Hope.

A well written letter on Teletext recently made out a reasonable, albeit limited case for youth crime stemming from a sense of hopelessness amongst the youth of our generation.
To a degree, there is certainly truth in this. So many young people today must feel truly miserable and ill-equipped for life.
Jobs which used to require 'O'Levels - banking is a good case in point - may now require one of the newly- diluted degrees as an alternative. The basic jobs for the ill-educated but socially-minded will have disappeared into the hands of immigrant workers; their chances of getting onto the housing ladder because of bad government, divorce and the aforementioned astronomical levels of immigration have all but disappeared.
All of this is true but the writer failed to see that immorality, 'summat for nowt philosphies', godlessness, lack of discipline in homes, schools and courts as well as throughout society all make their deadly contribution.
People - especially the young - are generally no longer held responsible for their own actions. Those who shunned the chances that school gave them should still be rewarded - apparently.Youth has become an excuse.
The workshy are cossetted and protected from dismissal. Licentious and permissive behaviour are encouraged by the liberal left and its negative effects will always be multiplied in youngsters of this type.
Society will only work when safety nets for the feckless are totally removed.
Lack of discipline for the young is not the kindness that so many believe it to be - no - it is the single greatest disservice that can ever be perpetrated against a youngster.
That in these circumstances, so many take the 'easy' route into crime and drug abuse is no great surprise.
The penalties MUST be sufficient to deter this casual slide into underclass amorality.
It is a shame that our first target must be to treat the symptoms rather than the cause but the symptoms must be dealt with and only then can we turn to addressing the reasons for the behaviour which will take several generations to eradicate.
And just which social group has been responsible for all of this mess ......? - 'The usual suspects' - please take one step forward!