It’s easy for young people, indeed for all of us, to be discouraged. But there really has been progress.
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I don’t have a candidate for which to vote in November. My beliefs and standards won’t allow me to cast a vote for either choice that it seems I may have. We are entrenched in a political climate the likes of which I have never experienced. We either elect a candidate who in neck deep in scandal after scandal or vote for a candidate who is a combination of a horrible cartoon, a reality show star (literally) and the white version of President Camacho from the movie Idiocracy.
“Oh you know, in the good old days this was a better place. It’s just going to pot now.”
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The situation in which we find ourselves makes it easy to think the country has gone bad. That all of our best days are behind us. (Begin the Merle Haggard song now.) That there is not much hope. Unfortunately, this hopelessness has trickled into our youth. The very people for whom we should be voting, the most influential amongst us, with the most to learn and offer, should know the truth about the state of our country. Which is why I had the following conversation with one of my students.
She was 17 years old. All of her classmates respected her because she was very popular and kind at the same time. No one was an outcast around her. She laughed easily and smiled often. Which is why I was taken aback by what she said. She seemed so happy. There was never any reason for me to think she had a negative bone in her body. So when the words came out of her mouth I froze for a moment. She told me,
“The country is just getting worse and worse.”
She followed it up with a smile that made the teenage boys in the room think of flowers and puppies for just a second. “What? Where are you coming up with that?” I asked, looking behind her to make sure her evil twin wasn’t obstructing my view of the real girl I had gotten to know.
“Oh you know, in the good old days this was a better place. It’s just going to pot now.”
I looked behind her once more, still no evil twin. I asked, “What are the good old days to you?”
I am pretty sure that slavery was legal and encouraged in the good old days.
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She began telling me that when times were simpler, we were better. She went into a monologue that rivaled any grandmothers’ rant about their youth. She explained how filth was just piped into every home thanks to the internet. Pollution was up and the environment was down and people just didn’t care about people anymore.
In her 17 years on the planet she had seen it go from bad to worse.
(Picture me riding in on my white horse to save the dwindling reputation of society.)
“When times were simpler I believe there were a few mistakes made that would rival any of our mistakes today. In fact I think this is a better place now than it was in the good old days.” I said loudly, putting up my quotation mark fingers. The boys in the class were jerked to attention. Apparently they had the same opinion as her, or weren’t that focused on exactly what she was saying. It’s hard to focus when the song My Girl is playing in your head.
“I am pretty sure that slavery was legal and encouraged in the good old days. I think that the buffalo was driven to the brink of extinction and brothels were legal back when times were so much better. Racism towards natives was not only prevalent, but sanctioned by our government. Didn’t we have a civil war, a great depression and presidents who were impeached back then? You could die from the flu, a cut or an infection in those happier times. “
(Uh oh.)
“Today we spend millions on saving the environment, the poor and fighting disease. Dictators are not allowed to mistreat their own people for long without the civilized nations of the world stepping in. If our own citizens live in a home, have a color TV, a cell phone, a car and a job they can still be considered poor because our standard of living is so high. Americans give around $350 billion every year to charity and we have invented the terms non-profit company, ethical capitalism and reverse tither (those who live on 10% of their income and give away the other 90%). “
The silent sound of minds changing drowned out din of misconception that had previously filled the room.
Around half of us will have to hold our nose while we suffer through the next four years, but we will all have a voice at that time. We have the means by which to make change.
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Perhaps our youth need to see the truth about our current situation. The truth being that, even though very few people in the country have a candidate for which to vote, and most are only voting against the other party, our country and living conditions are fantastic. There are people lined up to try and become Americans. There are those risking their lives sneaking in to this country, who know all about our political climate and yet, they still want in. Around half of us will have to hold our nose while we suffer through the next four years, but we will all have a voice at that time. We have the means by which to make change.
We have the freedom to do any work we want, speak openly about truths, and vote for whom we think will best manage this incredible asset we call America. It isn’t perfect. But it is incredible, and we owe it to our youth to let them know just how incredible it is.
Also by John Henderson
Photo: Getty Images