The trend of entrepreneurship initiated by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg has paved the way for new generation of kids. Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger co-founders of the digital company, Instagram, are under 30; Shrawan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran, India’s young digital developers are only 12 and 14 years old and have co- founded Go Dimensions; Dylan Mahalingam, only at the age of nine in 2006, founded LilMDG’s , an organization in collaboration with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals; Madison Robinson, the fifteen year old entrepreneur from Texas, is making good profit in her clothing industry Fish Flop; and, Malala Yousafzai, the social activist fighting for education for all and the winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, was only seventeen that time. These success stories suggest the triumph and intense utilization of youthful character, not its waste. Recent passion for technology has triggered a number of young people working in the direction of digital development and the sense of responsibility towards social issues is increasing day by day.

The young minds and hands possess creativity. A number of young people are showing their talents in the field of art, music, dance, drama, film making and sports, making this world a place of great grandeur. Talents in the field of art and literature are continued even as the folk arts are inherited and carried forward by the youth. Young fingers are engaged in creating masterpieces and instruments vibrate magic. Zachary David Zach Sobiech was an American rock singer who was suffering from cancer in 2012; instead of being disheartened by his eminent mortality he wrote songs and gave performances for his near and dear ones and his greatest hit, Clouds, became a You Tube sensation; his music, after his passing away, continues to motivate people to live their life to the fullest. Missy Franklin won Six Gold medals in 2012 Olympics but turned down her financial endorsement to continue her college education. Such talents are no doubt rare, but they, never the less belong to the young.

The role of performance arts, fine arts, folk arts, writings enriches the aesthetic wealth of the globe, adding a soulful satisfaction to human existence. Such young people who are conscious, conscientious and creative, constitute a smaller percentage of the entire mass. The majority of the young generation waste their time and talent in a callous search for momentary pleasures.

More often than not they do not listen to their guardian’s advice and do as they will. Having no respect for the time they let opportunities slip by. Nomophobia is the most widespread ailment of modern youth who cannot survive without their cell phones. Late night parties, friend circles, movies and careless gallivanting are symptoms of the rich while the less affluent take resort to cheap wines, drugs, abuse and violence. They fail to realize their more responsible roles in social development as imposed on them by the demographic transition and dependency ratio. According to the most recent demographic projections, which suggests an increase in the percentage of aged people and a decline in the percentage of the young, the youth will be under greater social and moral pressure of the greybeards. It is ironical that by the time a sense of realization will dawn upon them they will be too senescent for any useful activity. Most of the young population either misuse their potentials or remain idle, undisciplined and violent.

There is a tremendous burden on the young generation and the factors of insecurity and unemployment add to their adversities. Lack of proper guidance and the exposure to technology- social media and easy communication modes of cell phones- deviate them from their path. If they lack the vision to recognise their potentials and appear to be wasting their youth, it is not entirely their fault. Their performances need to be appreciated, their problems require to be sorted out and their trust has to be won by the elders and the societies promoting their participation. Today young people need to be empowered. If these conditions are met, the young will make the best use of their youth.

The young people are equipped with abilities to function wonderfully. They are doing so in various fields. But, there are a number of young people, moving towards senile ageing, without noticing the important fact that time was slipping away silently, like sand through the gaps between fingers.
Problems of unemployment, insecure future, family burden and immense exposure to dazzling distractions of modernity are preventing the young from realizing their goals and prompting the wastage of youth.

The massive rate at which the world population is ageing will give rise to unimaginable problems. How far do you agree?

The world population is ageing very fast owing to the blessings of longevity and improved health facilities. In 2006 the world’s elders were estimated to be 500 million which is predicted to reach 1 billion by 2030. On a global level, the increase in octogenarians is projected to increase by 151% between 2005 and 2030; the increase in 65 and above population is projected to grow by 104% and an increase of 21% for the population under age 65. This increase in the ageing population coupled with a decrease in the number of young people is creating a kind of social imbalance. This demo graph is evolving problems which are predicted to grow severe with passing time. Nations and governments have started developing strategies to minimize the effects of this demographic transition, but how successful these strategies will be, and at what cost, is a serious point of contemplation. The excessive increase in the ageing population of the world will create severe problems for the government, for the young generation as well as for the seniors themselves.

