Why don’t old people piss off, so the younger generation can take over running the world?

On By Katrina

I had to laugh. A friend’s friend’s adult child declared that they wished old people would piss off so they – i.e. the friend’s friend’s adult child and co. – could take over running the world. I’m picking they meant anyone over forty years of age. Does any generation ever really change how they think? I mean, sure there’s always change on one level, but has there ever been a generation who didn’t think they’d do a better job of running the world than the old farts? I know that as a younger women I thought that the old farts should fart off out of the scene, and leave it to those who know what they’re doing – i.e. me and my buddies.

The old people I knew were sooooooo boring, too. They were slow and deliberate in what they did. They wouldn’t make fast decisions, and they weren’t interested in much apart from their own interests. Otherwise known as giving zero f*ks about younger people’s dramas and the dramas of the world in general. That is, they were pretty much like I am now. And true to form, the f*cks I give for repetitive dramas are getting fewer and fewer. Once we’ve seen the same dramas come around a few times, it becomes far too boring to work up a sweat over them anymore.

The second sin of the old people I knew was that they screwed up the world. That really annoyed me. I’ll let you in on a secret, though – all old people everywhere throughout history have screwed up the world. One day my friend’s friend’s adult child will screw up the world. Naturally, when we’re young and full of vim and vigour, we think we’ll be the generation who turns the world on it’s ears for the better. I would never disabuse a young person of that notion – because we need the young and naive to entertain the old and cynical. Okay, yeah that was a bit harsh – so shoot me. Zero f*ks, remember? Seriously, of course we need young people to protest and march and make lots of noise against injustices (and this older person has been known to still do that), because eventually it does get noticed and things do change.

If we don’t push for the changes we want, nothing changes – at least not for the better. The people with the most power in the world are the arseholes, and they don’t give a damn about changing anything for the better. I’ll let you in on another secret – there are always arseholes in the world, and they’re not always the old people. My friend’s friend’s adult child will discover that as they and their young buddies glory in the achievement of one victory, the arseholes, some of whom could well be their contemporaries, are off plotting the ruination of a whole new thing. It’s really all about arseholes, not age. Although arseholes can get worse with age.

I don’t disagree that we have to keep up the pressure of keeping the arseholes at bay as much as we can. I myself have come back into the feminist fray to try and stop our hard-won rights being casually given away on nothing more than a feeling. My feelings on that are best kept under control. Speaking of which, we’ve got many in this younger generation who can’t seem to control their feelings. My feelings on that is that they’ll be useless at doing the real hard yards, while they continue to feel that feelings constitute the real world. Their feelings are so out of control that the only way they feel they’ll get to feel okay is if they can force everyone to change their behaviour to protect everyone’s feelings. Not quite sure how that will work out. Could be a whole new meaning to the word ‘gridlock’. Here’s yet another secret I’ll let you in on – there’s always something wrong with the younger generation. One day, my friend’s friend’s adult child will have their very own snide gripe about them.

I’m fully aware that in the eyes of some my age makes me bad, and that I’ve ruined the world, and I should piss off so the younger generation can get on with ruining it in their turn. From my old bad eyrie, though, I can tell you that bad people seldom do what’s wanted of them. So I think I’ll hold onto the running-the-world baton for a bit longer so that it is really screwed up for the younger generation. Wouldn’t want to make it easy for them. Who would they have to hate if I did that? I know from my own youth how important it is to have older people to blame for everything, so this is my service to the younger generation. And they in their turn will one day pass on this great legacy.

46 thoughts on “Why don’t old people piss off, so the younger generation can take over running the world?”

      4. Ah, yes we do indeed have the good fortune of having the right leader at the right time. The Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern (her official title 😊) isn’t perfect by any means, but she’s perfect for right now. And yes we’re lucky to be a small island nation far from anywhere, which was easier to protect from Covid and could pull together when it was needed. Having said that, it wasn’t – and isn’t – without rumblings of discontent. But Jacinda made the hard call, and we’re doing okay because of that.

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      5. We have the bad fortune of having the wrong leader at the wrong time. Much to rebuild under Biden, but even thinking of a continuing Trump governance brings shudders — unfortunately, it brings giddiness to about a third of the citizenry.

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    2. Dear Bill and Katrina,

      Fuuny cartoon! Thank goodness that the four-year madness is (almost) over. Good riddance!

