Does today's youth lack compassion? Given the heavy increase in school shootings and our constant bombardment by the media of bad news as opposed to anything good, it would certainly seem that way. There are still youths who care about others. There are a lot of kids who spend time volunteering or trying to make the world a better place, but they are often under-publicized. You can not issue a blanket statement such as this which will be true of all, and there are most certainly exceptions.

Overall, however, I would say this generation is lacking in compassion. Why? Because we live in a "me-first" society, that tells people it's all about them. Love is falsely portrayed as something done for selfish motives to merely fulfil your feelings and lusts, not something that is about the other person and doing what is best for them. Our society promotes those who take advantage of others, idolizes celebrities who do stupid things, and just generally does nothing to dispel this pervading atmosphere of utter selfishness.

Have you ever heard the phrase "all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"? You see, there are indeed youths out there with compassion, but they all too often don't stand up to those who are giving their generation a bad name. They are told to do what they feel is right, and not push their beliefs or morals on anyone else. Those who don't want this society of selfishness changed for their own selfish motives and agendas are the ones masquerading such an idea as "tolerance". But it is not tolerance to not stand up for what you believe is right. It is evil to not stand up for what you know to be right, and against what you know to be evil. True intolerance comes not from confronting people about their actions, but from seeking to FORCE them to accept your views and silence their opinions.

Simply speaking persuasively about what one believes is right is not intolerance. Real intolerance would be to set laws that inhibit the free speech of others, just as certain lawmakers are trying to do in making speech against the homosexual lifestyle a hate crime. That is intolerance. But merely engaging in conversation about things that matter is hardly intolerance. Therefore, what is needed to break this lack of compassion in our society, this spirit of selfishness, is more people standing up for what they believe is right regardless of how many times intolerant people try to silence them by screaming "intolerant". Who is the intolerant one, the one who simply proclaims their beliefs or the one who seeks to silence those beliefs from ever being heard?

Learn more about this author, Joshua Zambrano.
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