This is a bit of a rant, dont take it too seriously.

What can older people learn from your generation

In a recent discussion about social justice, history, and the values of culture, I was told “Our generation is going to be one of the most important, if not the most important generation.” This was in terms of bringing about change in the prejudices and stereotypes that people have of others in different socioeconomic class. In the past, in America, everything was done for an by old, rich, white men. To an extent this is still true, but the old white men that are in power now are soon either going to die or retire. That will allow people of a more progressive age to come forward and take charge.

People from my generation and the one directly before, are probably the first to be told, as a whole, to be accepting of all types of people. This is probably made most obvious by the bill that passed last year to allow homosexuals the right to marry. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, being gay was still something that society completely shunned or made fun of. That’s not to say that people don’t make fun of gays or bully them in school and that they are one hundred percent accepted, but the point is that in just a couple of years, there has been a huge shift in the attitudes towards them as the younger, more progressive generations became more prominent in protests and making change happen.

Now obviously not all older people are like this. Bernie Sanders is like a million years old, but is super liberal. I think everyone that I know personally who are getting up there in age are pretty liberal, but the fact of the matter is that the people in power are from a generation in which very few people held social, political, and cultural power. They are taking the mindset from back then and applying it to now. So I think that if anything, older people should learn to change their mindsets and be more open.

The rate at which social progression is coming is faster than ever before. This is indicative of people in charge becoming more open, but also that the process for the old people of the general public need to change faster - and speed isn't exactly easy for the elderly. The youth of the nation are mostly quite liberal, and ready to take up arms against anyone who wants to put someone else down because they are maybe a little different. That's all well and good, but for me it’s a bit extreme. Being politically correct is now so important that teachers can’t even put up Christmas trees in their classrooms to celebrate the holidays. “In our effort to be tolerant of everyone, we become intolerant of everything.” This is something I see more and more. Both Mr. Sutton and Mr. Butler, history teachers, have said the the 2010's is reminiscent of the 1950's in that everything is censored and everyone must be politically correct. So I guess older people will need to learn to have the correct mindset sooner and sooner. Or they could just learn how to use modern technology.

Writing 1

Do you wish you could return to a moment from your past?

If I was to go back in time, there is nothing that I would change. I have no major regrets in my life. There are little things here and there that maybe I could've done differently, but that probably wouldn’t make a difference in my life as a whole. That homework that I didn’t do really won’t affect my grade enough for anyone to notice. I’ll still have straight A’s and at this point in my second semester of my senior year of high school, grades are slightly less important anyway. That’s not to say that I’m going to just give up on my grades and let them fall so that I lose my 4.0 GPA. I’ve come this far and done so well, that it seems like it would be a waste just to end that.

Even though I like to close strong on something almost done, I can’t really say that the whole process is like that. If I don’t gain momentum on a project that I am working on, then I will have a very hard time finishing. This is sometimes why it is hard for me to finish playing through video games. Two times recently, I have started a game, but been unable to finish for the sole reason that I stopped and never came back to it. To be fair though, I had to stop because I was leaving the country. But when I returned, I never returned to playing those games, and I’m sure that I won’t, at least not anytime soon.

But that is not something that I truly regret. I mean, I did waste a couple of dollars, but I got both games on sale for a very good price. Nor would finishing either game do anything to either improve or deteriorate my life. So if I could go back to a moment in my past, it would not be to change anything for the better.

I think if I was to return to a moment from my past, it would be just to observe how I lived. The ways in which I interacted with people or how efficiently I did my work or how often I would squirm my way out of trouble. It would kind of be like a wildlife researcher following around a rare animal. Maybe I would go back and watch myself obsess over Jane Goodall and her research with the chimpanzees. That would be quite ironic, wouldn’t it? To observe someone making observations about another person’s observations.

Even though I think it would be very interesting to view my younger self with the perspective of a slightly more experienced person, there still would not be too much a reason to travel back in time. I have no life changing experiences that are of any importance nor anything so interesting that would make me want to go back to reexperience it. Except for maybe my trip to the Black Gorge in the Golan Heights of Israel.

That was the coolest thing I have done that I can remember. It was an experience of extreme hiking, where there were no paths, jumping fifteen feet into pools was necessary, and I got to rappel down waterfalls. Not to mention eating soggy sandwiches. This was not a journey for the cowardly, but one for thrill seekers and hiking fanatics.

I suppose that that hiking trip would be quite fun to relive, but I wouldn’t be terribly sad if I couldn’t do it again. So, in short, my life has very few exciting adventures worth telling, but I think it is important to be aware of the fact that I am satisfied with the way my life turned out. There isn’t anything that needs to be changed, even if I wanted to.