That's hardly a representative sample. The fact that they're your friends means they're likely to share at least some of your values. If you're socially engaged, many of them likely will be, too.benhall.1 wrote:Anecdotally, most of my friends, who tend to be in their 40s at least (with some notable exceptions) are very focused on society's flaws...
I think most summaries of adolescent* psycho-social development will have a heading similar to Challenging Assumptions. Wikipedia, for instance, has:
Questioned authority = rebellionRelativistic thinking
Compared to children, adolescents are more likely to question others' assertions, and less likely to accept facts as absolute truths. Through experience outside the family circle, they learn that rules they were taught as absolute are in fact relativistic. They begin to differentiate between rules instituted out of common sense—not touching a hot stove—and those that are based on culturally-relative standards (codes of etiquette, not dating until a certain age), a delineation that younger children do not make. This can lead to a period of questioning authority in all domains.
And like I've said, the question can be horror that Dad's willing to appear in public wearing that as readily as it might be political engagement. Don't think that just because I said that adolescents are more focused on their society's flaws that I mean politics, exclusively. For some, the drive is this music I've heard all my life SUCKS!. That, too, is rebellion. Not too many 50 year olds invent new musical genres.
*15-25, let's say.