Are we too concerned? About what you may ask. Well everything, from our overall health to the economy of the world. However, are we too concerned about our wellbeing, and the answer I believe is yes. There are so many things going on in the world that we, as generation Y, are going to face problems with, not now, but later.
The first is our economy. Every day you hear the phrases “deficit”, “debt”, or “recession”. So has the whole generation. Our young generation is learning how to effectively spend money on only things they absolutely need. Now, isn’t that a good thing?
Author Barbara Ray, however, says that our quality of education is failing with this “pinching pennies” ideology. We see that the cheaper universities are becoming more popular with today’s economic times. Ray says that fewer students are taking out college student loans, and turning to finding jobs early on. Overtime, the quality of our workforce will be hindered, because no one will be adequately trained in their field.
With this concern, even our family structure is going to change. Going all the way back to around the 1920s, American families were always immediate, nuclear families. Due to the prices of housing, however, fewer children will choose to move out of their parents’ houses and stay with them for life, so to speak. Now we have all these homes, but no one can afford to buy them.
Even as we speak, the fear of debt is being instilled in the minds of the future generation. The boom and bust cycle will always occur, being that it is a cycle. People are spending less and less, however, especially on investments that could actually benefit them, like starting a business or going to college. This overly conservative outlook on money may be harming our future generations.
Just look at the situation in Wisconsin. There are thousands of protesters in Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. The Republican style of reducing the budget gap is taking away from personal entitlement programs and the powers of unions, and even if they accomplish their goals, the mental consequences from the implementation of these ideas could scar our future. No corporate bargaining means unhappier workers. Unhappier workers means less productivity and fewer workers hired. The effects of this chain would be catastrophic, leading us further down into the path of unemployment.
Now, have you forgotten our health problems in the United States? The “lifestyle epidemic” is affecting kids who aren’t in the line of threat from it. We fear cholesterol, sugar, fats, and salts more than ever. Nationwide projects are trying to make our food healthier, and in my opinion, tasteless. We should eat healthy, but when is it “too much of a good thing”? Well my fellow Americans, fats and spices were created for a reason, were they not? Although we do face problems like diabetes and obesity, the “fighting the problem at its root” may not work because we are unintentionally hindering the consumption of these products in even the smallest quantities. Fats in our diet play a crucial role in keeping you alive and so do sugars. It’s just that too much or too little cause problems. Our society will become weak and frail with the complete elimination of them, and the first ones to feel the effects, is our Generation Y.
Let’s take the world for example. I’m fairly sure you have all heard about the 2010-2011 Arab world protests. And who were the sparks that started the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya? They were the youth, who fought to correct the events that unfolded in their countries. But here in the United States will the same fate befall our youth? Many of the most informed are the youth about the situations in this part of the world. There are two possibilities. One is that after reading this statement, we can rise up and correct the problems that our generation faces, or two, we as Generation Y can live in fear of our government taking power into its own hands.
Our constant worry is going to ruin what our country was really founded on, ingenuity. The more we worry about current times, the more of it passes onto our future generations. Barry Glassner in his book The Culture of Fear says, “As a society we may very well be doomed.” The less they act and the more they fear, will hinder all progress that these kids will have the potential to achieve. Next time you start worrying about gas prices when your children are in the car, try thinking of a life where they decide to give up driving in general.