Recently, a video circulated on social media featuring a young Rwandan woman claiming that the country’s youths are poor because of unemployment. She went further, arguing that judging by her appearance and the smartphone she owns, no one would believe she had only Rwf300 in her pocket.

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That video raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: why does poverty persist, and who is expected to fix it?

Rwanda is a country where basic education is almost free from an early age. It is a country in which high-achieving students benefit from government bursaries at the university level. Skills development initiatives, youth funds, innovation hubs, and entrepreneurship programmes exist—imperfect, yes, but undeniably present. This reality invites a deeper question: should the government shoulder all the blame? Does the government owe every citizen a job?

Unemployment is a real and serious challenge. Idleness, however, is a different issue altogether.

A growing culture has emerged that despises small beginnings. Endless scrolling on social media exposes young people to curated lifestyles, instant success stories, and unrealistic standards of wealth. Gradually, anything modest begins to feel beneath dignity. Door-to-door cleaning, casual labour, or temporary work are viewed as humiliation rather than survival.

Yet across neighbourhoods, mothers with families go door to door offering cleaning services. The income is small, but it is earned honestly. It pays rent, buys food, and preserves dignity. At the same time, many able-bodied young adults would rather remain idle than attempt the same work. Somewhere along the way, work became something filtered by pride rather than necessity.

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This same mindset is visible in attitudes toward internships. Institutions such as Rwanda Development Board regularly provide internship opportunities to young people—often open to almost everyone. These placements offer experience, exposure, and professional discipline, yet many are dismissed because the allowance barely covers transport. Ironically, there are others who would do anything to secure such an opportunity. While one group refuses to work for Rwf50,000 while gaining experience that could lead to better employment, another understands that experience is sometimes the real currency. These are not circumstances dividing people, but choices.

There are, in effect, two paths. One path belongs to those who desire a good life without sustained effort, who reject small opportunities and channel frustration into constant complaint. The other path belongs to those who accept accountability, who recognize that progress begins with action, and who understand that responsibility for one’s life rests with oneself alone.

There is also a growing appetite for free money, free things, and fast results. Success is desired without patience, wealth without sacrifice, and comfort without effort. The rewards are celebrated, but the process is avoided. That is not unemployment alone; it is entitlement.

An old saying warns that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Idleness does not remain neutral. It breeds frustration, resentment, comparison, and blame. With too much time spent scrolling and too little spent building skills or seeking opportunity, dissatisfaction grows louder. Complaints replace effort, and excuses become easier than action. Over time, idleness quietly erodes ambition, discipline, and self-belief.

Previous generations treated education and hard work differently. School was a privilege, not an inconvenience. Any job was a stepping stone, not an insult. Today, education is more accessible than ever, yet commitment to using it productively appears weaker. Opportunity alone has never been enough; effort has always been the missing ingredient.

Even genuine poverty invites another question: who is being told, and why? Is the message meant to attract solutions, or is it a performance for sympathy and validation online? Poverty announced without action risks becoming an identity rather than a condition to overcome.

None of this dismisses structural challenges or denies gaps in policy. Governments must create enabling environments, invest in education, and support job creation. But no government can live life on behalf of its citizens. Progress has never favoured those who wait indefinitely for rescue.

Idleness is costly. It consumes time, dulls ambition, and shrinks opportunity. No policy can compensate for a mindset that refuses to start small, work patiently, and grow deliberately.

Perhaps the deeper crisis facing today’s youth is not unemployment alone, but the quiet normalization of waiting to be saved.