Change society and take control of your futures: Owen Jones's message to teenagers
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Version 0 of 1. A young person in Britain should be flush full of optimism for their future, but all too often they’re not. “Life isn’t fair”, that’s often the comeback when we talk about injustice, as though it’s one of those things, like rain on a bank holiday or missing the bus, that’s just a fact of life. Soaring debt for aspiring to an education, a lack of affordable homes, a shortage of jobs with a decent paypacket, youth services being cut, falling income – we could go on. But these aren’t facts of life, problems to be met with nothing more than the shrug of your shoulders. And that’s why I wanted to write a book on the Establishment. I want to explore how the powerful were responsible for the problems we face as a society, and that all too often, we are made to pay the consequences for their greed and mistakes. We’re told we don’t have enough money for the homes we need, or to support free education, or to support our youth services, while huge corporations refuse to pay their taxes. Young people find themselves getting stopped and searched for cannabis, while bankers who plunged the country into disaster pay themselves record bonuses, free from the threat of arrest. We’re lectured about young people committing benefit fraud, while politicians stole far more through fiddling expenses and, in most cases, were just expected to pay it back. Related: Does politics matter? Some stats to prove that yes, it does We could go on: it feels like it’s one set of rules for young people, and another for powerful people. But all too often, the powerful try and encourage people to turn on each other. People without jobs, immigrants, public sector workers like teachers: they get blamed for the problems we face as a country instead. This didn’t strike me as very fair. So this book was my very small contribution to redressing the balance. I wanted us to talk about the people at the top, the people with power, for a change, and maybe suggest we hold them to account for how our society is run. They have each others backs, and all too often they are interested in what’s good for them, not what is in the interests of all of us. But the main reason I write isn’t just to whinge about things. It’s to try and encourage people to do something about the way the world is, and not accept their lot in life. When I visit sixth forms and schools, I find young people who are smart and determined. It’s my belief that, if they all got together and organised, they could change society and take control of their futures. Related: Free read! The Establishment by Owen Jones Taking a stand as an individual doesn’t get very far, because alone we’re nothing against the power of those who run the show. The power of people organising together is what has won great victories: like votes for women, a welfare state, the NHS, workers’ rights and legislation against racism, sexism and homophobia. Rather than being resigned to being worse off than their parents, my hope is that young people will follow the example of our ancestors and take a stand for their futures. Owen Jones’s The Establishment is our current Teen book club read. Find out what else is happening during Owen Jones’s teen book club month here. |