The newer generations trust the services around them more than the older ones. They think all that is around them will remain forever.
For example, a younger person is more likely to trust his credit card or debit card to work whenever he wants and have little cash with him. He would also trust services like internet to be available almost everywhere.
On the other hand we see older people (not the elderly, just the generation that grew up before the advent of computers, for example) keep more cash with them, because somehow they don’t trust the banks or cash cards as much as the youth does. They have seen more all along their lives. They have seen many such services appear and disappear. They have seen times of crises. They have seen the society descend into something unexpected on several points in history. So, it is not easy for the governments to lead them into believing that all that is around them is eternal. The older generation would not trust the internet as firmly as the newer one does. They still believe in storing music or videos, even if it is downloaded or pirated, instead of watching or hearing them online.
The young ones, as they have not seen the atrocities the humans can commit (most don’t even read), the depths that humanity can descend into, the wars that can leave cities into ruins, the famines that can end villages, they think everything that makes their lives effortless has always been there, and will be there. They are sure that humans will never revert back to a previous stage of technology, economy or society. They believe what governments say is the absolute truth.
The young man believes that the world has entered the cyber-age and will keep advancing, never to turn back; whereas the old man knows that humans can revert back to stone age any given day.
-Madhuvan Rishiraj
LAMPS OF DESERT 