In the previous article, we referred to the generation of ease and waste. It was the generation of the post-junta era, which drove the country into heavy debt. But it was also the generation of entertainment, which it passed on to the next generation. That explains the uncontrollable desire for amusement among today’s generation.

Feeling guilty, the previous generation - the generation of ease and waste - taught its children the same path. So, despite the country’s bankruptcy and the bankruptcy of many private citizens, quite a few continue on as before, as if nothing had happened.

And the children, following in their parents’ footsteps, became the entertainment generation. So, despite the pandemic and the public health measures that, according to scientists, we must continue to observe, the entertainment generation runs wild in various coronavirus parties.

The young people of this generation gather every so often at some group coronavirus party, organized online. Usually, there are no precautions whatsoever for public health. And when the police are called to enforce the law, some hotheads clash with the police and begin vandalizing property.

What matters to them is the “right to have fun.” They do not care whether they respect quiet hours, whether they disturb others, or whether vulnerable people suffer because of their antics. They protest by shouting: we are having fun, and it is our right. We do not care whether some people do not like it or are bothered by it. We do not care.

As for the clash with the police, it seems that some from this generation have completely run amok. They usually do not work or are eternal students. They sleep during the day and have fun at night. Because of idleness and boredom, they want to act, to let off steam. And they do so by confronting the police.

What kind of entertainment do they enjoy? Gatherings in enclosed or open spaces, with music at full volume, a beer in hand, usually strangers among strangers, they grunt and jump about like a bear under the bear handler’s tune.

And after several hours, usually in the early morning, the coronavirus party comes to an end. Some are tired from standing, others are spent from bear-like antics, others exhausted by boredom, others drunk on the drinks, and they head home.

And although their aim was to go out and have fun, they usually return empty, hollow, like an empty tin can. That is why they make so much noise.

Of course, many from this generation do not work and therefore have no income. In other words, they have “not a single euro in their pocket.” They live at their parents’ expense. But they do not care. They think their parents are obliged to feed them. When they wake up the next day in the afternoon, they order a freddo cappuccino from the delivery driver. They are either too lazy, or have never even learned how to make coffee.

The parents do not dare say a word. These are the behaviors they receive, because that is how they raised their children. Parents lose the game of raising their children from the earliest childhood. That is when a child’s character is formed, and that is when they should have paid attention to their upbringing. The older a child gets, the harder it is for a parent to influence the formation of their character.

The entertainment generation is indifferent to what matters most, such as health, their own and that of others. It is indifferent to the consequences of its behavior. There is no sense of individual or social responsibility. There is no sense of moderation. And without a sense of moderation, anything can happen.

The entertainment generation is self-satisfied and arrogant, concerned only with its own comfort. Incapable of genuine cultural enjoyment, it cares only about amusement.

And of course, flirtation and a meaningful “relationship” are completely absent, though either could give these young people’s lives meaning. Alone and loveless. At best, a sudden acquaintance, only for a quick fling. And then an empty shirt and endless loneliness.

Paul Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com