Call to Youth
By Mehreen Shakoor

THE challenges before the new generation , are clear . No matter what your political affiliations , no matter from which nations of the world you come , there must be three objectives which dominate your minds.

The first , to free the world from poverty and squalor. The second , to provide mankind with a quality of environment both at home and at work that makes living a fill and rich experience for each individual. The third , to free the world from racial discrimination and prejudice.

Attainment of these objectives will be difficult . The gap between rich and poor nations is widening , not closing .

The spirit of nationalism is adding to racial prejudice , not diminishing it. And there are those of the younger generation in politics who consider that the search for the self-fulfilment means the freedom to do your own things and to hell with anyone else.

The role of the young traditionally, has been to stand on the touchlines, criticizing the older generation who are playing the game and making all the decisions .

Today , the twenties to thirties are better than the fifties to sixties. From now on , the new and educated young must be on the field of play , participating in the decision taking and facing challenges that can be met only by a generation freed from past dogmas.

Adam Smith’s concept of capitalism and Karl Marx’s concept of communism should now be discarded as no longer relevant to our present problems .

Communism fails to provide diversity of choice and encouragement to individual enterprise ; it is too demanding in its elimination of basic human rights.

Likewise , if capitalism has a contribution to make it will have to be in a changed form. Capitalism must develop still further , and with greater rapidity, a rational solution to the employer / employe partnership .

It must direct its productivity and energy to eliminate — and not ignore — poverty ; to add to the quality of life rather than to eliminate life itsel . It must use technology so that future generations are not destined to devote a greater part of their waking hours within office walls doing work of little mental or spiritual satisfaction.

We are entering a period when the clash of ideologies should be replaced by unity of wishing to attain the same objectives ; when the true reformer is the man of action.

As the individual privileged to be the first minister over the first department of the environment in the world , we were able to obtain more satisfaction from removing the ugliness of the slag heaps of the early part of the individual revolution than we ever obtain from the dogmatic political argument.

We will find immense political satisfaction in boosting a massive slum clearence scheme , and transforming the homes of hundreds of thousands of our fellow countrymen which for decades has been in need of improvement and modernization.

Thus my plea to you is a plea for practical idealism . You have the advantages of the means of communication, both verbal and physical, never previously available .

You have a skill at science and technology that can change bad conditions into good with a speed never previously conceived . Also you are able , like other generations , to learn from the mistakes of the past and inherit all the good that has been created.

The world’s judgment upon your success or failure will be made at the end. You have your life which you will either fail to the permanent detriment of humanity or succeed to an extent greater than any previous generations.●

© 2006 Mehreen Shakoor