An election full of bad examples for youth

By The Nation

 

 

If we don’t want the next generation of politicians copying the sins of their fathers, we have to bridge the division and think of the greater good

 

Consider the youth vote in this past month’s election, seven million strong. First-time voters gave Future Forward – a brand-new party with bold ideas – a chance to help form the next government. Now peer into the actual future, five or six years hence, when many old-guard political players will either be fading into the background or becoming more zealous in their efforts to 

 

maintain the status quo. By that we mean repressive education, limitations on rights that have elsewhere become universally accepted, and preoccupation with law and order as defined by ultraconservatives.

 

What happens in the next few years will be crucial in shaping the views of young people, even those yet too young to vote. They will learn from events to come that either it’s fine to proceed as we have always done – self-enrichment, the bestowal of favours on only the deserving subservient, catering to corporate designs at the expense of the land and the people. Or they will adhere to the optimism, the admirable better nature of youth, and push for policies more conducive to the general wellbeing.

 

The candidates appealing to the youth vote this time were in fact, however reluctantly or unintentionally, luring them to buy into a form of politics that is anything but decent, a process in which you do whatever it takes to win, even cheat and lie. One of the most persistent (and successful) rallying cries for the last century has been “patriotism”, but too often it has meant not that Thais should be proud of their country and its history and achievements. It has meant they are somehow superior to other nationalities and ethnic minorities, and that their predominant faith in Buddhism sets them apart in the world.

 

This is the paranoiac “patriotism” of aggression and dishonesty that arises from military dominion. What it lacks is the calm and assured dignity that ought to derive from 

 

centuries of noble history that has breathed deeply from the cultures of Persia, China and India.

 

Too many Thais are poorly educated and narrow-minded thanks to wrongheaded teaching. We disagree from street corner to street corner over who and what is right and wrong and young people witness the endless debate. Everyone knows what’s right and wrong, of course, but we will speak contrarily when someone we admire or despise is accused or praised. Credit is denied where due and awarded where undeserved. These are the lessons young people learn by example.

 

The torch that the older generation passes to them must serve the right purposes. Last month’s election could have been a gleaming classroom lively with valuable truths, but was more like a disappointing field trip to a sordid destination. Indignities abounded, some understandable given the high stakes and the dysfunctional state that Thai politics has reached. The current political generation might have passed the point of no return, but it would be inexcusable to deny newcomers the chance and the wherewithal to find the path back.

 

It is not too late for our democratic system to start afresh. That will entail equipping youth with good examples and the ability to analyse competing ideologies with fair and just minds. We have no choice but to accept the irony that among the teachers will be older people who are unethical, even immoral.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30366893

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-04-01

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Too many Thais are poorly educated and narrow-minded thanks to wrongheaded teaching.

Which is the way the elite, and the powers that be like it, and are so reluctant to change it.

There were two main sides in this election. The military, who have constantly forced their way back into power and who should not be involved in politics and the old parties, jokingly referred to as pro-democracy, who have demonstrated their love for self enrichment and corruption at every turn. No wonder youth have had to look elsewhere. More worrying is the fact that PPRP has now incorporated the two in one party. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

That will entail equipping youth with good examples

Which in todays Thailand of corrupt officials in uniform, businessmen wanting short cuts to profits and the old cobras who refuse to die, are hard to find.

Just look at the traffic, it's just one huge bad example for the youth....

 

Look at the mess the Thai make all over bkk, is that a good example.

 

Look at the monks.....you can look anywhere in Thailand and not see 1 good example....so would i raise my kids here? Think again!

So someone else has to be blamed? Even the poorly educated understand the difference between right and wrong. 

With the Future Forward Party showing that it has meaningful ideas & in it's first showing achieving a brilliant outcome, many who maybe squandered their vote or didn't bother will vote for them next time around!

The younger generation & students alike are getting really tired of the "old school" politicians and are actively seeking an alternative. Last time around it was the reds & yellows  out in the streets, I wonder how the Junta will handle a few thousand well organised students on a peaceful march?