The Death of a Generation

Is it just me or is the United States turning into a counterproductive wasteland? As a teenager, I look to older and wiser people for inspiration and guidance. Recently, all I've seen from those people is worry, hate, and insecurity. It seems as though the current condition of the United States is continually getting worse, and I fear that after the "honeymoon phase" of Obama's presidency is over, the morale of the country will be lower than it ever has been. I fear that my generation is the generation that will get the leftovers; a generation that was screwed before conception. While obesity rises and the overall health of Americans deteriorates, employers are shutting down and jobs are being lost, leaving too many people without healthcare. The lack of willpower, lack of respect, and lack of dedication will be the conceived death of my generation.

The way health in the United States is going, half of us aren't even going to out live our parents. Obesity is rising without an end in sight. There's millions of exercise DVDs and treadmills but it seems there's not enough people willing to use them. Even after all of the Bow Flex infomercials playing on through the early morning hours, fast food chains are still getting the best of us. We do not have the willpower to stop eating. Keep drinking your Diet Coke, but as long as you shovel in 5000 calories of garbage into your salivating mouths everyday, you're going to keep gaining weight.

I'm not just talking about food though. I'm also talking about having the willpower to do basic things--even more basic than putting forks and spoons away for five seconds. I'm talking about having respect for yourself and others around you. It's almost impossible to go to a public place without having a cloud of smoke exhaled into your face. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have a raspy half-wheezing voice that is broken up by sessions of coughing attacks. If I did, I would also be a slave to those cancer sticks and at least get the full effects. Respect is a myth. But, I am a strong believer in leading by example. Maybe if others were also, we wouldn't have so many people that are counterproductive to society.

My father has been in the United States Army National Guard for almost twenty years. Although I might not support the wars he fought in, including Desert Storm in 1991 (in Saudi Arabia) and Iraq in 2004, he has taught me one important life skill that so many people are missing these days--dedication. This time next year, he will be deployed back to Iraq for another tour of duty. After two "tours", many people might call it quits and get the hell out of the National Guard, after all it's not worth risking their precious life. That's not how the world works, although many people seem to think that the world stops for them at the snap of their finger. We are not dedicated to anything. We are a generation of quitters, losers, and finger-pointing.

Some people don't realize what it must be like to grow up in a time where everyone has their tail between their legs. Yet, hardly anyone has it in them to find an ounce of willpower, to have respect, or to be dedicated to anything. So to all of the powerless, respectless, and dedicationless people out there, YOU are killing my generation.