      Saving and rehabilitating the USA aside, we also need the political economy of saving the planet. Yet the entrenched and insidious issues of plutocracy have loomed even larger, thus continuing to thwart many efforts mounted to save the planet. Whilst Pluto has been demoted to a dwarf planet, the planet of America has already ascended to plutocracy. Social and economic polarizations can further exacerbate the issues of wealth, and such polarizations are increasing for the following reason: The USA is very much plagued in varying degrees by misinformation, disinformation, post-truth politics, demagoguery, plutocracy, oligarchy, ochlocracy, kleptocracy, narcissistic leadership, neoliberalism and globalization.

      The underlying opposition is not so much between the Democrats and the Rupublicans as between the rich plutocrats and the rest of the population. The Democrats need to (re)form their party to unite the 90% of the people living at an entrenched economic and political disadvantage in order to deal with the Plutocrats. In any case, it is going to be a very tall order for Biden to turn things around. It would have been much easier if some Republican senators had been far more honest and incorruptible, for they have been very greedy, uninspired, cowardly and lack criminal, moral and political accountabilities. It is all quite a big mess in danger of getting bigger still. Even a global pandemic still cannot unite folks in the USA and wake them up. Perhaps it will take an even bigger crisis to do so, such as a series of climate change disasters.

      I have been featuring an exemplar of a politician, statesman and chancellor so upright and unflinching in their integrity and honesty that if any of those senators had even just a fraction of his goodness and decency to perform their duties and to go against the POTUS, the USA would not have sunk to such an intractable, dangerous and protracted quagmire. The upright character of this particular politician, statesman and chancellor has been immortalized in a poem, which is featured and explained in my newest post at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/strong-wind-knows-tough-grass/

      This politician, statesman and chancellor had been fired six times and rehired six times, and still he persisted in his upright approach and upstanding ideal. He even surrendered and dedicated his own lands, real estates and military power! If only much more people in the finantial, business and political spheres can learn from the upright character that I feature in my said post. In my own words, this historical figure is the personification of enduring loyalty, integrity, bravery and forthrightness achieved with benevolence and righteousness, but without favouritism and transgression. He was certainly not afraid of being fired half a dozen times.

      I would love to have the pleasure of knowing what you think of my said post and read your feedback at the comment section of the post. Thank you in anticipation.

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      1. As you know, I don’t live in the USA, but what you describe is applicable anywhere really. The smaller the country, such as NZ, the less there is of it due to having fewer people, which doesn’t mean there’s none of it. We have had bad leaders and corrupt politicians, too, who have done damage to our economy and environment. But on the world stage we are insignificant, whereas the USA is very significant.

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      3. For some reason my reply to your question about Peter got posted further down. Anyway, here it is again: Bill got in touch with Peter to ask where he was, and Peter replied that he had shut down his blog as he felt that it had reached the end of it’s ‘lifespan’. I guess he had just moved into a different stage in his life, and no longer felt inspired by the blog. Pity, because I was enjoying his Riker the Biker series 😊

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      5. Thank you for the cogent questions, SoundEagle. I will do my best to give my personal perspective on these large matters, as a witness to the various crime scenes — limiting the time frame to the two decades preceding 2000 and the two decades following.
        The US is still enduring the changes that ensued with Reagan’s victory in 1980 over the President who is still alive today (the better choice for the long term: 40 years and counting). Everything went to the highest bidder, and it still does. Clinton gutted the Democratic Party by punishing the poorest and putting the prison-industrial system into overdrive. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments did not even slow down the Jim Crow system, it just changed some labels without any systemic changes to the most marginalized. The 20th Century ended on 9/11/2001 when the Patriot Act gave the Presidency an ability to get away with anything. Bush, Obama, and Trump made war officially endless. 2002 and 2003 saw the fragile balance in North Africa and West Asia untenable. The US (and a couple island nations in Micronesia) keep the fourth largest military and social laboratory funded — a secure geopolitical footprint/land-based aircraft carrier and yet another example of a European empire based on settler colonialism. The UAE and Bahrain allies recognize that geopolitical footprint, the family kingdom of Saud is long a de facto partner. The brutal murder of Khashoggi, American citizen and journalist with the Washington Post gets quietly sanctioned. Trump started the Birther Movement that cast Obama as Kenyan citizen, it did not require evidence to prove anything, and still doesn’t among Trump adherents. A Biden presidency has not diminished the continuing cult of Donald in the political future, no Republican gets away with questioning DJT as the don of Reaganism. Republicanism *is* Tumpism. However, Biden’s inauguration on 20 January 2021 is a very bright star when compared to the fascist government that Trump and his 70 million voters still wish to establish. Unfortunately, there is enough time between now and then for Trump to still destroy very much. The Trump administration has been a kakistocracy — rule by the worst possible people.
        Now I need only cover the years between 1619 and 1980. 🙂

