| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/25/2008 3:06:26 PM | I turned 50 this year, and have been thinking about what it means to be a baby boomer entering maturity. Here's what I've come to. What are your thoughts?
The way I see it, we are the best educated, wealthiest, most powerful, longest lived, and most fortunate generation has ever been and perhaps ever will be. These privileges were not bestowed upon us for us to take for granted. Many generations of our forefathers worked long and hard to bring us these gifts—not only for us to enjoy—but to equip us for a great and lasting achievement, a seemingly impossible mission that only we can accomplish if we choose.
After the murders of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy, our faith was shaken—so much so that when the first oil shock hit we simply went into denial. We no longer trusted our political system, one that had been designed for us by the very best and most foresighted minds of the Enlightenment. After the unrest of the Johnson Administration and the calumnies of the Nixon White House, our mistrust appeared to be confirmed. And so, members of our generation turned away from principled participation in the political process. We abdicated our rightful place as citizen leaders and in doing so, we, by and large abandoned the halls of power to idealogues and charlatans, or both. We continued to believe that our fortunes would be endless and our consequences nil, and that the only challenges we would have to face would come the competitive sport of Capitalism.
But every generation has its time of challenge and the chance for greatness, and if ours has been long in ripening we can no longer deny that it is here. It is for us to choose. Will we rise to the challenge of creating a society that is truly sustainable? Or will we, with our vast technical knowledge and still considerable store of material wealth squander it?
The motto of our generation, the enduring myth on which we all were raised—raised by the Great Generation who organized themselves to defeat the most evil and powerful dictator ever imagined—was that we could accomplish anything we put our minds to. And so we can.
So let us put aside our ideological differences, come together for the sake of our grandchildren and theirs—as our parents and grandparents did for us—and put our Nation on a sustainable economic footing. Together we can envision a new American Dream, one that will never turn into a nightmare of social isolation, empty comforts, fears of terrorist violence, or forebodings of want.
Our ancestors bore any burden, faced any foe, fought and toiled and labored to build a Nation that would protect us, educate us, and perhaps most importantly provide for us by giving us the chance to provide for ourselves, all so that we could enjoy the benefits of freedom. And so we have, immensely! Were they perfect? Hardly. Just as we are not. But they were united in a great cause and that great cause was … US!
And now as we look upon our waning years and the challenges to come, how can we do any less than what they did for us. Let us set aside our differences, use all of our ingenuity and remaining strength to set the stage for our descendents. Let us do all that we can to create the conditions that will foster their success. And let’s do it the way we always have, through individual initiative, responsible cooperation, honest work, and the brilliance of our best minds.
If we all put our minds to it, we will overcome the energy crisis. We will place our nation on a sustainable footing for those things that our grandchildren all will need: good, nourishing food, comfortable shelters for both work and rest, ready access to any piece of information that they might ever need, beautiful and functional clothing, and enlightening and elevating entertainment as they celebrate new accomplishments of their own that we can hardly imagine.
And as we do so, we will once again take our place as leaders in the world. We don’t need to be the world’s police force. We can instead once again take our place as a guiding light, the engine of innovation, and the one Nation in this world that is best equipped and best educated to transform modern society into a sustainable way of life for everyone.
And if we are half as smart as I think we are, we will prosper at it. The demand for energy-efficient devices of all kinds will soon be immeasurable. Are we really going to abandon it to the Europeans, the Asians, or anyone else? | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/25/2008 6:37:44 PM | "If we all put our minds to it, we will overcome the energy crisis. ..... The demand for energy-efficient devices of all kinds will soon be immeasurable. Are we really going to abandon it to the Europeans, the Asians, or anyone else?"
pretty much what we said during the 70s oil crisis too. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/25/2008 6:50:33 PM |
If we all put our minds to it,we will overcome the enrgy crisis..
Okay I like it but maybe it is a crisis of energy like how can we put our bright minds together and not have our ideas politicized ,and monetarized,taxed out of existence or stolen by the crafty(not smart, sly) power elites? | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/25/2008 7:06:13 PM | I strongly agree that sustenance is the most important thing.
I'll only be around for afew more years. I'm 58... but I don't want to see all the furture generations of our nation's opportunities blown to hell before I die. It's really stupid to put the whole economy in debt like Reagan did. That's only going to make it harder for the younger people to keep it together. Bush has added to that problem by borrowing even more to give the rich people the tax cuts.
It's really not fair.
