A positively-oriented younger generation

Sri Lanka has come some distance from those times when the belief was widespread that our Arts graduates in particular were a doomed lot. Apata puthe magak nathe or 'for us son, there is no future', was the common lament among the elders of these graduates of those times who shared the view of their youngsters that the future was indeed bleak and riddled with uncertainties.

A fatalistic attitude seemed to grip not only the elders and their wards but even their political leaders who in those times seemed to think that there were no easy answers to the graduate unemployment imbroglio. To be sure, there is no very easy way out of this decades-long problem but we just cannot afford to throw our hands up in despair and make no attempt to resolve it. Perhaps, a more positively disposed older generation which did not relapse into passivity in the face of this crisis would have made a dent in the problem and prevented bloody upheavals, such as, the 1971 armed youth insurrection from occurring. Those of the older generation would recollect that youth unemployment was the number one issue, in the failed uprising of 1971 which claimed youthful lives in the thousands.

The lack of effective communication between the country's political leaders and the younger generation would emerge as a key factor in the growing disillusionment of the youth of those times. The young needed elders who could give them hope and there seemed to be very few or none among the latter in those times. However, it needs to be pointed out that smooth-talking and rhetorical elders and leaders were not the answer either. The North-East was not short of this kind of political leader and it hardly need be stated that the consequences for the youngsters of those provinces were nothing short of terrible. For instance, if not for the elusive dream of Eelam, which was floated by some of their elders, very many of these Northern and Eastern youngsters would not have lost their lives in a hopeless conflict with the state.

Be that as it may, the onus is on the country's current leaders to inspire the younger generation with a sense of its own worth and one of the chief means of achieving this is effective and uplifting communication from the older to the young. The aim should not be to fill the hearts of the young with ambitions and hopes which could not be achieved but to give them the self-confidence of forging bravely ahead in the face of difficulties and obstacles to establish for themselves minimum material and other conditions which could ensure for them a life of dignity and contentment.

The positive side of economic liberalization is that it paves the way for the achievement of some of our economic needs, although all could not be said to be well with the open economy in general. While the minuses are aplenty in this growth paradigm, it cannot be disputed that opportunities for economic advancement are numerous under market-driven growth, provided they are judiciously exploited.

Besides, our system of higher education should be geared to enabling our younger generation to make good use of these opportunities. Thus far, the unfortunate tendency among our youth has been to look up to the state sector for purely white collar jobs which seem to offer some job security. However, this is no solution to the problem of youth unemployment because job opportunities in the public sector are not numerous and are in fact not the best answer to those who want to use their inner strengths to the maximum. Prospects, on the other hand, are generally bright, for those who would earn for themselves a university degree but 'think outside the box' when it comes to finding avenues of employment.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has expressed this interesting idea of bringing into being young men and women of learning, 'who could see the world beyond their own horizons.' He went on to explain that this new young person would be vigorous in both mind and body, be inspired by positive attitudes and be filled with a love for his or her country.

In other words, our new young person would have supreme confidence in his or her self and love his or her country and be always motivated by the belief that what is wholesome and good in his or her life is always within reach. This amounts to 'thinking outside the box' and needs to be seriously considered and practised because the young have to get out of the 'dependency syndrome' which has been bedeviling some of its sections.

There are opportunities out there in the economy which need to be steadily exploited if one is to climb out of want and only self-confidence could help in this enterprise, besides the acquiring of marketable skills.

This inspiring thought needs to be driven into the consciousness of the young consistently if a younger generation is to come into being which is least dependent on the state and its handouts. The young need to clearly see that there is no alternative to personal initiative.