Adolescent Cultures

The tripling of the world's population in the last century or so fostered a rift between the majority of industrial nations (with the exception of the United States) and all the developing and less developing countries (the "third world"). The populace in places like Western Europe and Japan (and even Russia) is ageing and dwindling. These are middle-aged, sedate, cultures with a middle-class, mature outlook on life. They are mostly liberal, consensual, pragmatic, inert, and compassionate.

The denizens of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are still multiplying. The "baby boom" in the USA - and subsequent waves of immigration - kept its population young and growing. Together they form the "adolescent block" of cultures and societies.

In the Adolescent Block, tastes and preferences (in film, music, the Internet, fashion, literature) are juvenile because most of its citizens are under the age of 21. Adolescent cultures are ideological, mobilized, confrontational, dynamic, inventive, and narcissistic.

History is the record of the clashes between and within adolescent civilizations. As societies age and mature, they generate "less history". The conflict between the Muslim world and the USA is no exception. It is a global confrontation between two cultures and societies made up mostly of youngsters. It will end only when either or both ages (chronologically) or matures (psychologically).

Societies age naturally, as the birth rate drops, life expectancy increases, pension schemes are introduced, wealth is effectively redistributed, income and education levels grow, and women are liberated. The transition from adolescent to adult societies is not painless (witness the 1960s in Europe and the USA). It is bound to be protracted, complicated by such factors as the AIDS epidemic. But it is inevitable - and so, in the end, is world peace and prosperity.