Forget the photos above and instead read the following article and take a moment to ponder.
"LONDON – Ahhh, Britain. The land of Shakespeare and the Beatles, Churchill and the Queen. Rolling green hills, groovy London shops, hip plaids splashed over raincoats and umbrellas.
Cut to the reality of 2009: the highest teen pregnancy rate in western Europe, a binge drinking culture that leaves drunk teens splayed out in the streets and rising knife crime that has turned some pub fights into deadly affairs.
Ahhh, Britain.
In the latest symbol of what some are calling "broken Britain," 13-year-old Alfie and his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle became parents last week. The news sparked a flurry of handwringing from the media — and even ordinary folk admitted it didn't help that Alfie barely looked 10, let alone 13, as he cradled his newborn daughter.
Alfie's father, who reportedly has nine or 10 children of his own, gamely promised to have a "birds and the bees" chat with his son to prevent him from producing a second child before he grows facial hair.
Somehow that was not reassuring.
Sir Bernard Ingham, once press secretary to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told the Associated Press that people from across Britain's political spectrum are in despair over the country's social breakdown.
"It's an indication that we've lost our way, that people don't know the difference between right and wrong," he said of young Alfie. "The plain fact is society can't proceed on this basis. I think this is an indication of broken Britain."
Ingham said Britain's binge drinking and youth violence reflect the same general fall in standards and discipline.
"I think in time there will be a swing against this permissiveness," he said, noting a shift from British debauchery in the 18th century to Victorian straight-laced standards 100 years later.
Binge drinking has produced a rise in liver disease among Britons in their 20s and the unpleasant reputation of British "lager louts" at holiday resorts across Europe.
On any given night, London residents can see drunken teens staggering through the Underground subway system. Usually their friends help them, but sometimes collapsed teens are left on their own until police or transit staff intervene.
The rise in knife crime harkens back to the 1950s "West Side Story" era in the United States. The number of robberies carried out with knives rose 18 percent for the third quarter of 2008 compared to the year before, according to government figures released in January.
Too often now, public disputes have ended in teen stabbing deaths. Rob Knox, an 18-year-old actor in a "Harry Potter" film, was killed in May, while Ben Kinsella, the 16-year-old brother of a television soap actress, was stabbed to death in June. Both were trying to break up fights in London.
Other, less well-known youths have also died in knife fights.
All this was bemoaned, but the final straw came this week, when Britain's intensely competitive tabloids focused on the young, clueless Alfie.
Alfie's daughter Maisie was reportedly conceived when he was 12. Chantelle's parents let the lad spend the night with their daughter, 14 at the time, at their public housing unit near Eastbourne, 70 miles southeast of London.
There are still some questions about the birth. The Sun newspaper did not say whether any tests were conducted to prove the boy's paternity, and The Sunday Times reported that at least two other teens claimed to have slept with the young mother.
Alfie told The Sun he plans to look after his newborn daughter. But in a heartbreaking interview, the boy admitted he didn't know what the word "financially" meant and acknowledged he doesn't even get an allowance."
Cut to the reality of 2009: the highest teen pregnancy rate in western Europe, a binge drinking culture that leaves drunk teens splayed out in the streets and rising knife crime that has turned some pub fights into deadly affairs.
Ahhh, Britain.
In the latest symbol of what some are calling "broken Britain," 13-year-old Alfie and his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle became parents last week. The news sparked a flurry of handwringing from the media — and even ordinary folk admitted it didn't help that Alfie barely looked 10, let alone 13, as he cradled his newborn daughter.
Alfie's father, who reportedly has nine or 10 children of his own, gamely promised to have a "birds and the bees" chat with his son to prevent him from producing a second child before he grows facial hair.
Somehow that was not reassuring.
Sir Bernard Ingham, once press secretary to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told the Associated Press that people from across Britain's political spectrum are in despair over the country's social breakdown.
"It's an indication that we've lost our way, that people don't know the difference between right and wrong," he said of young Alfie. "The plain fact is society can't proceed on this basis. I think this is an indication of broken Britain."
Ingham said Britain's binge drinking and youth violence reflect the same general fall in standards and discipline.
"I think in time there will be a swing against this permissiveness," he said, noting a shift from British debauchery in the 18th century to Victorian straight-laced standards 100 years later.
Binge drinking has produced a rise in liver disease among Britons in their 20s and the unpleasant reputation of British "lager louts" at holiday resorts across Europe.
On any given night, London residents can see drunken teens staggering through the Underground subway system. Usually their friends help them, but sometimes collapsed teens are left on their own until police or transit staff intervene.
The rise in knife crime harkens back to the 1950s "West Side Story" era in the United States. The number of robberies carried out with knives rose 18 percent for the third quarter of 2008 compared to the year before, according to government figures released in January.
Too often now, public disputes have ended in teen stabbing deaths. Rob Knox, an 18-year-old actor in a "Harry Potter" film, was killed in May, while Ben Kinsella, the 16-year-old brother of a television soap actress, was stabbed to death in June. Both were trying to break up fights in London.
Other, less well-known youths have also died in knife fights.
All this was bemoaned, but the final straw came this week, when Britain's intensely competitive tabloids focused on the young, clueless Alfie.
Alfie's daughter Maisie was reportedly conceived when he was 12. Chantelle's parents let the lad spend the night with their daughter, 14 at the time, at their public housing unit near Eastbourne, 70 miles southeast of London.
There are still some questions about the birth. The Sun newspaper did not say whether any tests were conducted to prove the boy's paternity, and The Sunday Times reported that at least two other teens claimed to have slept with the young mother.
Alfie told The Sun he plans to look after his newborn daughter. But in a heartbreaking interview, the boy admitted he didn't know what the word "financially" meant and acknowledged he doesn't even get an allowance."
...And people say we are still in control of our own culture. Were I not so wildy opposed to the fundamental "Our world is dying" message of DQ's philosophy, I'd be qute inclined to side with the point of Ishmael. We say that our hope is always in the "next generation," and yet we fail to remember that we are the ones that will bring up this "new generation." "They'll fix things" we say, and then they go on to grow up and attain positions as doctors, scientists, politicians, and other world leaders. Guess what? All they have from which to base their own conclusions on how to live is from the ways that they were taught growing up; from their parents/mentors. We see it in nature every day. The animal young learn the way to live from their "parents." The don't question what they've learned, because they are taught to follow a set of natural laws that almost every other creature on the planet follows, except us. They have no reason to question these laws. Why? Simple. Because they work. Because of this vicious cycle, it make me wonder whether we even have the capacity to save ourselves. Even Daniel Quinn is at heart, a taker, albeit one who realized the apparent error of his ways. However, that still doesn't change his actions when he gets up each day and lives the life of a succesful author, practicing the oh-so-comfortable taker ways which which we have all become accustomed to.
I'll say it again- Do we actually have the capacity to save ourselves? I think we all remember the last time a group of young people thought that they could change the world. See photos at top of page.
(unedited.mind)
