I felt this incredible sensation when I came home from my vacation in August, like our society is on a great precipice. We could go crashing down, or take off, and soar. There are so many people out there, creating amazing art, and doing wonderful things. So many more people are seeing through the lies, through the bullsh*t than ever before.
There is a lot of talk about the generations, and it seems as if we have been preparing for the boomers to retire for a long time now. Only a few of them are retiring, right now, since it was their idiotic economic policies that drove the stock market up, then left it in the ditch. They also seem content on dismantling the social safety net that their parents toiled for, but only for part of their generation, and those that came afterwards.
This generation, my generation, once dubbed Generation Y, and now lumped in with millenials, grew up after all the generational fervor that the boomers went though. We noticed how they spit on their parents' traditions, and how their parents blamed them for everything wrong in their world, then sent them off to war.
We heard about how the greatest minds of their generation were destroyed by madness, only to be held down, ourselves, by the minds that were left over. We endured the same criticisms about our music that they endured about theirs, yet we didn't turn around and spurn the Rolling Stones or Motown. In fact, many of us own more vinyl now than they maybe ever did.
The boomers taught us, provided for us, gave us everything they never had, and when we grew up, we actually were grateful. Sad, however, that so few of them are noticing. The people my age seem to be respectful of their elders, and excited to hear all of the stories. I may roll my eyes when a man in his 60's speaks wistfully of the old Haight-Ashbury days, but that is only because I've heard it all before. The 20-somethings listening to him are indeed interested, and really do want to know more.
The Class of 2000 have families now, and I see them when I go for walks. They are outside, at the playground, with their kids. They are walking through the grocery store, picking out vegetables for dinner. But I also see them in other places, struggling in low-paying jobs, and using drugs to escape their turmoil. They are shying away from jobs with large organizations, because they don't want to give up their freedoms, and don't like the idea of stifling their creativity.
They may take a low-level job for the health insurance, but they will only do the minimum, because their heart isn't in it. Meanwhile, the person that wants that job is stuck in another job, for that same health insurance. Give them health insurance that isn't related to a job - ensure their guaranteed health care, no matter what they do - and the qualified but uninterested will quit, making way for the questionably qualified, but eager people, who are actually interested in doing that job. Then watch as the newly freed people fill up those abandoned storefronts. Imagine a downtown district that gets cleaned every day, creative shops, bustling eateries, and friendly neighbors.
We are on a great precipice this year. We can either go down the deep end, spurring anger, and riots, or we can stop this fighting, stop resisting reality, talk to our neighbors, jump off this cliff, and soar.
