Laurie Penny: The government has stolen the younger generation's future - IQ2 debates

http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/baby-boomers

This debate took place at the Royal Geographical Society on 27th October 2011.

Event info:

Hey old man! You owe me. You got a free university education and then you grabbed all the houses and pulled up the ladder. You're sitting on the best jobs and all we young people can do is beg for an unpaid internship and worry about how we're going to pay off our debts. As you get older you're going to cream off the resources of the welfare state which is obliged to take care of you, and we're going to have to pay for it one way or another.

Hang on a minute, kid! We're the generation that built this wealthy society and we worked hard for everything we have. Why are you so set on grabbing what's ours when you could be using your youth and energy to create wealth for yourselves? We forked out for your school fees, your computers and your holidays abroad. Yes, things are tough at the moment but we're using all our connections to get you work experience with our friends' companies and you've still no plans to leave home. Is there no end to your complaints?

Who's right, who's wrong? Come to the debate, hear the arguments and decide for yourself.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• iq2
• iqvideo

[LeDaftRobot]

Socialism works until you run out of other people's money.

[dystin1]

Tour de flippin Force! Glorious Laurie.

[MrToadful]

So she was invited to debate in a team with Willetts, but instead decides to take cheap shots at her debating ally instead. Lovely woman.

[ukipwarrior]

education is expensive because the government made it so.

[SilentSlumber3]

She's worth a fuck, that's about it. I don't think she should be speaking at a conference with the word "intelligence" in the title though. She's more of a staunch cunt with a bee in her bonnet than she is an intelligent, thoughtful human being.

[stoptherot1]

I like Laurie. I may not agree with many of her points, but she has the bravery to stand up and be counted. I'm sure that she would thank me for pointing this out, but she is fit too.

[AlexFictionFriction]

a bit of charisma may have helped her case

[FlourescentPotato]

@LeDaftRobot It works until you break it, like many things.

[Marenqo]

@meursault48

"Penny is a becoming more and more a spartist throwback..." For some reason I doubt you were ever a fan...

[meursault48]

This is really childish, hysterical student posturing. Penny is a becoming more and more a spartist throwback with a rather sad constituency which she seems to forget are largely a product of 13 years of proto-socialism. GIven her conduct, typical of her ilk, how could she ever effect any sort of change? She's become quite the master of disingenuously ignoring any facts that demolish her argument and ploughs on regardless, never happier than being on the fringes of sanity.