6 May 2024
"(Young people) repay trust with trust. Older people who lament the diminished capacities of the young may only be revealing the meanness of their own abilities."
"Many people in the industrialised nations share your admitted reluctance even to discuss the matter (generation gap, disagreements and apparent moral depravity of the youth). Middle and high-school teachers in Japan complain that moral instruction is their hardest task. They claim the greater their efforts, the greater student apathy.
How are we to deal with this situation without becoming, as you say, run-of-the-mill moralisers? I feel we must adopt two fundamental attitudes. First, we must avoid unilaterally criticising young people. Second, we must trust them. For better or worse, adults are the creators of society, which children reflect like mirrors. All the failings and faults we see in young people correspond to anomalies in society itself. How many adults can self-confidently assert trust in the younger generations? The ability to trust is unconditional; it does not depend on the other party. The trustworthiness of the young is beside the point. All human beings are worth trusting.
Instead of being guided by pre-judgements or outside opinions, we must live according to our own lights. Older people who condemn the young outright are often too much influenced by the lights of third parties.
My trust in young people arises from intimate conversations and direct cooperation with millions of them. They repay trust with trust. Older people who lament the diminished capacities of the young may only be revealing the meanness of their own abilities."
Daisaku Ikeda
From 'Ode To The Grand Spirit: Echoes and Reflections', a dialogue between Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov and Dr Daisaku Ikeda