A Generation of Lost Causes
Succeeding Where The Baby Boomers Failed
Part I - Asleep at the Wheel
Damn if I haven't been this exhausted in quite some time. It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm struggling to stay awake. My eyelids, begging for mercy, feel like the feet of a mafia turncoat up Shits Crick...concrete and sinking fast. I can barely keep my body from free falling towards the floor. And to make matters worse, the only show after midnight worth a pot a piss in, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, is long but television history. Blind, broken and bored I am. But even that won’t help me with getting sleep any time soon.
As I often do when I'm anxious, I stare out of the window of my second-floor studio overlooking the concrete maze that is Manayunk, jealous at the sight of every blacked-out bedroom window I see. Besides the cast of usual suspects lurching around.... drunken collegiate hanger-ons, wannabe-Scarface drug thugs, transvestite prostitutes, and the local contingent of white trash..... I confirm that indeed the world has long ago put itself to bed....lucky bastards. This night, like so many before it, I am once again at the whims of that ruthless son-of-a-gun standing between me and the satin seduction of my bed......my brain. It seems I just can’t shut it off. So what is it tonight? What is it every night?
It happened as it usually does, with me obsessing over programming usually reserved for AARP types and that which most kids of my demographic would have me banished to a boring and un-hip hell for. Once again, I had the misfortune of hearing yet another respectable political and cultural critic make comment, no wait, better yet, almost laugh, at my generation’s incredible antipathy for all things political; about how we, Generation Y, suffer from a sad deficit of leadership, both politically and culturally; about how, when set next to the likes of Kent State, the 68’ Democratic Convention, or Olympic Black Power, the causes my generation chooses to rally around are almost an insult to rebellious spirit of youth; about how to kids nowadays, Che Guevara is less a revolutionist than a impotent fashion statement; and about how our concerns lie not with a controlling a reckless government but with getting recklessly out of control.... Basically, that we are asleep at the wheel. It would almost have been funny if it wasn’t so damn infuriating. Right then and there I wanted to jump through the television screen, kicking and screaming, “It’s just not true! We do care! We won’t let our country go to hell in a hand basket! We’re not just a bunch of latch-key losers easily distracted by superficial, artificial, & prejudicial bullshit!” But all I could do was hang my head in an angry shame and admit, “we’re not very convincing, are we?”
Part II - Driving Under the Influence
Now there are those like myself who want to believe that not every kid of my generation cares solely about themselves. And however modest, the past couple of years have at least brought a few attempts at funneling youth anger into political action, albeit some genuine and others for personal gain. However, in this, the age of immediate gratification, there is one fundamental truth that seems to have been forgotten: life is an art form not easily expressed or digested in 15-second sound bytes. And frankly, my generation has the attention span of fruit fly in field of shit. Now, before every self-righteous baby-boomer still high off the fumes of burning draft cards passes judgment on Generation Y’s inability to lift itself from up off the couch, understand one thing: our reality is not solely the fault of our own devices……. Frankly Mr. and Mrs. Baby Boomer, it is your fault too.
You see, you can blame us for a lot of things, and yes, for some things we are responsible. The insatiable consumption of violence & sexual degradation in entertainment being one example. But the truth is, people are products of their environments and you Sir and Ma’am, are the ones responsible for creating the world in which my generation has grew up in and now inherits. It is you who are responsible for creating a generation of kids so high on Prozac and disillusioned by corporate-consumer information overload that they’d rather vote for American Idols than American presidents. At least you guys had the option of sobriety....we're just driving under the influence of the drugs you fed us. Yup, it is you who has taught us the only real religion in America is that of the almighty dollar. It is you who markets, advertises, pushes, pimps, whores out, and sells every last thing that you think might distract us from a micro-moment of genuine thought. It is you who have financed and outsourced my generation’s hopes of a prosperous future to the likes of China, India, and Saudi Arabia. You are the ones who have raped Mother Nature and left us with a threat in global warning superior to anything human kind has ever known. Job Security? A joke. Social Security? Depleted. Universal healthcare? None. Surely you’ve at least taught us morality right? ....Ha-ha, now that one’s almost too easy. It is you who have allowed, yet again, fear, greed, and lies hidden behind a guise of “national security” to strip us of our rights and get us into a war that we can’t get out of……starting to sound familiar???? All this from a generation who swore by "peace, love, and prosperity".....please! One would think you would’ve learned these lessons when it was your asses that were on the line, but apparently you haven’t. And now you, like your parents before you, are leaving us to clean up the mess you created. Why? Because those who forget history are bound to repeat it! But………..
Fear not Greg Palast, and Chris Matthews, and Tom Wolfe, and Marty Moss Coane, and Neil Young, and every other baby-boomer who holds back the laughter (or tears) when they realize the future of America is in the hands of generation that appears to not give a damn…….all is not lost, my friends. Because, contrary to popular belief, not all of us belong to the band of aloof brats who would rather sink into a Sex in the City rerun than partake in some good old social justification. So rest assured, as long as there are poor saps like you to remind us what it’s like to fall short of our dreams, there will always be at least one motivated kid whose sole purpose is to see to it that this generation succeeds where yours has failed. And it’s like that!……….
