Don't know about never. They very well can and could but they choose not to. Hope. Which I think people of my generation mostly had. Part of which came from knowing and experiencing community where people took care of and watched out for each other. Part of which came from religion and religious understanding which seems very foreign to so many people , especially younger, today. And part of which just came from our enjoyment of our lives which we just assumed we had every right to do. Despair and negativity and inaction were then much less valued or considered even appropriate. We understood there was a place for us in society and we also understood it was up to us to find it and make it for ourselves. Today seems much more selfish environment in general which I guess all of us have in some way or other contributed to to the point where young people no longer feel able to trust or simply choose, whatever their reasons, not to trust so feel no hope personally.
Well said, I'd agree communities and camaraderie seems to be a thing of the past, where I live we have five CCTV cameras in one small village road, it is as if everyone is on a curfew, you don't see anyone. The only good thing is the children still play out in the street, be it watched by the public authority surveillance with accompanying positioned signs that reduce to "Don't have fun here," ie No ball games, no skateboarding, no climbing, no being a child.. ok not the last one. In the past when there was a problem, you didn't need CCTV or the police, the neighbourhood would get together and knock on the offenders door and tell them to shape up or ship out.
Imagination and creativity among our kids is becoming a lost art. We used to entertain ourselves for hours with games that we made up as we went along, often incorporating what we had (such as bicycles, scooters, wagons, etc) into the action. We seemed to have a way of making our own fun. Even the toys that we got for Christmas, such as Erector Sets, Chemistry sets or even Lincoln logs required a certain amount of imagination when used.