I tend to want to agree with your perception of young people. I am still being brought up, and the way my dad sees it, the only way to get to the top, is to build your way there. My dad has us work with our gardener, a black african of course, but i can never moan. Not that I ever want to. Last year our school told us to come with some spades and forks to load bags of compost for the principals garden, and i have never seena lazier bunch. They started to moan after filling one bag between three, and man, did I feel pissed. Altough there were some pretty big guys there, they had no interest in loading the bags onto the bakkie, let alone filling them! Another thing that irritated me, was that they simply had no idea that compost is not dirty, let alone how to use a spade. If you can't use a spade, you can't do anything else!
Cheap labour: There used to be a tog labour system here, ie: unemployed people from the rural areas, usually black, would line up at the store closest to the main road out of the townships, and wait for a farmer or contractor to come and load a dozen or more up and take them to work on their jobs. In the cities, there were tog labour signs by the bus stops and railway stations, for blacks and whites. Nowadays, that just don't happen any more. Granted, black labour is still the cheapest option, but they are the only ones willing to go out and get a job like that. All that the white kids want to do is sit at home and lead 'social' lives, or pack in a supermarket, than go out and learn something that can earn them some money and some respect.
I work, mowing the lawn, sifting compost (my dad is an horticulturalist), digging, demolishing, building, fixing, etc, as well as do my homework, studying, dancing, and HEFing, and I am still alive! Those rich, spoilt kids would rather work out their thumbs, than be healthy and fit, and experienced and knowledgeable!