It's not going to effect me at all, but whatta bunch of greedy screwups that would screw their own kids out of American benefits... possibly sending us into an economic tailspin in the near future *ugh* | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/26/2008 10:41:31 AM | What is next? I see liberalism taking hold and thus, the downturn of our society. Our past morals and values which made this country as it is today, is now in question (i.e. God, the Bible, the Admendment, etc.).
It's a shame that our forefathers fought and died for our freedom of God and Country, is now somehow being forgotten.
I see that divorce rate is alot higher today and thus, the traditional American family is diminishing to single mothers/fathers raising kids.
I don't know if I can blame our generation for what it is today. Maybe some of us contributed as in the hippy, draft dodging, "screw the man" (against capitalism)attitudes of the 60's -some baby boomer parents, transcended into idealogy of today's thinking.
I don't care of what people think of me, that's how I feel.
All I know is that I find pride in this country through doing service for my country (the military). I've been overseas and seen others that don't have the freedoms we have and found something that everyone should charish, hold on to; not to question. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/26/2008 8:59:25 PM | re:""""I don't know if I can blame our generation for what it is today. Maybe some of us contributed as in the hippy, draft dodging, "screw the man" (against capitalism)attitudes of the 60's -some baby boomer parents, transcended into idealogy of today's thinking."""
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/26/2008 9:01:14 PM | AceofSpade, my guess is that the Europeans are wayyyyyyyyy ahead of us in new energy-efficient technologies. We've been cruising for a long time on cheap energy, they havent.
Just my guess.
We should keep our day jobs.........whatever that seems to be. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/27/2008 9:23:46 AM | stefano, you guess missed the mark. the innovations in alternative fuels, outside of nuclear, like wind, solar, fuel cells, battery technology, etc are being delivered by American companies.
Free market capitalism is still the best path to prosperity. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/29/2008 5:37:42 PM |
What is next? I see liberalism taking hold and thus, the downturn of our society. Our past morals and values which made this country as it is today, is now in question (i.e. God, the Bible, the Admendment, etc.).
It's a shame that our forefathers fought and died for our freedom of God and Country, is now somehow being forgotten.
I see that divorce rate is alot higher today and thus, the traditional American family is diminishing to single mothers/fathers raising kids.
One of the nice things about societies is that they grow and evolve. If they are lucky, they do not stay stuck in outdated modes of thinking. Some of the quoted stuff above is an example of the attitudes that our country is slowly outgrowing, and we should be very happy about it.
But one would ponder... what would the poster prefer? Instead of women and men being able to escape unhappy and abusive relationships, they are forced to stay together in misery because of religious virtues? Is that the traditional American family? The submissive (probably because she is beaten that way) wife who stays home and raises the kids, while the dad is out working or hanging with his buddies? If we go back to that.... that is not progress. That is regression.
And as for the whole god issue... there are over 100 gods that are worshiped by various people around the country. However, many people seem to have the attitude that one god is somehow better or the true god. That is the problem with a state that is driven by religion. Even with the first amendment, when religion is allowed to strangle our society, it is easy to see how the Constitution says all faiths are equal... but in practice some gods are more equal than others. Again, limitation is regression.
Thankfully, our society is slowly evolving past this. We may not see this UPturn completely in our lifetimes, as there are too many people who cannot think on a higher plain... but it will come. And this country will be better because of it.
Of course, I am speaking as a person who has put many hours of thought into this subject while I was raising my child alone in our "diminished" family.  | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/29/2008 9:07:58 PM |
What is next? I see liberalism taking hold and thus, the downturn of our society. Our past morals and values which made this country as it is today, is now in question (i.e. God, the Bible, the Admendment, etc.).
It's a shame that our forefathers fought and died for our freedom of God and Country, is now somehow being forgotten.
I see that divorce rate is alot higher today and thus, the traditional American family is diminishing to single mothers/fathers raising kids.
Now see, this is exactly what I'm talking about. These ideological arguments just make the people who agree with you want to give up and anger the people who disagree with you.
Wake up. The dreaded liberals aren't going away. And now all you hippies and commies, you too need to wake up. The conservatives aren't going away either.
And more importantly, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE ANY OF THEM. We either all pull together or our grandkids could starve. You do the math if you don't believe me.
So stop whining--both "sides" now--and start thinking about how we're all going to get enough food after the refrigerated trucks stop rolling--because sooner or later they will. And then it won't matter much if you're a liberal or a conservative if you're just plain hungry. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/30/2008 10:11:58 PM | | AceofSpades, I got me my guns and I see me a lot of fatted calfs walking around the malls, so if I gets hungry when them refrigerator trucks stop rolling, I see me a lot of real nice pork on the hoof .......... | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/31/2008 8:34:08 AM |
So stop whining--both "sides" now--and start thinking about how we're all going to get enough food after the refrigerated trucks stop rolling--because sooner or later they will. And then it won't matter much if you're a liberal or a conservative if you're just plain hungry. Excellent food for thought OP..we gotta start working together on this crisis and stop focusing on individuals. This situation is bigger than political ideology in my opinion.
