hmm, 30 years ago

I’d like to think I’m wise beyond my years, but I doubt it. I think the years have just passed me by…

Some 30 – 40 years ago, my grandparents shared their thoughts about acceptance or resignation that their impact on society was to forever be limited to that which they had immediate control, even though they knew better about many things. When would my grandparents ever get to sit down and share his wisdom with those men making the decisions that affect everyone? They knew it was past their time to impact society, so they shared with me in hopes that I might be able to help at some future time.

Today, I look at my society as it is framed for me to consume in the daily newspaper, the findings are, well, the same as they’ve been, and I thought about that…

As I read the newspaper and realized that nothing in the last, how many years… well, my cognizant lifetime anyway, has changed for the better, unless you’re into games. But then that’s games, so does that really count when you’re talking about the global human condition? I don’t know.

Promises

The promises our society made to youth, when I was that youth, were for a grander world, a cleaner world, a world where people would be fed, clothed, housed and free to create a better place. Disease would be a thing of the past, healthcare was a human right.

Our lives would have a harmonious feeling as we as a species improved ourselves: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our lives would be determined by what our choices produced.

The best and the brightest would be used to their greatest potential. The world was to be a paradise by the turn of the 21st century!

Humans would make amends for our offenses during the dirty retched past with a clean present and a bright future.

The possibilities were endless, only by how you limited yourself and your imagination. Imagine a better town, a better city, a better state, a better country, a better world.

Promises Broken

As I read the articles in the paper today about proposed “new” technology to harness the wind, solar and ocean power. I recall the same promises and discoveries about hmm, 30 years ago.

As I read about the rise in other prices because of OPEC's choke-hold on the US economy, I recall the same situation about hmm, 30 years ago.

As I read about Russian’s opposition to free smaller states and the trouble between ethnic Albanian and Serbs, I recall a similar state of affairs with the USSR about hmm, 30 years ago.

As I read about bombers in the Mid-East, I recall the same circumstances about hmm, 30 years ago.

As I read about the politicians who have already revised their campaign promises, I recall an election where politicians adjusted their positions about hmm, 30 years ago.

As I read about the economic situation including more job lay-offs, subsistence jobs being downscaled to substandard wages for the benefit of the company, foreclosure rates up, people displaced, food banks stretched, elderly in need of medication, I recall a stories of a time called the Great Depression, and minus the added hardship of the Dust Bowl during that same period, it seems that we (regular people) have hit a Greater Depression economically than in the 1930s, even if the talking heads are silent or inaccurate on that point.

Economically, for the average American family, things are tighter and more stressful financially than it has been during my life time. The Haves & Have-mores have even started to notice that return on their dollar isn’t what once was.

Since I haven’t been tapped to move up the food-chain to a place where my thoughts matter, I guess I’ll just wait to see what the folks at the top can figure out…

The answers are so simple. If it weren’t so sad, I’d laugh at the irony. I find myself saying things I heard the old people say, hmm, 30 years ago.