Today the number of elderly is increasing at a vast rate and the governments are finding it difficult to provide financial security and health care to them for the extended years of their lives. The first major necessity of the elders is of health services and long term care. Second, is to extend financial support through pension plans and the next is to arrange for other facilities like transport, roads, recreation centres and community centres for them. All this requires strong economic growth which is not possible in the shrinking young population scenario.

 As the workforce in all nations has fallen low, the development programs are under stress, the revenue generation is inadequate. It is becoming tough for governments to mobilize and allocate resources in various schemes. In order to satisfy the essential requirements of the growing number of old people for a growing number of years, other development programs have to be compromised with. It may be quite possible that caring for the elderly will be like ignoring the children and investing in nursing homes will slash the budget meant for schools and teachers. A number of health workers and nursing staff will be migrating from low-income areas to high-income areas. The required revenue cannot be generated from the shrinking workforce and the governments have to cut down the pensions and increase the retirement age. Even then it is uncertain that the situation will be under control.

Today there is a fewer number of people in the workforce,  who on one hand, have to bear the burden of supporting the nation’s finance through revenue generation, and on the other hand, support the elderly in every way. Earlier there were a number of children, siblings and young members in a family and it was easier to take care of the few elders in it. But today such families have disappeared. Longevity has developed the trend of a four-generation family with a single young member or a couple at the most. These young people have to undertake dual responsibility in the family, of taking care of the children as well as of parents and grandparents; at the same time, they cannot ignore their professional workload and demands of society. These members of the younger generation also have to cut down expenses to invest in the security insurance plans. They also bear some liability towards other veterans in the community. Many times the young member can be compelled to move abroad or to another place for jobs and face moral pressure of leaving the elders uncared. This clearly implies that the ageing population is imposing every kind of -physical, mental, financial, social and moral -burden on the young.

The ageing population will have innumerable challenging issues for themselves. They will suffer in many ways, in health, finance and social security. Senility and debility hold the elders by hand. Most of the elderly are found ailing with chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and cardiac problems. The recent development of geriatrics offers cure from these but in most cases, the patient falls into some kind of disability making long term care essential. The cost of treatment and long term care is not within everybody’s reach and government-aided facilities will become insufficient in the coming times. Growing in age makes them lose their spouses and having fewer children or remaining childless leaves them devoid of family care. Even if some of them would be fortunate enough to have children, yet the children would stay near and care for them is doubtful. Most of the baby boomers are also found deficient in education and skills as demanded by modern technical professions. Hence it is unlikely that they will be able to continue in the labour force despite good health and fitness. They will have to bear the insult of working under younger bosses. Slashing of pensions as imposed by many governments will leave them in clutches of poverty. Senescent and lonely, the elderly will have to compromise with circumstances.

Ageing of the world is, after all, not a big problem, as the communities are growing conscious and supportive even as the governments are developing plans for comfortable ageing. The situation has come before all and everyone from individuals to communities and governments are moving in the direction to enhance the quality of life for the senior citizens.

That the families have fewer young members is a positive trait. These members are strong and dutiful and accept their liability towards their elders. Emotions and morals attach them to their parents and grandparents. The communities are making special spaces for elders; libraries, recreation centres, parks, fitness, physiotherapy and yoga centres are mushrooming in societies. Organisations like the World Bank and UNESCO; the programs of MDG’s and SDG’s will not let the veterans to starve or to die aidless. There are practical solutions to this over-emphasized problem of an ageing world. The elderly themselves are becoming more and more responsible day by day making self-esteemed and self-earned status for themselves. The elders themselves are beginning to take responsibilities, working for more years and making arrangements for their retirement. They are reducing the impact of compressed workforce and pressure on the government.

Despite the emotional and moral strengths, it will not be possible for the young members to look after the elderly. They have their own pressing priorities of jobs, personal health and social issues. However much the old people may want, they will not be able to remain productive and self-dependent. The government will also increase revenues, decrease pension amounts and increase the retirement age. Communicable and non-communicable diseases will show their impact and leave the elderly in the lap of loneliness and poor health. Migration and increasing fertility rates are solutions no doubt but do not appear practical

The ageing of the world is going to develop problematic issues for the nation, for the young and for the elderly. But an overall awareness and active participation of all in solving this crucial problem will soon bring about a positive change in the situation. But so far as strategies have not been implemented it has to be accepted that population ageing will develop unimaginable problems.