The term "golden youth" - more than two centuries. This phrase appeared in French (jeunesse dorée) after the French Revolution, during the Directory period. Thus began to be called the children of the rich, who do not benefit society and in vain burn their lives. The term turned out to be very successful, stepped over the boundaries and remains relevant until now. In modern Russia, the "golden youth" has formed a special subculture.
"Golden youth" is not called all the children of wealthy parents. This is a special stratum of society, which is characterized by the mentality of life-burners. “Golden youth” is characterized by squandering, lack of constructive activities, high goals in life. This forms, at best, the carefree nature of the glamorous party-goer. At worst, society observes an arrogant scoundrel, accustomed to treating ordinary people with contempt and breaking the law in the belief that "dad will deny".
Very often, the “golden youth” is formed by the children of the nouveau riche - people who quickly earned money, but did not inherit a culture of a reasonable attitude towards them, and therefore did not pass it on to their offspring. The layer of "golden youth" in different countries is different. In modern Russia, "golden youth" is a notable phenomenon, which is explained by the peculiarities of Russian history over the past twenty years.
The emergence of "golden youth" in Russia
In the Soviet Union, in spite of the declared equality, the children of party leaders, diplomats, writers, sportsmen and actors, the directors of department stores and other Soviet elite, affectionate power formed the social group "majors". Majors had access to benefits that most Soviet people could only dream of, they had all household issues resolved (for example, housing in the capital), a place was provided in a prestigious university, a career was predetermined.
But in the early 90s in Russia, which embarked on the path of capitalism, real millionaires and billionaires appeared - both among businessmen and among high-ranking politicians. Their children received far greater opportunities than the Soviet majors. A new group arose, which they began to call the "golden youth."
Now in Russia under the "golden youth" in the broad sense they mean in general all well-offspring offspring of wealthy people, including the capital middle class (the concept of "majors" still stands as a synonym). But in a narrow sense, Russian jeunesse dorée means the cream of society: these are children of people whose personal condition allows their beloved child to provide a truly luxurious life.
