I was reading the “The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014” and it brought about quite a few different thoughts. One thing it made me think about was, oddly enough, the importance of history. It seems strange but it prompts the question “are we going about business in the right way or is our generation just blindly walking through life?” It seems that in this generation everything is expendable. New versions of the “newest” phone or game system come out within the same year. This is a reflection of our time as one of constant advancement and not necessarily in a good way. This constant change gives something only temporary value because in the next week the “new thing” will be out and make the previous item not good enough. Whether or not the future will be shallower or not one thing is for sure, this generation is in a completely different world than the previous one.
The most evident difference is the advancements in technology. One of the first statements in the list was “email is just too slow, and they (our generation) seldom if ever use snail mail.” This is something that I personally notice every day. When email was first created it revolutionized the communication world and the same obviously applied to regular mail but with texting and cell phones even email seems to be a hassle to us. Advancements in music such as mp3s have caused traditionally good music to get old in a week. Also, video games have become a staple in the lifestyle of every kid in our generation to prevent any chance of boredom.
All these instantly gratifying devices have made everything ultimately less valuable because they can simply be replaced with a new video game or a new smart phone, and instantly. Instead of saving up to buy the newest cd our generation gets any song for just over a dollar. This is a step forward in music distribution but it makes people less appreciative for what they are getting. It is making our generation look like the spoiled rich kid with everything available but a true appreciation for none of it. Ultimately it is giving us a bad image and weakening us if for some reason our country would go into debt because we wouldn’t be able to afford all the useless things that we buy.
Even though we now have an image of being a spoiled generation who is paying attention to their xbox’s and ignoring the current issues we can still redeem ourselves. If we just open our eyes to the problems at hand we can fix all the issues and stabilize our country. We are living in a post-recession pre-global warming world and it is a perfect opportunity for our generation to fix these issues. It is our duty as the future of the world to better the problems that have been created due to the human race. Now is the time for the class of 2014 to work at making a more environmentally friendly world. We have the capabilities to stabilize our economy if the future businessmen and women are honest and work for the betterment of the company as opposed to the betterment of their bank account. If we as a generation can pull together and work on these issues we are sure to have a great reputation and a more prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
