I am coming to the conclusion that moaning about 'the youth of today' is universal. It crosses cultures and periods in time. At the moment I am reading China Witness by Xinran, a brilliant book about the fast diminishing and largely silent voices of the generation of Chinese who witnessed the major events of the 20th Century. Their lives are characterised by a lack of. A lack of food, decent shelter, proper sleep, security, choice, education and so forth. They have a surfeit though, of meaning, through a heightened sense of duty, commitment to a cause, the camaraderie of adversity, the idea of something greater than themselves and a huge work ethic. These kinds of stories are very apparent in the interviews that Xinran conducted in China Witness.

But even these kind, humble and resilient people fall for the 'the youth of today' syndrome. It is clear that, while they are often proud of the achievements of their own children, they nevertheless feel misunderstood and undervalued. If they told their stories to their children they would be ridiculed, they often report. Their kids are too busy getting a life and making money. Self, self, self.

More commonly in the West these days, the language is couched in terms of generational differences. Gen X are this and Gen Y, or Millenials are that. There follows a screed of faults that might be described as the 'usual suspects', with laziness, incompetence and selfishness heading up any list. Most reports are anecdotal, meaning that generalizations should not be drawn, though they are anyway. It has been ever so.