Youth is usually seen as a time to be carefree and reckless, this is an advantage as well as a disadvantage. In almost every setting (workplaces, government, society) people who are older are regarded as more experienced and their views take precedence.

While I do admit that some things in life are better learned with experience wouldn't it be great to see the stigma of young people engaging in civil society disappear? Like the author says, young people are always affected. Whether it is war or something as domestic as taxes and education.

There are, unfortunately, elements in our society that want to agitate young people into violent protests. We see it during anti-war demonstrations, WTO meetings and recently in Greece, London and Rome. We saw it in Australia during the Cronulla riots.

The only ones that benefit are the agitators themselves as they secure another few years of loyal supporters while governments and society at large continue to "worry" and think up new ways to deal with the issue of "violent" youth - apparently a few hundred or thousand people is enough to label all youths violent, but then again this happens to other sections of the community.

http://currentglobalperceptions.blogspot.com/

"Achieving a more peaceful world - that is, one free of armed conflict - is the stated goal of Western governments and the United Nations." This may well be the case Catriona, however words are cheap and both institutions are controlled behind the scenes by the financial/economic 'interests' of the corporate executives and wealthy shareholders of rapacious multi-national corporations. Do your homework!

"Conflict and aggression will always exist, but with strong institutions, transparent governance and an active civil society, stopping these conflicts going "hot" becomes possible." Ongoing conflicts around the world and a faux 'War on Terror' disprove your thesis.

As indicated above, the 'strong institutions' have been bought and paid for and incorporated into the now global(ised) system of ENDLESS Capital accumulation by a rich and powerful elite few who control 90%+ of the world's wealth. Among them are those calling for the 'assassination' of young Mr Julian Assange for providing the rest of us - free of charge - with the 'transparent governance' we are continually promised, but never delivered. The even younger man who provided much of the information which the world's 'leaders' wished to be kept secret was arrested seven months ago and is today being held at a military base in Virginia and faces a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for his alleged role in copying the cables. Check him out on Wikipedia to begin with or http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/bradley-manning-health-deteriorating.

Conflict and aggression WILL INDEED always exist Catriona ... as long as the political economy extant - Capitalism and the tiny (minority) class of obscenely wealthy predators who profit from it are allowed, by the rest of us, including the narrowly-educated youth of the world, to continue their unfettered (de-regulated) exploitation of the god-given natural and human resources of OUR fragile planet.

Sowat, what you state is the current state of our world right now but I think you missed the point of the article.

And if capitalism is so bad (and I agree there are bad points with capitalism - nothing is perfect), then what would you propose we use as its replacement?

http://currentglobalperceptions.blogspot.com/

Out of the mouths of babes comes;

Naive baby talk.

It is not only the kids with guns that are being manipulated.

Catriona:

God love ya. I admire your soft centre and brave outlook. Sadly to focus on humanity as you do I predict, will lead to disappointment.

Concentrating your efforts on reducing world poverty is a much more achievable goal and will have the secondary benefit of reducing war and preserving global youth too.

jorge wrote "And if capitalism is so bad (and I agree there are bad points with capitalism - nothing is perfect), then what would you propose we use as its replacement?"

Various observers and thinkers have advocated the development of a 'steady state' economic system or mode of SOCIAL production, distribution and exchange. That is, one driven by the ethic of production to meet and satisify human NEED as opposed to the insatiable GREED of a minority of predatory exploiters of other people's labour ... the basis of all 'wealth creation'.

This they do through the promulgation of various ideas or ide(a)ologies such as 'trickle down theory', 'level playing field', 'a rising tide raises all boats', and the unsustainable notion of 'growth' or growing The Economy to make a bigger pie!

Yet despite the increased productivity of workers around the world and the massive over-production of every conceivable 'good' or commodity, social inequality just keeps on expanding. The resultant social division creates social unrest and conflict, as witnessed in the violent outbursts in Greece, England, Ireland, the U$A and other 'rich countries' in response to mass un-employment and under-employment, housing foreclosures, and 'austerity measures' targeting the health and education of the Working Class and Lower Middle Class in the face of 'tax relief'(cuts) for the wealthy

I'm afraid that naive Catriona simply does not realize that most BORDERS today, are the result of war.

We have peace in many places-yes, but that peace is based on the outcome of a war, and the scars of that war are still evident in the shared history of the losers.

All it takes for war to break out again is a strong, passionate charismatic leader among the "losers" (in the case of Indigenous Aussies..perhaps a Gary Foley?) to gee them up for another go at it.

There will NEVER NEVER EVER be peace in kosovo, because the current status could never ever be accepted by Serbs. Too much of their history is tied up in Kosovo. The current status simply reminds them of the inhuman imperialist and degenerate Ottoman invasions which made Kosovo so "muslim" in the first place.

Young people are 'useful'...they ARE reckless...invulnerable and most of all...fit and they have to suffer the brunt of our wars because of those characteristics. I've been in war (Vietnam) and I was, young, invulnerable and a bit reckless.

