Every revolutionary rabble-rouser proclaims the wisdom of the young. Starting with the radical Greek philosophers, men wishing to overthrow the social order imagine the young as either silly putty in their hands, or as the shock forces to bring their revolution. That’s why Plato wanted to bring children raised in common, away from parental ties. That’s also why Rousseau, the same man who gave away his five children to an orphanage, wrote his most popular book about the ideal education of a boy.
Had Rousseau kept his children, he may have noticed children are individuals. From the moment they are born, observant mothers notice differences in their children, and not just superficial ones. One rages while another is gentle, one observant while another is scatter-brained; we are born, we are conceived individuals. The project of creating the new man and woman runs into trouble from the start. What infants definitely lack is wisdom, as their vocabulary consists of inarticulate sounds. What we can learn form them is to feed them and keep them comfortable, or else they raise holy hell.
As they grow older, wisdom continues to be lacking. What they learn quickly is violence. (Ages two to three are the most violent times of human beings; good thing toddlers can’t pack a punch). Their minds are open to learning, they are trusting of their caretakers, and they learn language as if by magic. But most of their wisdom consists of desiring things often, and desiring them now. Even if some adults act the same way, that’s not the way to live.
Which brings me to teenagers: teenagers are the least wise of all. When the hormonal cocktail hits young boys and girls, it transforms them into little monsters. Not only do they remain ignorant, but now they believe they know better than anyone else. This is the age that excites radical reformers; at this age they can be turned into weapons against the existing order. To make matters worse, this is the age at which peer pressure is strongest and judgement at its lowest: belonging becomes everything for most of us. Irregular armies will usually recruit—or kidnap—their soldiers at this age, where they can be indoctrinated into their new family. The Janissaries stole Christian boys at this age to make them fanatical servants of the Sultan.
The phenom of the angry Stoneman Douglass teenagers is nothing new. Revolutionary movements love their screaming teenagers, who can be used to silence or terrorized grown men and women. What I find odd is the willingness of otherwise sober adults to listen to them. They have nothing to offer but carefully calculated rage, profound ignorance, and egocentric displays. For that matter, don’t listen to teenagers in other matters either. Not even Mozart was worth listening at seventeen.