Transportation/truckers are how our food is produced and shipped.. they need our help..the stores would be bare without these companies. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/31/2008 10:28:57 AM | The stores _will_ be bare when oil prices make trucking uneconomic. You and I might not see that day, but our grandchildren most likely will.
The sooner we convert our economy to a more sustainable basis, the cheaper it will be to do it. We can pay for the conversion with relatively cheap oil or we can wait and pay for it with oil that is much more scarce and therefore much more expensive. But sooner or later, the conversion will be forced upon us. So we might as well get started on it while we can still afford to be creative and turn it into something good.
There will be severe financial penalties for waiting too long. Why our so-called leaders aren't dealing with this simple fact of life is beyond me.
The market depends on the RATIONAL choices of INFORMED buyers. We can all see the trend, and though we might not be able to pinpoint it to the day it looks like this:
The best estimates indicate that we hit worldwide peak oil production capacity in December of 2005. That date was calculated by measuring the pace of new discoveries and the sizes of those discoveries. From that time forward, discoveries will be less frequent and smaller on average. Chances are that the quality will be declining on average as well. What that means is that any new oil that comes on line will have a higher cost per gallon to extrract and will also be more costly to refine into fuel. That adds up to a gradually constricting supply.
Meanwhile, China and India are industrializing and following the American model of development. America, of course, has the highest rate of fuel consumption per capita of any nation in the world, and as expected, demand for fuel in both of those emerging economies is soaring. Each of those nations has a population of over 1 billion people, compared with a quarter of that in the US. That adds up to a rapidly increasing demand.
When will we hit the wall? I can't predict the day, and we can do a lot to postpone the date, but the day will come and we might well live to see it.
So, we can either prepare for it and have a smooth transition to a new, and potentially wonderful lifestyle, or we can keep floating down that river in Egypt until the future of our grandchildren is flushed right down the tubes. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 7/31/2008 2:15:21 PM | What is next? I see liberalism taking hold and thus, the downturn of our society. Our past morals and values which made this country as it is today, is now in question (i.e. God, the Bible, the Admendment, etc.).
It's a shame that our forefathers fought and died for our freedom of God and Country, is now somehow being forgotten.
I see that divorce rate is alot higher today and thus, the traditional American family is diminishing to single mothers/fathers raising kids.
One of the nice things about societies is that they grow and evolve. If they are lucky, they do not stay stuck in outdated modes of thinking. Some of the quoted stuff above is an example of the attitudes that our country is slowly outgrowing, and we should be very happy about it.
But one would ponder... what would the poster prefer? Instead of women and men being able to escape unhappy and abusive relationships, they are forced to stay together in misery because of religious virtues? Is that the traditional American family? The submissive (probably because she is beaten that way) wife who stays home and raises the kids, while the dad is out working or hanging with his buddies? If we go back to that.... that is not progress. That is regression.
And as for the whole god issue... there are over 100 gods that are worshiped by various people around the country. However, many people seem to have the attitude that one god is somehow better or the true god. That is the problem with a state that is driven by religion. Even with the first amendment, when religion is allowed to strangle our society, it is easy to see how the Constitution says all faiths are equal... but in practice some gods are more equal than others. Again, limitation is regression.
Thankfully, our society is slowly evolving past this. We may not see this UPturn completely in our lifetimes, as there are too many people who cannot think on a higher plain... but it will come. And this country will be better because of it.
Of course, I am speaking as a person who has put many hours of thought into this subject while I was raising my child alone in our "diminished" family.
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Good Post.
All democracies evolve.
seems some (many) Americans are stuck in the 1950's, both in a religous sense and political sense.
"Eveyone hates us, lets just take em all on" | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 8/2/2008 11:02:29 AM | Ace: What a great post!
I just wish it was one that was easier to get one's arms fully around. Leads to very abstract and a very big items for discussion.....
My father has always had a favorite saying: "Three generations from gutter to gutter". Obviously, although with some recognition that the generations might not be defined with perfectly clean lines in all ways always, meaning: the first group works hard to prosper and rise up, the second group enjoys it without the same understanding of the burden, and then the third group fritters it away.....
