[Porsche-O-Phile]

I have to say I agree. It seems the choices available to teens today are (1) live a superficial existence of "ignorance is bliss" in which nothing outside their little clique matters and the most important thing in the world is whether or not so-and-so likes them or (2) have awareness of the crap world that's being left for them to "inherit".

It's bad enough being a "thirty-something" - arguably a member of either "Generation X" or "Generation Y". I'm not sure which. I'm part of the first generation in American history that will live less well than my parents. Those that come after me seem increasingly likely to live FAR less well.

Granted I went to college, but I did so at incredible personal expense. I assumed great personal debt and even with that "good college job" I cannot and likely will not be able to afford a home, nor a family. I often wonder if going through the "college mill" and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in debt was worth it. Most employers don't even seem to care whether someone has a degree or not and there are plenty of "McColleges" out there that just hand out degrees with a $50,000 price tag to the point I don't blame the employers for not trusting people even WITH degrees to know what the hell they're doing. Such "degree mills" have devalued a college education THAT much. We now have legions of people with DEGREES that can't write, can't spell, can't use a computer, can't communicate effectively, can't manage and can't exhibit any sort of critical thinking. They're trained test-takers and that's about it.

These are fairly typical sentiments among my peers - some deal with it better than others. I just kind of accept it. Some generations have had to deal with the fear of a draft (if I were a teenager now, I'd be VERY worried about that), others have had to deal with crushing poverty, some have had to deal with disease, some have had to deal with racial oppression, etc. I view the ills of my generation as what defines us - kind of the "generation nobody cares about" or the "generation of the damned" or "Generation Screwed". Suffice to say I (and most of the rest of people my age) don't have a very positive or optimistic view of where we are and where we're going.

The world today is basically just an endless series of bureaucratic inconveniences and various degrees of "getting screwed" by the system. It's a constant barrage of things to make one feel insignificant and powerless in an increasingly cold and hostile world. EVERYTHING from birth to death (inclusive) is systematized and proceuralized to the point there's no room left to feel any sense of individuality or identity. You're a number. A cog in an insignificant accessory in the machinery of society. You're incidental. I'm not saying it's right to teach kids that the world revolves around them, but it's nice when people can feel like their thoughts and contributions are meaningful and not just "bull**** to do while we wait for the grim reaper", as I've heard people explain it.

All-in-all it kind of sucks, but it could be far worse. It could CERTAINLY be better. I guess my attitude is pretty typical among those my age, based on my conversations with others. As far as those peers of mine that DO have children, they're gravely concerned for their future. Unlike our parents that felt they had a decent shot at leaving their kids (us) some opportunity, we now feel that we simpy can't since every last dime and resource is sucked away just to make ends meet. It's something that seems to trouble them greatly and it's one MAJOR reason I want no kids - I simply think it'd be more of a disservice to them to bring them into the world against such overwhelming odds and with such a virtual certainty of failure - unless the system changes and does so quickly. Given the backwards-ass direction our society is moving, I do not see this as likely to happen; rather I see an increasingly widening "class warfare" rift between the extremely wealthy and their servants / economic slaves - the poor. Some formerly "middle class".

Now that I've ranted as a thirty-something, I try to look to the subsequent generation - these teens that are apparently offing themselves in droves. I can't say I blame them. The world we live in is very complicated and horrendously unfair. Unless you're born with a million-dollar trust fund into a politically-connected family, you have no chance in hell of making an impact on the world, and very little chance of "making it" even as a mediocre worker-type. The "American dream" that motivated our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents is now dead. They live in a nation that is on the decline, has no direction and is adrift in purpose, guided only by economic unfairness, wars, hatred, xenophobic nationalism and people trying to take advantage of them and screw them over at every turn. I guess I'd be considering suicide too, given what it must be like to be them. My problems and worries are bad enough. To add all those to the problems of going through adolescence again would be VERY depressing!