We often buffalo younger generations with tales about how much tougher things used to be.
Before all the modern marvels were invented, life in general was definitely different and tasks were more time consuming, but saying things were tougher can’t really be measured from one generation to another.
Modern cars seem like space ships compared to what was around when I first learned to drive. But when my parents were teenagers, seatbelts and headrests weren’t mandatory in cars. That seems downright unsafe, until you consider that when my grandparents were teens, cars had just gotten heaters and windshield wipers.
What I’m saying is, every generation thinks the one after it is spoiled. The reason is that each generation creates innovations that make life easier – that’s the point of progress.
The idea of a “tough” existence can’t be compared to what life will be like in the future, because we only know what life was like in the past. The tasks of life will always be more simple today than they were yesterday, because technology is always improving. There is a reason the phrase “modern conveniences” exists, while “modern hindrances” does not.
The here-and-now always looks great compared to the past, anywhere technology is involved. Cars, televisions, appliances, travel and business will always be more streamlined now, compared to the versions that came in the past.
But the present is all we have available to shape are opinion, and the past is the only thing it can be compared to. We only realize that our children have things easier then we did, because we rarely stop to think how easy we had things compared to our parents.
The world we live in today is our normal and it seems fairly advanced, but 100 years from now, 2020 society will seem barbaric. Image describing a refrigerator to a person who never had electricity. Now consider that in the future, food packaging could keep individual items cold. No more refrigerators.
It’s hard for me to imagine anyone invented a car without a windshield wiper, but people in the future will be baffled by traffic crash statistics from the years when people were in control of the cars.
We have no idea what the world will look like to future generations, but right now – with Roombas, streaming movies, 80-inch TVs and self-parking cars – it doesn’t feel like we have a tough life thanks to technology.
But I will say this, while I think every generation has had the right to say life is generally easier for the one that comes after it, that might not be the case for the generation after mine.
For me, my parents and my grandparents, the path of life was to play and grow as a child, learn in school, prepare for a career, work to provide for a family and then retire.
But consider that path for the current generation. Parents work more which can negatively impact the growth and play stage. The simple years of childhood are shortened and youngsters start kindergarten with an expectation of what they have already learned.
Classroom learning is greatly accelerated. Children are asked in middle school to start considering a career choice. Now think about this, many of the careers of the future do not even exist today. And conversely, technological innovations are accelerating and changing the world so quickly, that there is no guarantee for any career. With some imagination you can envision a world where seemingly timeless jobs in law enforcement, medicine or even mortuary sciences may not exist. The only careers I know will still exist 100 years from now are in politics, because those people are smart enough to protect their own livelihoods through legislation.
So what we ask is for the current generation to plan their career trajectory, not knowing what careers will disappear or be created in the future.
Also, family dynamics are changing. To many, the idea of marriage seems dated and statistics show that the importance of having children is fading for young people.
And the idea of retirement? That might not even make it to the finish line for my own generation.
So children today and in the generations to come have eye-popping video games and all the wonders of technology, but at what cost?
A shorter period to just be a silly child. A community where social media bullies invade every corner of your existence. A time when picking a career equates to shooting at a moving target. A home where wireless technologies beam rays in all directions, perhaps not knowing fully the long-term affect on our bodies and brains. A government that seems less and less concerned with protecting the promise of retirement. A society with fading interest in the bonds of families. A world where more people die poor and alone.
I think it might be time to bury the idea that “kids today have it so easy.” My generation might be the first to look back and realize we had things much easier than in the world we built for our children.
-Chad Williamson is the managing editor for the Journal-Tribune.