When Did the Future Go from Being a Promise to Being a Threat?

Those words were whispered to me by the brilliantly kinetic, auburn-haired teenage daughter of Cathy and Walter Isaacson as we listened to a presentation given by members of the New Orleans community on the aftermath of Katrina.

This magical young woman is exposed to a wide range of issues, because her father, as the CEO of the Aspen Institute, is knee deep in the challenges of our world. My little friend, an only child, is as genially comfortable in the company of world leaders as she is with her peers. Her revelations on the harsh realities of life may have come sooner than to most her age, but others of her generation are not far behind in their enlightenment.

My generation had a flower as its logo -- today's symbol is a skull. A mosquito buzzing around the room is no longer the bearer of an inconvenient bite, but a potential West Nile virus. The summer floods in the Northeast are not just a heavy rainstorm, but a deluge of rising seas in the climate change doomsday scenario.

My generation experienced casual sex with abandon; the stakes are far too high for that now. She and her friends can't even experience the freedom of exploring the city without adult supervision and a litany of fears programmed into their heads about evil people who wait "out there" to hurt them.

The search for role models in the contemporary media is practically impossible, as the so-called leaders of their generation are driving fast cars, taking drugs and going to rehab or jail. When the media isn't concentrating on those little idiots, it's filled with pictures of warring nations, and bombs and maiming on a daily basis in the Middle East. Images of starvation around the world are pervasive. Terrorism abounds. Our culture lies to us, our leaders lie -- and it seems that nearly everyone gets away with it. Our shame is the embarrassment of illiteracy and abject poverty within our own borders, the horrors of Katrina and the sanctioned neglect of inner cities.

We neglected to secure Social Security for the future, and have left the medical establishment in a shambles. We allowed our reputation to go from the greatest country on earth to pariah. We allowed the deficit to balloon out of control, and raped the environment to the point where many believe that these teenagers won't have a future to fear -- but no future at all. Even our food supply is corrupted by compromised packaged goods. The biggest failure of all is that we neglected to prepare this generation through education on the harsh realities of their future.

Shame on us. We can't allow our children to inherit our world without doing more and trying harder to correct our wrongs. This is the first generation I know that doesn't embrace a future more golden than that of the previous generation.

Not all of us can do a great deal about the problems in our world, but we can do something. And doing something has a social value beyond the act itself. Recycle, conserve energy, work in your local school district. Support candidates who will make change in your city and country, and give what you can to those who are less fortunate. Spend time with the generation that is going to inherit the earth -- and instill the hope in them that their parents took for granted.

It's not over yet, but complacency will not do; it got us into the mess we're in today. Don't give in, and don't give up, start the movement.

Comments

[Oldtimesnew]

Linda:
A colleague forwarded your post on to me, and all I can say to that is this:

One, two, whatever you do,
Start it well, and carry it through.
Try, Try, NEVER say die,
things will come right, you know, by and by.

I took a job in April with the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, New York and New Jersey's landmark partnership which created the magnificent parks network in the shadow of New York City. With such a fountain of firsts (first section of the Appalachian Trail, first group camps, Boy Scouts of America started here, etc.,) one would think that we've got a legacy that will keep us going ad infinitum. But our parks are in grave need, our infrastructure is crumbling, and our resources are tapped, much like anywhere else in the country.

But we have enthusiasm awakening in the hearts and muscles of the public. And it's only through the telling and retelling and the re-retelling of this story that the awakening is happening. And it's the kids that are leading the charge, because they're starting to see the connection between our heritage and the one that they're creating. It's a beautiful time, in spite of the environmental and political challenges which hang over our heads. I should like to think that this same awakening can and will happen around the country. I see signs everywhere. We must try, try...

[ApolloSpeaks]

The skull is a symbol of death and transformation, of tragedy and hope, of renewal after necessary disaster. To the wise in everything that happens there is always something good. No matter how many evils fly from Pandora's box the promise of a better future remains undimmed and springs eternal like the golden dawn.

[darker]

As soon as Bush-Cheney waltzed into the White House after rigged electronic "elections" the future has S-U-C-K-E-D for 99.9% of Americans,
except the filthy rich. And have they ever been as f-i-l-t-h-y!!

