Disclaimer: A note on the video below, it may or may not agree with your own personal political biases. I did not post it for a political agenda; I posted it as a sort of history lesson and as a story meant to be used as an inspirational outlook. It is also long, quiet and not very exciting with loud noises or anything. So while listening, you’re free to agree with and disregard as much of the political speak as you want.
The only thing I will say is that I believe an audience member will gain more by keeping an open mind, and not jumping to their first instinctive conclusion. And that’s mostly because people tend to stop listening if they think they already know what is going to be said.
All in all, its the stories here that are important- and knowing the value of things back in those days, how things generally were back then, and how one person moved an entire town and further out. I got some feel goods out of just hearing this one story from the multiple perspectives offered here. But it also gets one thinking.
So, if any of you have visited my facebook, you are probably aware that I’m a woman. I’ve gone into the field of welding. And I am much, much louder about my political beliefs there.
I do not regularly mention my political views here, because it doesn’t fit with the goal of this blog. The purpose here is to make others realize that anyone can make a difference, make a change in how people experience life and even change their own perceptions on the quality of their living reality. I won’t tell you who I voted for in 2016, just like I will not ask who you voted for. And for the purpose of helping all my readers, I do not care if you support Donald Trump or not. I don’t care if You hate the world socialism or not. I don’t care if you’re reading this on your S7 or whatever, or if you live the low-tech life style and are only reading this because of some mistaken click while your grandchild is navigating your browser for you. And I don’t care if you attend church regularly and can recite all the bible verses from memory, or if you just think you’ll turn into a tree when you die.
What I will tell you is that I am a somewhat normal American, I think. Possibly. Maybe. I have a respect for all people as human beings. I care if you’re a douche. I care if you look down on others without knowing them. I care if you only ever listen to your own opinion and don’t occasionally THINK about looking into the other side’s perspective. I care if you go online or on your phone and tell people to kill themselves. Because at that point, if you do any of these things, you’re contributing to a greater problem: The separation of mankind.
Now, yes, there will always be a “us vs them” mentality. Its natural, and while I want a world without it, it would take more than this blog to do it. It would take the efforts of a greater proportion of humanity to wipe away negativity on the scale that we have. But the fact that there is a rift in the world so large right now is dangerous. In America, the biggest conflict I have ever seen in my life, is about two candidates. I wont say much about them. I will say that children may as well have been disowned because of it. Thanksgivings and other family events, a thing that is still big in America even as society drifts apart, were canceled or close members of the family not invited. It is often said “Never talk about religion or politics.” (and given that sports teams winning or losing can result in riots, I suppose I have to defer to this saying for the time being) but I just…think it’s sad. You can have your opinions, I wont fault you for it, as its a great part of being human.
But this is a modern presidential election. First of all, the presidency has lost power. Part of that is because of the split of the branches of our government where there are two sides competing to be ‘in the right’ and they focus more on that and impeding the other side’s attempts to do things than they do actually getting things done.
We even had an event where the entire government shut down, because this fight came to a standstill.
The point is, there was this huge rift created in America(and the world) over an election that would mean almost nothing in 4-8 years. But, as some may have noticed, hardly any of the same sensationalism over who sits in the senate or congress, where the real battles on the majority of our federal rules are made. And that is the part that makes me sad. That people will destroy themselves for something they think is important but will disappear before the end of a decade. And the scars that have been made are huge; many families will never be the same. The united states won’t be the same.
Now if I haven’t driven you off with my hatred of 2016, I will continue on a slightly different topic. Millennial. I don’t hate Millennials either. Hell, even though I associate more with the 90’s kid” group than the overarching “Millennial” label, I have to admit to myself that its something I’m part of. I just don’t really approve of the label itself, partly because of how many decades it encompasses. Logically speaking, since it is 2017, it shouldn’t cover anyone over the age of 17. I’m sorry, it just shouldn’t. Those of us born in the 1900’s did not grow up with an IPAD or IPOD nearby. We grew up with video games and computers being these cool things that are just coming out. Shows like Pokemon and Digimon were our CareBears and Xmen. Its an entirely different subculture, one I can get into later but not now.
Now that that’s been said. I have no issues with the younger millenials, as long as they got decent manners and don’t go “fuck you” to everything under the sun. Now this is where it might get slightly political, but just because its personal and I hate generalizations. It has to do with the idea of “all millenials just automatically feel this ridiculous sense of entitlement.”
Please. Generalizations are bad. For me its like calling the generation before Baby Boomers “nymphos” or calling all people in 1970 Tree Huggers or something. Believe me, its as varied now days as it has ever been, and by making this kind of assumption around people of X group, it will obviously feel like you’re making an assumption about them as a person. For instance, there are foreigners who believe all Americans are fat, lazy, stupid slobs…but obviously we made Microsoft, and have you seen how skinny our models get? But do you get it?