As I often do when I'm anxious, I stare out of the window of my second-floor studio overlooking the concrete maze that is Manayunk, jealous at the sight of every blacked-out bedroom window I see. Besides the cast of usual suspects lurching around.... drunken collegiate hanger-ons, wannabe-Scarface drug thugs, transvestite prostitutes, and the local contingent of white trash..... I confirm that indeed the world has long ago put itself to bed....lucky bastards. This night, like so many before it, I am once again at the whims of that ruthless son-of-a-gun standing between me and the satin seduction of my bed......my brain. It seems I just can’t shut it off. So what is it tonight? What is it every night?
It happened as it usually does, with me obsessing over programming usually reserved for AARP types and that which most kids of my demographic would have me banished to a boring and un-hip hell for. Once again, I had the misfortune of hearing yet another respectable political and cultural critic make comment, no wait, better yet, almost laugh, at my generation’s incredible antipathy for all things political; about how we, Generation Y, suffer from a sad deficit of leadership, both politically and culturally; about how, when set next to the likes of Kent State, the 68’ Democratic Convention, or Olympic Black Power, the causes my generation chooses to rally around are almost an insult to rebellious spirit of youth; about how to kids nowadays, Che Guevara is less a revolutionist than a impotent fashion statement; and about how our concerns lie not with a controlling a reckless government but with getting recklessly out of control.... Basically, that we are asleep at the wheel. It would almost have been funny if it wasn’t so damn infuriating. Right then and there I wanted to jump through the television screen, kicking and screaming, “It’s just not true! We do care! We won’t let our country go to hell in a hand basket! We’re not just a bunch of latch-key losers easily distracted by superficial, artificial, & prejudicial bullshit!” But all I could do was hang my head in an angry shame and admit, “we’re not very convincing, are we?”
Part II - Driving Under the Influence
Now there are those like myself who want to believe that not every kid of my generation cares solely about themselves. And however modest, the past couple of years have at least brought a few attempts at funneling youth anger into political action, albeit some genuine and others for personal gain. However, in this, the age of immediate gratification, there is one fundamental truth that seems to have been forgotten: life is an art form not easily expressed or digested in 15-second sound bytes. And frankly, my generation has the attention span of fruit fly in field of shit. Now, before every self-righteous baby-boomer still high off the fumes of burning draft cards passes judgment on Generation Y’s inability to lift itself from up off the couch, understand one thing: our reality is not solely the fault of our own devices……. Frankly Mr. and Mrs. Baby Boomer, it is your fault too.
You see, you can blame us for a lot of things, and yes, for some things we are responsible. The insatiable consumption of violence & sexual degradation in entertainment being one example. But the truth is, people are products of their environments and you Sir and Ma’am, are the ones responsible for creating the world in which my generation has grew up in and now inherits. It is you who are responsible for creating a generation of kids so high on Prozac and disillusioned by corporate-consumer information overload that they’d rather vote for American Idols than American presidents. At least you guys had the option of sobriety....we're just driving under the influence of the drugs you fed us. Yup, it is you who has taught us the only real religion in America is that of the almighty dollar. It is you who markets, advertises, pushes, pimps, whores out, and sells every last thing that you think might distract us from a micro-moment of genuine thought. It is you who have financed and outsourced my generation’s hopes of a prosperous future to the likes of China, India, and Saudi Arabia. You are the ones who have raped Mother Nature and left us with a threat in global warning superior to anything human kind has ever known. Job Security? A joke. Social Security? Depleted. Universal healthcare? None. Surely you’ve at least taught us morality right? ....Ha-ha, now that one’s almost too easy. It is you who have allowed, yet again, fear, greed, and lies hidden behind a guise of “national security” to strip us of our rights and get us into a war that we can’t get out of……starting to sound familiar???? All this from a generation who swore by "peace, love, and prosperity".....please! One would think you would’ve learned these lessons when it was your asses that were on the line, but apparently you haven’t. And now you, like your parents before you, are leaving us to clean up the mess you created. Why? Because those who forget history are bound to repeat it! But………..
Fear not Greg Palast, and Chris Matthews, and Tom Wolfe, and Marty Moss Coane, and Neil Young, and every other baby-boomer who holds back the laughter (or tears) when they realize the future of America is in the hands of generation that appears to not give a damn…….all is not lost, my friends. Because, contrary to popular belief, not all of us belong to the band of aloof brats who would rather sink into a Sex in the City rerun than partake in some good old social justification. So rest assured, as long as there are poor saps like you to remind us what it’s like to fall short of our dreams, there will always be at least one motivated kid whose sole purpose is to see to it that this generation succeeds where yours has failed. And it’s like that!……….
posted by Ash Kernen at 11:33 PM
1 Comments:
Ash, I must say that you have way with words. Unforntunatly, you dont have way with anything else in your life(hahaha) I love what you wrote and couldn't agree with you more. This is the first step, to the change you want to see. I can't wait to read more so keep them coming!
2:48 PM
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