When they are assailed by despair, young people should let universal concerns into their lives.

What I would say to the young men and women who are beset by hopelessness and doubt is that they should go and see what is being done on the ground to fight poverty, not like going to the zoo but to take action, to open their hearts and their consciences.

Old people should be heard but not seen. Young people should be seen, not heard.

Young people should be helped, sheltered, ignored, and clubbed if necessary.

But I know that the despair that these young people ? and older people, too ? face is so huge, and the extreme response is suicide. Their self-destructive, self-loathing is so strong that they just can't live with themselves, and that is just untenable.

Young people understand the world. They should be listened to on matters of politics and world organization. But they know nothing of their own lives.