Good morning boys, today we are going to take a look at the born free generation. Firstly, who are they?
Over recent years, a lot of attention has been placed on this so called born free generation. But why? Born in 1995, this generation is born into Democratic SA, free from the horrors of apartheid, and it is this generation that is coming of age, able to vote and become participant’s in democracy rather than beneficiaries. It is this reality that has drawn the attention, mainly political toward potentially powerful generation. They don’t carry baggage from apartheid for they were not there. They don’t feel loyalty to the African National Congress (ANC) because the ANC did not free them. Common perceptions.
Born free is not a compliment. The social character of the born-free generation is perceived to be carefree over-indulgence in leisure, entertainment, and promiscuity. Reference to a born free is used to describe the youth as an ignorant generation that has no regard for history but is at the same time happy to enjoy life under a free and democratic dispensation. Reality
This conception is true; 18 year olds are generally pleasure seeking, so why is this used as a negative characteristic? It is used by the elder generations in the ANC to remind youth what they did for South Africa; an attempt to gain the born frees loyalty to ensure the ANC’s stronghold in the government. This generation has been left with the task to restore the true vision of a Democratic South Africa that was fought so hard for by Nelson Mandela and many other liberation heroes’. If the ruling party is trounced among young voters any time soon, it will be because it squandered its patrimony. Change is inevitable as it is this Born Fee generation who are already showing signs of being fed up, with the standard of education, unemployment/crime, and BEE. BEE (black economic empowerment) is reminiscent of apartheid, and it is this change that has...