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A Little Optimism from an American Teenager...

 
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Gopher



Joined: 04 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:03 pm    Post subject: A Little Optimism from an American Teenager... Reply with quote

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I'm 16. On a recent night, while I was busy thinking about important social issues, like what to do over the weekend and who to do it with, I overheard my parents talking about my future. My dad was upset -- not the usual stuff that he and Mom and, I guess, a lot of parents worry about, like which college I'm going to, how far away it is from home and how much it's going to cost. Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine -- a world he fears has a dark and difficult future, if it has a future at all.

He sounded like this: "There will be a pandemic that kills millions, a devastating energy crisis, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger."

As I lay on the living room couch, eavesdropping on their conversation, starting to worry about the future my father was describing, I found myself looking at some old family photos. There was a picture of my grandfather in his Citadel uniform. He was a member of the class of 1942, the war class. Next to his picture were photos of my great-grandparents, Ellis Island immigrants. Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better. I believe tomorrow will be better than today -- that the world my generation grows into is going to get better, not worse. Those pictures helped me understand why.

I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes: two world wars, killer flu, segregation, a nuclear bomb. But they saw other things, too, better things: the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine, passage of the civil rights laws. They even saw the Red Sox win the World Series -- twice.

I believe that my generation will see better things, too -- that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated; when the Middle East will find peace and Africa grain, and the Cubs win the World Series -- probably only once. I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather when he was 16, or the Internet to my father when he was 16.

Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I've had a lousy day, my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that "tomorrow will be a better day." I challenged my father once, "How do you know that?" He said, "I just do." I believed him. My great-grandparents believed that, and my grandparents, and so do I.

As I listened to my Dad talking that night, so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation, I wanted to put my arm around him, and tell him what he always told me: "Don't worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day." This, I believe.


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5232116
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Gopher. That was a nice read. Things do look grim and a little optimism helps keep things in perspective.
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Real Reality



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

America's younger workers losing ground on income
In the race to get ahead economically, America's young workers are falling behind.... Ms. Kamenetz's book: "Why now is a terrible time to be young." The book is partly a manifesto on generational politics, as she eyes the cost of baby boomers' retirement for her generation.

It's unfair, some economists say, to blame the baby boom generation, since the larger issue is that healthcare costs keep rising and people keep living longer in general. Rising healthcare costs are hitting younger workers in another way, too. As benefit costs rise, employers often have less left to boost wages.... Perhaps most significant, though, is a labor market that has become tougher on workers, especially those with lower skills. Global competition has compressed wage gains.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060227/ts_csm/agenerations
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Summer Wine



Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah good read Gopher, I guess we sometimes forget that every dark cloud has a silver lining.

My Grandfather lost friends and his own health fighting the Germans. His Grandson who he never met, was friends with one since the age of seven.

We can't always say how the future will turn out, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But lets smile at the new dawn, not frown as we don't know that dusk will be any worse than what the dawn brought us.
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Rteacher



Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Odds are that there'll be nuclear war before the Cubs win a World Series... Sad
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sundubuman



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rteacher......


you bummed me out as guitar would say



I was just about to post the following

and the Cubs win the World Series

sounds lovely..........
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Mills



Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:08 pm    Post subject: Re: A Little Optimism from an American Teenager... Reply with quote

Gopher wrote:

As I listened to my Dad talking that night, so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation, I wanted to put my arm around him, and tell him what he always told me: "Don't worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day."


Sounds like conservative propaganda to me...
Why did the kid's dad always tell him "Don't worry Dad"?
In what kind of sick alternate universe is this scenario taking place?
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Mills



Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

P.S. "Dad, can you drive me to the pharmacy to pick up my Valtrex perscription?"
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Gopher



Joined: 04 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[deleted]

Last edited by Gopher on Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:28 am; edited 1 time in total
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Yu_Bum_suk



Joined: 25 Dec 2004

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup, that's just the sort of thing I used to write when I was 16. Rolling Eyes
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Mills



Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gopher wrote:
You may want to get yourself checked for Igotthisguitar's disease:

The syndrome is called "gullible cynicism."

Symptoms include seizing upon straws of circumstantial evidence and inference to reach a cynical and unlikely conclusion, while, conversely, applying the most rigid form of analysis to take apart someone else's argument, no matter how likely its conclusion may be.

Get checked early because once you get it, you can't get rid of it.


I just call it poking fun. Sounds like you might have a mild case of "prickitis."
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