The Lament Of The Children (An Ode To My Generation)

We've grown up in a much different world than our parents, is it surprising then that we don't have the same beliefs? The stories of their youths portray a fairytale world so dissimilar from our current existence that we cannot relate to them in any way. Ours has been a world of fear, greed and corruption. We were raised in a time when children no longer got to play outside for fear of them being taken or hurt. Now the bats and balls stay in their crate while children's waistlines grow in front of their computer monitors. We have witnessed the sanctity and protection of our schools become compromised as angry teens no longer yell at their classmates, they shoot them. The world we have grown up in has taught us that you're still free to think and say what you believe, as long as it doesn't offend anyone. In our world public schools claim they do not have the right to teach beliefs, and then offer a single explanation for the origin of life. In those same classrooms the mere mention of God could prove to be grounds for termination. My generation has been betrayed by police officers, priests and our own government, leaving us to trust only ourselves. We have seen guilty men set free, teaching us that power and money can circumvent justice. We have witnessed the downsizing and outsourcing of entire companies and industries, leaving millions unemployed in their wake. We grew up in a time when illegal immigrant labor was considered necessary even as the products they produced put our friends and families out of business. We were raised by shattered families in a society that apathetically watched over half of its marriages falter and fail. Ours has been a time of two faces: tobacco companies promoting methods to quit smoking, while at the same time increasing the amount of addictive nicotine in their products. The world we have grown up in has told us to fear AIDS, smallpox, cancer, heart disease, STD's, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease, Avian Bird Flu, terrorism, nuclear weapons, sunlight, eggs and carbs. Our generation saw Batman quit and Superman die. Real life wasn't much more inspiring. The sports legends of our time were juicers swinging corked bats. We have heard the lessons of our fathers but the world we have grown up in has proven them untrue. The best man does not always win, hard work does not always pay off and honesty is not always the best policy. Instead we have seen that cheaters do win, that dishonesty and cunning may get you what you want and the quickest route is superior to the hardest. Above all my generation has been taught time and time again that their is no absolute right or wrong: only what you can get away with. Is it surprising that we are frustrated and bewildered? We don't trust one another, we live in a state of perpetual fear, our sense of justice is skewed. Previous generations call us lazy and stupid, they think we're going to ruin everything. The blame is not entirely our own. The fact of the matter is that this messed up world we've grown up in is a product of their efforts. We aren't lazy and stupid, we're angry and jaded. We are looking for something to believe in.