let us (speaker exclusive) – Let’s (speaker inclusive)
get down to fundamentals
fundamental = basic 基本的
fundamentalist 信奉正统基督教的人
after all – 退一步( 毕竟)
like – (介词) 省略了谓语 are
people are just like their elders
glorious future 光辉的未来
splendid future 光辉的未来（已过去的，对老年人而言）
where the rub is 症结所在，问题就出在这
hatred : 憎恨 ironical 讽刺的，用反语的
uncertain 后面省略的用法
I would have been 虚拟语气
something: 重要的东西 You are somebody. 你是重要人物
so .. as … 后置定语
出色： outstanding
stand out 站出来，鹤立鸡群 独树一帜
cut figure 崭露头角
one of the things 正是其中之一
seeking = looking for
exciting 令人激动的
air of freedom 无拘无束
= carefree , freedom from care
commitment 专注(to + 名词/动名词)
love = seek 追求 mean v.意味着，n.小气 卑鄙 = disgusting
anxious 虎视眈眈的
polish 擦，磨 apple polisher 溜须拍马
bootlicker 拍马屁者
Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings--people just like their elders. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him: and maybe that is where the rub is.
When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain--that I was a new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.
I find young people exciting. They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort. They are not anxious social climbers,