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      12. Dear Katrina and Bill,

        What a pity that Peter Schreiner is gone from us! Even if he no longer wants to blog, there is really no need for him to shut down his blog, which contains so many of our comments, including mine and yours. Peter left some very good comments on my blog. Three of his comments can be found in my post at http://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/the-quotation-fallacy

        Peter was so impressed with my said post that he asked me if he could turn my said post into a Kindle-friendly document so that he could bring and read it on his Kindle anywhere. His third and longest comment dated 2020/01/11 at 11:45 pm was composed by him after he finished reading the post.

        Please kindly send my best regards to Peter. He has been missed!

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      15. Dear Katrina,

        I hope to find time to respond to your comment with a very bespoke reply as soon as I can at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/strong-wind-knows-tough-grass/

        The said post has been expanded with nearly 700 words, and the extra content may be somewhat of a surprise to you.

        Meanwhile, I am preparing two other posts to publish on my blog one after another in the next two or three days. These two posts will be much longer and more substantial, and they are definitely going to be very interesting food for thought. Please stay tuned and put on your thinking hat soon!

        Happy Sunday and Happy December to you soon!

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  4. Bill got in touch with Peter to ask where he was, and Peter replied that he had shut down his blog as he felt that it had reached the end of it’s ‘lifespan’. I guess he had just moved into a different stage in his life, and no longer felt inspired by the blog. Pity, because I was enjoying his Riker the Biker series 😊

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    1. I sorely miss Peter as well. He is one of the most principled people I have ever met. Whatever he is up to you can be sure that he is very passionate about it. And I also miss the Riker the Biker series, great spirit, and a love for adventure. Perhaps we should set a Google alert for new appearances of “Riker the Biker.”

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  5. I received a response from Peter. There is some hope for us in this excerpt received today:

    I think about the old gang now and then. Maybe someday I’ll return to the scene, I do miss it; time will tell. Give everyone my regards.

    Hope is alive.

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  6. Well, as a Trump supporter and naturally conservative, I can see that I’m pretty well despised around here, but not to worry…I’m used to it! I just popped in to read a couple of articles and got a special kick out of the line here: “I thought that the old farts should fart off out of the scene, and leave it to those who know what they’re doing – i.e. me and my buddies.” LOL, that’s all I have to say.

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    1. Yes, I can imagine that supporting Trump wouldn’t make you popular 😊 One good thing about being an “old fart” (not sure if you fall into this category) is that we get much thicker skinned, and insults and condemnations roll off us like water off a duck’s back. I love that! When I think how sensitive I used to be, it makes me so glad I’m not like that anymore – lol!

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      1. I meant that being vegan, animal advocate, single, old, free thinker, no children, quiet/introverted, loner (I think that about covers the regular despised qualities), plus being a Trump supporter and conservative, I’m nicely accustomed to being hated by ALL sides. However, with over half of the legitimate voters in the USA, as opposed to these types https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRw2xGO-QkA, I’m popular enough. 😉 Despite all of my wretchedness though, people still like me, they really really like me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl_NpdAy3WY), if I let down the wall to get to know them…which is very rare. I’m not a fan of the human race, to put it nicely.

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      2. Oh yes, I see what you mean. I tick a number of those boxes, too 🙂 Although if I lived in the USA I probably wouldn’t be a Trump supporter. To add to my list of ‘sins’ now, I have got back into the feminist fray as a gender critical feminist, which means that I don’t support much of the current Woke trend of saying that men can be women just by saying a few magical words, and then they’re welcome them into all women’s spaces. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that trans people have rights, but not at the expense of women’s rights. I’m not popular with some over that, I must admit, but I’m too long in the tooth now to care.

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  8. Such comments come from a superficial and all to simplisitic understanding of the organic unfolding processes of life.. it can only be understood in retrospect but all the steps it took to get into a certain ‘mess’ were of necessity.. necessary ones if that makes any kind of Goddam sense at all

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    1. No, not sure what you mean – lol! Except that we’re never in control of our lives as much as we’d like to be, and we can make a mess of it, or a mess of it here and there, without knowing how to go about doing it differently. I don’t think there’s ever been and ideal time in human history, so a mess is the norm, really, apart from the occasional moments it isn’t. Young people will have their turn at messing up – it’s how we learn.

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