I am vintage "old age."  During my youth, there were no TVs, computers, internet, cell phones, social media, diversity explosion, gun control, LGBT, air-conditioning, or McDonalds.  I lived through eleven presidents and five-plus wars.  My family is many, and work history was successful with mistakes.  These words demonstrate the reality that young people in the future will be writing about a world that was theirs.

The first lesson old age taught me is that change is always coming and will always impact values and beliefs.  Having grown up after the tragedy of the Great Depression and during WWII, citizens and communities were deeply stressed and hurting.  It was an emotional time; the American family was starting to be changed forever.  Families had to adjust to continued sacrifices, marriages, job opportunities, patriotism, and moral decline.  Citizens turned to the good and great about their country.  Political leaders solved problems, and consensus was the measure of success.  Musicals, rock 'n' roll, and G movies were our entertainment.  Heroes like Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Ronald Regan loved the country, and there was a national commitment for moral values to be taught in our schools.  Many called this "the Greatest Generation."

America in 2022 shows that our nation's citizens are in turmoil focused toward racism, extremism, wokeness, abortion, hate, power, crime, inflation, and loss of freedoms and truth.  Our neighbors are rejected unless they accept political correctness and immoral culture.  All these destructive attitudes of men and women are not new.  Even Charles Darwin commented on humanity's folly: "nature's productions should be far truer in character than man's productions."  After WWII, American citizens learned a lot about themselves.  They still had challenges, but they had strong leadership and patriotism, which said, "We are Americans." 

Can we change the destiny of our country and its people? History shows that all destructive events have produced warnings.  We need only look at our own Civil War.  The seeds of cultural hate were planted years before they blossomed and caused the death of millions.

Many say destructive seeds exist today.  We must look within ourselves, with love of our country, and ask questions.  "What life do we want for our children and their children?"  "Who benefits by controlling the freedom and thoughts of others?"

Finally, our DNA exists at the moment we are conceived and our environment creates our values, actions, and hopes.  Each of us will become part of an older generation.  Did you improve the lives of fellow Americans in this world that was yours?

Image via Pixy.