The Daily Clarity

Creating a lost generation of ‘dangerous boys’

From time to time, we like to revisit a theme from the archives, that has a deep resonance with issues happening right now. From New Orleans, through the inner cities of the Europe, to Sudan, the Gaza, the mountains of Afghanistan and beyond, we need to be careful to safeguard our heritage – the young generation that is at danger of becoming ‘lost’ in this era of economic uncertainty and global unrest.

‘A boy without a dream is dangerous‘  – an Arab proverb. It implies that a child that feels denied the right to dream of a future will become embittered and potentially attracted to violent causes. Across the world - from the Western world, to the Sudan, to the Congo, from Palestine and Afghanistan, and beyond – the world is in danger of creating a new generation of ‘dangerous boys’. They are the face of the Jihadist suicide bomber, the street mugger, and  the child soldier. In the macro headlines of world’s press, there are a few such stories that leak to the surface. A young Palestinian girl poised to study medicine in the West and become a healer, has her dream denied as the Gaza Border remains closes and stops her taking her final entrance exam in Jordan. In Colombia, a young soldier sees his innocent brother summarily executed so that his troop commander can prove he has a “terrorist” body count this month,  and so earn his men weekend liberty passes. In the Congo, a young boy watches his father’s body, a government worker, used as an impromptu road block. The image of the child blind with tears, impotent to help his innocent father while a group of teenage Congo insurgents laugh at him. The boy’s tears are the ashes of the dream of a generation, and the world’s contribution to the next generation of ‘dangerous boys’.

The world is governed by the convenience of its wealthiest constituents. Our personal needs and wants, often petty and temporary, take precedent over the real crushing needs of the world’s youth. The UN dallies to make a decision as to send more troops to Congo or Somalia,  and the children there suffer during the delay. The US populace is hungry for tax cuts in preference to education spending. The reticence is based on a growing unwillingness on the part of the world to fight further conflicts, military or civil . The populations of these countries do not want to send more of their own into harms way or make sacrifices for the generations to come. A poll today in the UK showed that a full two thirds of the British population want their troops out of the unpopular Afghan and Iraq wars within the year. The Iraq War and the mire in Afghanistan has, to a large part, soured the world in intervening in other people’s problems. The unwarranted Iraq War has untold costs in terms of sapping the desire to provide help where help is really needed. However, other areas do have a moral right to claim intervention from the West – Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan and on – but as a result of the Iraq debacle are denied the help they need. Our own children in the West need help, attention and warrant investment in their future. The daily food thrown onto the trash heaps as it is one day past its expiration date in the ‘civilized’ world would feed nations. There was a recent report that said the amount of money spent on alcohol in the UK alone would end poverty in Africa. These are the wars that need fighting. These are the battles that are important for us to win. These wars and these sacrifices would pay dividends for now and the future as opposed to racking up debts and a continued cycle of violence.

Our governments have a responsibility. A responsibility to the electorate that they serve, but also to the broader world need. The more that the wealthier nations focus on their immediate needs and wants, the more chance we will continue to breed our ‘dangerous boys’ at home and abroad. Many in the world are baffled by the hatred evidenced by extreme Islamic factions against the West. The Western press tells them it is because they envy and despise our freedom. The fact that the resentment emanates from our presence on their soil, our support of one faction unfairly over another, and the age old Israel-Palestine issue is not identified as the cause. This is the anger that you hear voiced in the bazaars and souks of the world. The more we dabble in wars that don’t concern us, and don’t intervene in the battles that matter, the more ‘dangerous boys’ we will produce. Our own children, denied education, health care and jobs need to be able to dream of a future. When you consider the  stimulus package, think about the longer term impact – let us not sacrifice the necessary investment on education, science and technology as a trade off for the latest model car, or flat screen from Walmart. Our youth, the world’s yuth,  need to see they have opportunity. The more we can feed their dreams – the less we have a chance of having to face an armed ‘dangerous boy’ in the future, whether at home or overseas.