[cyaker]

Answer

When Ronald Reagan was elected

[IzaakSzerman]

As a citizen of the country formerly known as the United States of America, I feel that this is no longer a country at all.

Perhaps a more descriptive appellation might be: multinational corporation controlled consumption center for other countries' products

Just don't call it the USA any longer.

Still, I believe that this CC's death sentence might be deferred a little longer if we all just recognized that DENNIS KUCINICH is the only candidate from either major party that makes any f*cking sense at all!

[Maezeppa]

"A mosquito buzzing around the room is no longer the bearer of an inconvenient bite, but a potential West Nile virus."

And in ten years that mosquito may be bringing us malaria.

[yellowdogSC]

Not if Bill Gate's billions have anything to do with it.

There's a conflict for the new century.

Illegal business practices worldwide in order to wide out deadly disease.

[splashy]

It wasn't complacency, it has been the policies of the right winger conservative neocons that have been controlling things. Many of the things you mention are a direct result of their "you are on your own" philosophy which ignores the common good and has a cruel, sadistic, selfish view of the world.

They gutted the regulations, gave corporations free rein to outsource all the decent jobs, almost killed the alternative energy development research, allowed the polluters to pollute, started bringing in all kinds of products from countries that have no human rights or pollution laws, started wars where there was no reason to do so ... I could go on and on with the things these evil, sadistic, selfish mentally ill people have done, all in the name of God and profit.

[aigeanta]

As someone in Gen Y (per the marketing lingo)I really resent the notion that somehow the Boomers were the champions of the world who changed life forever for the good of all. Hello! Everything they fought for can be categorized under the "For ME" principle. Civil rights? For ME. Fighting against the Draft and the War? For ME. Taking lots of drugs and having lots of sex? For ME. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we live in a less repressive society that seems to value diversity more, but we have some extremely serious issues For US now, and I don't see that the Boomers helped out at all when it comes to training the younger generations for the challenge. The Boomers didn't help with the disintegrating educational or health system, because it's someone else's (my) problem. The Boomers didn't help with the degradation of the environment and the imminent global climate crisis because it's someone else's (my) problem. No, the Boomers were too concerned with drawing their paychecks and buying their cheap crappy poisoned goods from China. So I do see this as an intergenerational war in a way. I wish it wasn't so, but the evidence, at least to me, is mounting.

[SanityNow]

I have often asked myself, how did my generation evolve from peace and understanding to Big Brother under the thumb of greed.
And I am left with one conclusion . . .

The people who have seized control are the ones that couldn't partcipate when love was "free". They were surpressed by tradition, never having the balls to question authority. Now, their repression seems justified by grabbing authority.

For every action, there is a reaction.

Aggression will always defeat passiveness - in the short term.
And the lesson goes unlearned.

But assholes beware: Your time on earth is short . . .
and for every action, there is a reaction.

[mrkerb]

I was born in the Fifties. During my formative years I knew the 'duck and cover' drill as well as the words to many Beatles songs. I watched 'The Jetsons' on Saturday morning and thought that we would soon live in that future.
As time went on, I realized that the Buck Rodgers future never happened any more than nuclear destruction or the 'Red Menace'. No jet packs, flying cars or robots that mow the lawn and do the dishes. Some of my ideas of the future were simply dreams. We can still dream but what will those dreams be? The period of US supremacy seems to be waning on many fronts. This puts less real power behind our ability to force issues; right or wrong.
Back in the Sixties, I felt like I was part of a group that was on the 'right side' when LBJ and later Nixon continued the war, I joined with other young, like minded people who were (in my opinion) on the right side. Did we change things? We thought so. Can things still be changed for the good? I hope so.

[Shoes4Industry]

Wiskey, Tango, Foxtrot!?

When did Lynda "Pom-Wonderful" Resnick become a spokes-model for progressive values?

Talk about BO-Bo's in Paradise.

If people only knew.

Lynda, when the revolution comes, they'll be coming after you first.

Let them eat Pomegranate!