Depending upon how loose you want to be with it, I've seen this not only applied to families ( we can all probably think of families we know in our personal lives as examples, or while without need for naming them, public example families in the media exhibiting the trend as the torches are being passed to the younger offspring with limitted success in many instances) , but even to empires too.....The fall of Rome being of course the textbook example: Rome rose through much hard work (of many generations, but as a whole it was 'the first group') and then of course falling in the end from its own weight by trying to carry more consumption than it had ability to produce for (ie: lavish extravaganzas at the Coliseum demanded by the expectations of the public paid for by taxes that they could not afford being just one example).
So with that sort of model, this discussion could be seen as just the observation of the playing out of a natural cycle, and we need not worry any more about it, - as it’s just simply inevitable.
OR
We search for a legacy (ie: a contribution to keep our offspring from the gutter). [*Gutter*: without energy and with bare cabinets as the solid extreme example, or ideologies, theologies, ethics, ways of being and treating one another in a social fabric at the less tangible other end to consider]
I doubt there would be much argument in recognizing what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation" as hard workers who created heights which had not been seen before. It would also be notable to also look at how they did this also from their start into their worlds mostly at very young ages by and large. Then came the boomers......the second generation who got to enjoy the feast, but possibly or probably knew less about what it took to place it there, and now we're handing off to the third group (with so many names depending upon the day of the week that they were born in, that even they themselves are fractured with so many different identities; that itself another symptom of the model). ...and also meanwhile, most of us boomers are thinking retirement (and more consumption without production), while we simply hand the flag off for the next generation to carry however well or ill equipped they are to do that (and as fragmented as they are).
OR
But you are right, the boomers are not out the door and fully 6' under yet, and there are still just a few more minutes to consider the creation of a legacy.......The Greatest Generation did it young in their lifetimes. But for the boomers, as they have not done it yet, if they are to, will indeed do it late. This of course first causes need for the promotion of the recognition that most will not retire at age 65, but many years later (some would argue that this in fact is a healthy thing anyway). Then the second part of the consideration would be to find what needs to be addressed and to make a campaign and work with it.
The campaign that is needed as I see it? Sly as I was above in how I wrote about the third generation, if you agreed with it as you read it through (maybe even with a chuckle, but still agreeing in concept), my argument for posterity would be to plan on spending the time to help our young equip themselves as a group with the knowledge, spirit, tools and also with the esprit de corps and identity as a group with a grounding in (its) basic values (ie: Greatest Generation stuff) that will help them pull through without further fracture than has already taken place. It’s a two pronged campaign: “knowledge, spirit, tools”……it’s the basics that we’ve taken for granted from our elementary school classrooms that I’m talking about: the three R’s, yes that basic, and also maintaining heros and hope for tomorrow about where they can go with those tools and what they can make and be, …..And then the second prong being “esprit de corps and identity as a group with a grounding in (its) basic values” - for without some basic shared ideals we will only be able to watch them float down that very very long river and watch the rocks ahead splinter their rafts. We need to help them find their common cause, and help them then develop the tools they will need to use to get to it.
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 8/2/2008 1:28:15 PM | So stop whining--both "sides" now--and start thinking about how we're all going to get enough food after the refrigerated trucks stop rolling--because sooner or later they will. And then it won't matter much if you're a liberal or a conservative if you're just plain hungry.
Here's the problem. The socialists and capitalists have radically different ideas about how to achieve these goals. Each side thinks the other side's ideas will make things worse. And no one thinks a mish-mosh of ideas will work except those in the radical center who have been destroying the country for the past 250 years.
Solving the energy and food crises would be easy if the people on the other side just got out of the way. Until they do, the situation will deteriorate.
Personally I'm hoping for a collapse of society because the current system can't be fixed from within and an armed revolution is not going to happen (or succeed even if it did happen).
At least that's my Generation X appraisal. | |
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| My Generation: Some thoughts on what is next for us
Posted: 8/2/2008 2:39:21 PM |
Personally I'm hoping for a collapse of society because the current system can't be fixed from within and an armed revolution is not going to happen (or succeed even if it did happen).
Well, a lot of us in my generation hoped for the same thing, but it's not going to happen. It's just another way to abdicate responsibility.
We cannot wait for "the other side" to get out of the way. We have to get started and get our own mental blocks out of the way. There is always a way to frame the truth in a way that "the oppositioin" will relate to. It is up to us to do it.
For instance, I heard a great example this morning. If you want to talk about social justice to a Republican, frame it as preconditions for democracy.
Think about it. We don't have time to screw around these issues any more. | |
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