Marjorie Smith argues that young people do not cause othe problems of urban decay and social alienation, but are the victims of them

LISTENING to some Home Office ministers, you could be forgiven for thinking this country is overrun by vicious, feral youths who are not bound by the generally accepted norms of social behaviour. We seem to have accepted, without much discussion, that today’s young people are a clear and present danger to the rest of us on the flimsiest of evidence. We have been swayed by the sensationalist coverage of a very few tragic murder cases and a drip, drip, drip of poison from the deeply obnoxious right.

In their risky and morally pathetic attempts at triangulation with the Tories, a succession of Labour Home Secretaries have followed David Blunkett’s lead and allowed Government policy to be dictated by the forces of reaction.

If you give credence to the right-wing press, England – and this is mainly about England – is a highly dangerous place to live. In fact, this can be explained by the London-centric experiences of a few individuals given a pulpit by media moguls who have no intrinsic link with Britain.

According to these people, we are under siege from an army of uncontrollable youngsters and grasping immigrants. Right-wing commentators would have us believe a supposed fifth column of aggressive, rude and foul-mouthed youths and devious immigrants have appeared in our midst as a consequence of the permissiveness of those in the 1960s and 70s generations, for whom “discipline” and “tradition” were, allegedly, dirty words.

Yet it is the morals and behaviour of blue-chip companies and supposedly respectable institutions that have done much more to make our country a more ill-tempered and intolerant one. The finger of blame can also be pointed at shock-troops of the right, in the form of columnists on newspapers such as the Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph who derive their income from stoking up indignation and creating a moral panic.

Egged on by their editors and owners, they spout bile and venom at vulnerable groups in society. These often include those who don’t have a voice: just observe the acres of condemnatory newsprint that is spewed forth the next time an immigrant or a youngster commits a serious crime in the near future.

The self-interest of media moguls and the grasping appetites of near-cartels in many parts of the business and media world should shoulder a large share of the responsibility if – and it is a big “if” – there are real societal problems in modern Britain.

The fourth estate has dumbed-down to such a degree that mass-market newspapers now prefer to focus on the sexual deceit of worthless celebrities and the tittle-tattle of mere gossip, passing this of as news. Yet the smug columnists who damn society for its hedonism ignore the crucial role played by publications for which they work.

Much television coverage and magazine content takes its cue from the popular press. There has been an explosion of TV channels and lifestyle magazines dedicated to the frivolous and trivial – selling dreams that encourage avarice as a positive lifestyle choice. Selfishness is lauded and ruthless ambition is seen as a positive force for good.

Anti-intellectualism is regarded as a sign of modernity and scientific fact increasingly considered as a mere opinion that can be counter-balanced by superstition and quackery.

No wonder young people look on life in a different manner from previous generations. They are offered a relentless individualism as espoused by the right and delivered through multiple TV channels and the vast individual-based opportunities available through the internet. This has gone a long way to break social and workplace bonds that were the foundations of the trade unions, workers’ social clubs and other social networks.

The media seems to treat the sexual activities of a few individuals of limited intellect with more importance than any attempt an analysis of our society. The stranglehold on large parts of the media of a few mega-rich individuals who relentlessly pursue a reactionary agenda also serves to intimidate public sector broadcasters into following the right’s lead and hence give it a veneer of respectability. How often does Radio 4’s Today programme follow what is on the front page of the Daily Mail or The Sun? Richard Desmond’s Daily Express dare not be outflanked by the Mail or The Sun so it goes along with the same agenda or tries to be even more extreme in its views as it battles for readers.

Double standards are everywhere. The high street banks which refuse to give compensation when young people’s accounts are emptied by fraudsters (even though they have followed all the relevant security advice), are the very same banks which are desperate to sell their services to young people through internet channels such as Facebook or MySpace (which is owned by Rupert Murdoch).

These are the same banks which charge some of their customers highly dubious financial penalties, using underhand accounting techniques and outright sophistry when justifying such harsh penalties. It is no wonder that many young people are alienated. They know something is intrinsically wrong, but are told these institutions are exemplary.

Young people are bombarded by propaganda from the fast food industry and herded into drinks warehouses which use psychological and ergonomic tricks to get them to drink as much, as regularly and as expensively as possible. The after-effects of all this in the form of violence and vandalism are no concern of the big brewers.

Young people are conned by mobile phone companies on several levels in what is, at heart, an exploitative relationship organised by a near cartel. These companies nominally compete to target young people and extract as much money as possible from them, locking them into long contracts and offering highly expensive add-ons. As each long-term contact nears its end, there is the offer of a new phone as an upgrade in exchange for a new, long-term and “locked-in” contract.

It is the City’s favourites which act in the most anti-social manner as they chase yet more returns for their shareholders at the expense of what should still be a moral and just society. This is at the expense of our young people who are seen as mere consumers of an increasingly immoral capitalism. It is the deceit, greed and anti-social behaviour of big business that is the root cause of the problems our society faces.

The Labour Government needs to rediscover some of its socialist principles, stop kow-towing to the square mile and start a moral campaign to give capitalism an ASBO.