"Adolescents are excessively egoistic, regarding themselves as the centre of the universe and the sole object of interest, and yet at no time in later life are they capable of so much self-sacrifice and devotion. They from the most passionate love relations, only to break them off as abruptly as they began them. On the one hand, they throw themselves enthusiastically into the life of the community, and on the other, they have an overpowering longing for solitude. They oscillate between blind submission to some self-chosen leader and deviant rebellion against any and every authority. They are selfish and materially minded and at the same time for of lofty idealism."
Sounds like me, doesn't sound like me. I guess Freud did a good job of summing up the stereotypical views of what constitutes youths of today, but in reality it cannot be as simple as such a dichotomy.
How about the longing to be different? The burning desire to not be succumbed to the encapsulating claws of mass culture, to stand out from the crowd and show others that I have a sense of civility intact, albeit a modicum amount. Yet I can only resist so much. How about the obligatory impositions from the society? How about all the duties and roles I have to fulfil, being confined to the many developmental cages of life?
That's it. Enough ranting and raving about my life. Wasn't I supposed to be different from my peers-no angsty complaints and emotional low-downs? Well, good try, I shall improve next time. This coming from a supposedly intellectual point of view.