And I can see this post being my least popular, or likely to get me many many haters. But if you hate me for saying “Please stop being hateful” then my best guess is that this blog isn’t going to be the right one for you.
But also, a note on the entitlement of our younger generations: There might be some. And yes, a great many of us have been conditioned to depend on keeping up to date on the latest technology. But as a sort of outcast from that generalized populous, let me tell you some things.
I grew up with an unsteady household, living with mom or dad for any amount of time. The majority of my life was spent with 3 channels on my tv, pokemon came on VCR as did all of my shows outside of those channels. I watched my dad figure out how to work a desktop, and learned some of it along side him. He actually learned a lot more than I ever did. I don’t recall ever having a handheld gaming device. I helped unload firewood to heat my home when I was 8. I didn’t cuss till highschool. I didn’t have a cellphone until highschool. I didn’t have an Ipod until someone gave it to me as a handme down. I have not until recent years, decided that a cellphone was essential in today’s society, and that’s because I had to go searching for a job. (went several years without one because I didn’t want to spend the money) I walked or road my bike the 2.6 miles it was from my general location to the local community college. I chose my own fields of study, and changed it twice. I make my own transportation happen, even though I currently don’t have a car or drivers license and wish that people understood that I believe feet are a more reliable form of transportation than a car or truck. And it frustrates me to no end seeing employers not understanding me when I say I can walk to work.
I currently have graduated college with a certificate in welding, and have a welding job lined up. I’m not afraid to get dirty to get my money, and there are many who are the same (but with a bit more reliance on technology, I’m weird that way.) And I think there’s some sort of…misconception about this new generation of young adults.
Now, I don’t approve of say, having your phone at the dinner table where people are trying to talk to you…but there are a couple layers at work here. For us 90’skids, were were brought into the good times, and brought up on the idea of going to college to do whatever you want and continue on with the good life. These were the times when being older than 20 and living in your mom’s basement was a matter of shame. But going into 2008 and onward, we’re seeing a point in time where half of us still carry this belief, and the other half actually have to live in the equivalent of their mom’s basements because they tried the adult life (that they weren’t taught how to live) and either failed, or are having a touch time of it.
Many Americans think that deadbeats are the only ones using governmental programs, even while the majority of americans (even those older than the oversweeping ‘millennial’ title) have to rely on these same programs to get them to the end of each month. And more and more americans are eating mcdonalds and ending up as the obese poor, which is a real thing. It happens because as Americans have been in a really long era of prosperity, they have more resources to put into conveniance foods. With more conveniance foods (canned soups, fast food, hamburgerhelper) there’s less need to learn to cook and budget a healthy variety of food. Well now the economy sucks, and there’s 3rd generation people that never learned to cook, that have to feed their families. Without proper food/budget education, they co the only thing they can think of: fast food/tv dinners/ canned soups. And with people’s reliance on cars and technology well…this is a reality we have to just agree is a thing.
Im trying hard to get to these next points so…i’ll put one aside for now .(how the next depression will be worst than the last) because that’ll make up another one of these ridicuously long posts on its own.
SO I just want to say that there are people of all ages working really really hard to just get along with life. And while many of them are underprepared for what that entails, they are still trying. There’s also something to be said for the growing dependance on technology. People are traveling more to get into better situations (i know most of my towns kids just want to leave), more workplaces are requiring online applications, places to find posted work positions require emails, employers check applicants facebooks, social networks are online, charity places are online, business phone numbers and addresses are online. job opportunities are online. Technology is everywhere, so I would not blame anyone for feeling the need to have a form of it on their person at all times. Especially not with how the technology industry keeps pushing everything. And then the entitlement thing. I would say it is precisely because of where we are living. Americans through the ages have worked hard under the promise that this was a land of freedom and opportunity. And we have done well, and made more opportunities be a part of that promise. SO when someone demands that a promise be fullfilled, why are they being called entitled brats? The fact of the matter is, if it is promised, it is in fact something they are entitled to. And historically, all that struggle done the last couple centuries, was because that promise -that which American citizens were told they were entitled to- was not being upheld. OUR ANCESTORS FOUGHT SO THAT EVERYONE COULD BE ENTITLED TO A GOOD LIFE.
The problem is that we have the image of a big yard and white picket fence in our minds. That’s the American dream, something we were promised for many many generations would be obtainable, so long as you had the initiative. There are lots of people working hard to get even half as good as that, and failing. And that’s where the complaints are coming from. And an entire huge chunk of the population (ages 35 and under) are being looked down on for just wanting to live good for a while.
PS: sure the economy is looking up, but employers are a lot choosier nowdays and some are even sourcing from other cities, and not the town/city they are stationed in. I might be getting a job in welding in a welding heavy town, but I was denied a job for McDonalds at a time they were short on staff. I can only guess that it was because I hadn’t yet graduated college.
The Garden of Inspiration 