The Big Inheritance

I think a lot of parents-to-be believe they are going to instill good values in their children. “The next generation will surely be better than the last.” That’s probably what the parents of the parents-to-be thought too. “We’ll teach our children the lessons we had to learn the hard way.” But this is a crazy world. We are living in troubled times. Is each generation really passing on their wisdom? Or are we making the same old mistakes?

Here are the news headlines for today:

* Obama calls $18B in Wall St. bonuses 'shameful'
* Stocks sink as unemployment claims reach new high
* Homeland secretary wants criminal aliens out of U.S.
* U.S. Army: Suicides among troops soar to three-decade high
* Senate GOP leader: Party must explain core values
* Ill. governor pleads his case to impeachment trial
* Three candidates slain ahead of Iraq polls
* Judge refuses to suspend Guantanamo trial

(C'mon now, didn't a tiger maul somebody at a zoo, or a baby fall into a well?)

We are at war, two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan), in a 14-month recession (“global synchronized recession”), the stock market has crashed, our financial institutions and automobile manufacturers have failed, our housing market is a wreck, the airline industry is in crisis, companies are laying off people right and left in the thousands, global climate change is melting the polar ice caps, and we have no idea when the next natural disaster and terrorist attack will strike, but we know they are coming.

I’m not going to deny the progress we have made thus far. The U.S.A. just elected a half-black, half-white President by popular vote, business is global, technology is king. But I still drive by homeless people under the bridge on my way to work every day.

So it comes back to the parents-to-be. Can they raise their children to make wiser decisions than they did? To be financially responsible? To be tolerant? To be stewards of the environment? To choose diplomacy over carpet bombing? To protect their values without oppressing entire populations?

Our children will inherit a mess no doubt. Perhaps the greatest challenge for each successive generation is not only to grow and innovate and succeed (to be better than their parents) but to fix the problems of the previous generation. Good luck, kiddos, you’ve got your work cut out for you!