As they say "thats life"

ALGOREisRich wrote "There will NEVER NEVER EVER be peace in kosovo, because the current status could never ever be accepted by Serbs."

Then how do you explain the decades of peace and general prosperity for all the diverse peoples of the former Republic of Yugoslavia from the end of the Second World War until the "humanitarian intervention", invasion and bombing - using depleted uranium weaponry - by NATO and U$ military forces. And how do you explain the role of officials from the World bank and International Monetary Fund in that obscene 'intervention' that destroyed all that was built up during the long post-war period of mutual cooperation and prosperity for ALL of the peoples of that resource-rich region?

I didn't quite get where the author was headed with this.
It always rings a few alarm bells when what happens in some of the worst places in the world (such as Uganda) is cited to support a case for something that seems to be about what we can do here.

As long as we don't have conscription and the intake to the armed forces is primarily made up of young people it seems that youth do actually have a very big say in the issue. If the military does not have the numbers then they can't deploy. Don't join the military if you are not willing to go to war. Is there anybody currently in Australia's military who is not there by choice?

I would be interested to see some demographic breakup's of the troops serving in Afghanistan. What proportion of the combat troops in Afghanistan are under 30?

A different story where conscription is used. Perhaps if the need for that appears to arise then it should be put to a vote of those who would be subject to conscription if the vote was passed. A yes vote for conscription moved the voter to the front of the list. Anyone else who really believed that extra troops were required could apply to enlist.

R0bert

With regards to Kosovo, Al, sure it may not be perfect, but how about a little optimism? Sowat, so we should get another President for Life like Tito? Or better yet, a man like Milosevic who wanted to rule over all the people of Yugoslavia, whether they liked it or not?

The point about depleted uranium weapons etc. is valid. It is up to the average citizen to speak out about these incidents. That is one of the advantages of living in a democracy. Blaming the World Bank or the IMF (and no, I don't think they are perfect institutions) is pushing it a little far, isn't it?

R0bert, I think the author was trying to state that young people, by choice or not, are involved in armed conflicts. She does mention that for the ADF, people are there voluntarily. Though I have to agree that the Uganda bit could have been used a little differently.

As for the point of the article, what I took it to be was the following (perhaps the author's point, perhaps not):
- That young people in Australia, while voluntarily involved in the ADF, are subject to the whims of political leaders and as a whole are not seen by society as holding valid opinions.

Another point about conflict resolution etc. may not be as practical on a global stage, but how about we start in Australia? I would say that young and not so young members of Australian society are a little too easily prone to violence at times.

http://currentglobalperceptions.blogspot.com/

jorge wrote "The point about depleted uranium weapons etc. is valid. It is up to the average citizen to speak out about these incidents. That is one of the advantages of living in a democracy."

PROVIDED THEY ARE INFORMED AND THUS AWARE OF THE FACT THAT DU WAS BEING USED ON THEM! ... AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS!

"Blaming the World Bank or the IMF (and no, I don't think they are perfect institutions) is pushing it a little far, isn't it?"

Read Michel Chossudosky's compelling articles on how the World Bank and IMF divided the once united (against Hitler and the Nazi regime)peoples of the Republic of Yugoslavia thru debt entrapment and 're-structuring/austerity measures' AND the use of DU against any who resisted being 're-structured'.

Sowat, I didn't mean that those on the receiving end of depleted uranium should be the ones to complain. I meant that citizens of the countries that use those weapons (in this case NATO) have the rights to speak up.

If you could provide a link or something to the article you mention, it would help. From what I've found it seems Chossudovsky focuses on the break-up of Yugoslavia. But looking at it from another point: were the people of Yugoslavia "united" based on mutual respect for each other or just on the fact that someone managed to set up a functioning economy? "Eastern Europe" edited by Richard Frucht includes historical accounts of ethnic tensions dating back to Ottoman times. Also, while their economy may have been functioning during the post-WW2 period, how much freedom did the peoples of Yugoslavia enjoy?

But then, we are perhaps veering a little off topic...

http://currentglobalperceptions.blogspot.com/

The comments here are indicative of the very problem that Catriona is trying to get through to the readers - we don't listen to young people. We're too busy projecting outdated values and ideas on them to allow them to grow into their own people who can make positive change to our society.

Some of the comments here are outrageously patronizing merely because Catriona's a young person - you all feel the need to deride her judgment and undermine the validity of her ideas - take a look at yourselves, your comments border on the ridiculous. Such abuse is age discrimination.

If you consider what she is saying you might learn something - children don't have a voice and on the rare occasion that they do(like on this post) we don't listen or value their opinions. As a population and an elecorate we don't scrutinize the dangers we are sending our young people into combat against - their poor equipment and lousy pay is only the start. We need to address the reasons young men have to go into the job, most not for honour or glory - it's about a lack of opportunity among certain socio-economic demographics. Our government shows us that poor young men are not bulletproof, but they are apparently, expendable.

Furthermore, as Catriona says, children are voiceless victims of conflict - true enough, but we can also add that when veterans don't get appropriate support and healthcare, their children are secondary victims, also.