The phrase “youngsters can be youngsters” has lengthy been used to excuse dangerous conduct. It grew out of a centuries-old concept that youth itself ought to confer some type of immunity — that immaturity, carelessness and even cruelty are merely a part of rising up. What started as a forgiving nod to childhood mischief has developed right into a cultural permission slip, a strategy to flip irresponsibility into inevitability. It’s now used to dismiss the dangerous decisions of adults because the pure impulses of youngsters. “Children can be youngsters.”
This indulgent logic now echoes via the politics of MAGA. When Republican figures or their allies say or do one thing offensive, it’s disregarded as a prank, a joke or “younger folks being silly.” However when Democrats or their allies run afoul of cultural sensibilities, it’s handled as proof of ethical decay. Critics on the suitable need swift motion towards violators on the left; they demand accountability. This isn’t a code of ethics. It’s a code of exceptions that doubles as a governing philosophy.
One damning latest instance comes from a Politico report on a leaked group chat of younger Republicans buying and selling racist epithets, celebrating sexual assault and making antisemitic jokes about fuel chambers and loving Hitler. In a time of heightened political polarization, these messages exhibit how sure factions of the Republican Social gathering can so blithely dehumanize their perceived political opponents. Initially, celebration leaders denounced the messages, figuring out them as hateful and bigoted and calling for broad condemnation. Members of the group chat, ranging in age from 24 to 35, confronted actual penalties, with some even dropping their jobs. Inside little greater than a day, nonetheless, the brand new default place was to dismiss the racist and violent rhetoric of this group chat because the youthful indiscretions of children.
Talking on “The Charlie Kirk Present,” Vice President JD Vance provided a forceful protection of the contributors, arguing that “the fact is that children do silly issues, particularly younger boys — they inform edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what youngsters do.” He continued, “I actually don’t need us to develop up in a rustic the place a child telling a silly joke, telling a really offensive, silly joke is trigger to damage their lives.” Vance went on to characterize the general public outcry as “pearl-clutching” and admonished critics to “develop up.” Framing the group chat as a lapse in judgment quite than a mirrored image of character, the vp urged listeners to “give attention to the true points” as a substitute of “what youngsters say in group chats.”
Distinction this dismissive framing with how Vance responded to offensive feedback within the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Vance didn’t provide the indulgent “youngsters can be youngsters” line, as a substitute urging Individuals to deal with any expression of glee over the loss of life or help for the killer as a reportable offense. “Whenever you see somebody celebrating Charlie’s homicide, name them out,” he stated, including, “and hell, name their employer.” When the offenders had been essential of the suitable, the vp decidedly didn’t deal with their feedback as youthful indiscretions. As a substitute, they had been probably career-ending scandals.
The double normal is just not restricted to Vance and individuals who joked about Kirk’s killing. Extra not too long ago, Republicans have directed their outrage at Jay Jones, a former Virginia delegate and Democratic candidate for legal professional basic. Jones, as soon as seen as a rising star within the celebration and a voice for generational change, turned the middle of a political firestorm after the discharge of personal textual content messages he despatched in 2022. In these messages, he fantasized about violence towards a outstanding Republican chief — remarks that had been instantly condemned throughout the political spectrum. Republican officers, led by Home Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, referred to as the feedback “unforgivable” and “disqualifying,” demanding that Jones finish his marketing campaign. The swiftness and severity of their response stood in stark distinction to their indulgent protection of bigotry and cruelty amongst their very own ranks, corresponding to when the State Division employed Darren Beattie, a controversial former speech author to be the undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, or when Vice President Vance defended a DOGE staffer after his historical past of racist tweets was uncovered.
It will be dangerous sufficient if the Republican double normal on cruelty prolonged solely to rhetoric and private conduct, however it is usually a window into how they wield energy — for example, focusing on Democratic cities for federal crackdowns and attempting to trigger ache in Democratic areas throughout the federal government shutdown.
The “youngsters can be youngsters” moniker as soon as described the innocent errors of youth. Within the fingers of Vance and different Republicans, nonetheless, it has turn into an excuse for bigotry, cruelty and impunity. The identical individuals who demand mercy for themselves insist on mercilessness for everybody else. They describe their very own abuses as jokes and their grownup decisions as childhood antics. It alerts to supporters that loyalty excuses all the things, and to critics that any slip invitations private {and professional} retribution. Finally, the hazard of “youngsters can be youngsters” politics is just not that it excuses childishness — it’s that it permits the infantile to rule.
Marcus Bell is an affiliate professor of sociology and criminology at SUNY Cortland.