[falco]

Wars. Who benefits? The banks. The arms dealers. The oil companies. The joke is on us folks. We get all wrapped around fighting for freedom, democracy, and against evil dictators. Do some research. Those who profit the most created the wars. They are the ones who spin it so we think we are fighting for some noble cause. Crazy? You bet! Heart wrenching, nauseating, but true. Until you realize this, we get caught up in blaming one another, wracking our brains for answers, and totally dividing nations and people, which is all part of the diabolical plan. Divide and conquer. Keeps the masses controlable. If our government is lying to us now, why would you think they didn't 10 years ago? 20 years ago? 30,40,50 years ago? Think blackmailing didn't exsist back then? Bribery? Greed? Power?

[prochange]

War was always about money. The people were brainwashed into supporting it with slogans about patriotism, honor, spreading of democracy, religion etc.

"Support the troops" is one mean slogan. Support them to get blown up and maimed? Support them to kill innocent people in another country? Support them to die in the prime of their lives for a country which is often not even theirs?

Attacking another country is always for profit. And profit is all the U.S. is interested in. Why else do we finance the biggest department of defense in the world, which does nothing else but go to war If it comes to defend the country against illegal immigrants or to help during natural and manmade disasters, they are not available, because they are busy attacking.

Attacking produces more money for the chosen few than defending the unwashed masses.

We never learn from history. And all the new means of communication serve only the purpose to brainwash people more effectively, certainly not to inform them better.

[Ramafuchs]

"IF I WERE to give a summary of the tendency of our times, I would say, Quantity. The multitude, the mass spirit, dominates everywhere, destroying quality. Our entire life--production, politics, and education--rests on quantity, on numbers. The worker who once took pride in the thoroughness and quality of his work, has been replaced by brainless, incompetent automatons, who turn out enormous quantities of things, valueless to themselves, and generally injurious to the rest of mankind. Thus quantity, instead of adding to life's comforts and peace, has merely increased man's burden.

In politics, naught but quantity counts. In proportion to its increase, however, principles, ideals, justice, and uprightness are completely swamped by the array of numbers. In the struggle for supremacy the various political parties outdo each other in trickery, deceit, cunning, and shady machinations, confident that the one who succeeds is sure to be hailed by the majority as the victor. That is the only god,--Success. As to what expense, what terrible cost to character, is of no moment. We have not far to go in search of proof to verify this sad fact.

Never before did the corruption, the complete rottenness of our government stand so thoroughly exposed; never before were the American people brought face to face with the Judas nature of that political body, which has claimed for years to be absolutely beyond reproach, as the mainstay of our institutions, the true protector of the rights and liberties of the people."

EMMA GOLDMAN

[Pandu]

The slaughter of 10 BILLION animals in the USA each year is very bad.

[SOZOMAN]

We took Godly principles out of our society & now we are paying for it! The gov't started paying teenagers, who did not want to mind their parents, to have babies [welfare]. So now we have multiple generations of kids with no FATHERS to influence them or show them how to be responsible citizens! As a mailman for 15 years I watched entire fleets of tractor trailers full of checks, being unloaded and delivered to people who WILL NOT WORK. I was constantly ridiculed by people who could barley speak English, blacks, whites and Latinos who laughed at me for having a job. I can't count the times I deliverd as many as 16 checks to "one" household with the door full of little kids screaming SHECK, SHECK! ALL the English they knew! We created 4th & 5th generation welfare people. 12 yr olds HAVING BABIES! 24 year old grand mothers. 36 year old great grand mothers. "FREE RIDES" FOR THOSE WHO "WILL NOT WORK." I delivered thousands and thousands of checks to run down gov't projects, awash in crime, unwed mothers, drugs etc. $5,000,000,000,000.00 dollars WAS TAKEN FROM THOSE WHO DO WORK AND GIVEN TO THOSE WHO WON'T! The gov't began a seige against the MIDDLE CLASS. The Democrats want to take hard earned money away and give it to those who WILL NOT WORK. The Republicans are greedy people Who won't share the wealth fairly with the workers who created the wealth. 70% of the wealth in America is controlled by less than 3% of the people. Do they have better busness sense, YES THEY DO! But in their greed and lust for money they have become evil in not sharing the wealth in a Godly manner, with those who labored for them. So the middle class is disappearing the wealthy get wealthier and the welfare lines grow longer every day. Where's the end? It's in my sight! I'm guessing it will be akin to a civil war in the whole of the earth! HOW SAD!