OK, here is my first “real” blog. Remember, this is me thinking out loud, throwing out something for reflection. This is not set in stone stuff. I don’t mind disagreement and I wouldn’t mind changing my mind. Here goes:
I was born in 1959. According to most cultural timelines I’ve seen, that sneaks me in on the caboose of the train that is the “Baby Boomer Generation.” Boomers have been described as a “Me First” generation. Generalizations like this are always at least partial lies, but often that means they are also partial truths. Recently, I’ve seen evidence that maybe the “Me First” label is something more deserved than we would like to admit.
We Boomers first came into our adulthood with the rebellion of the 60s against authority. Yet, as we inherited political, social and institutional power and became the authorities, we found ways to build on the wealth we gradually inherited from our parents. Now, as the Boomer generation reaches the last years of calling the shots, the economy we re-shaped has suffered what seems to me to have been a delayed but inevitable severe recession. The impressive retirement funds amassed by Boomers took severe hits and the economy no longer is hiding how we have taken more out than we put in.
I am saddened by what may be an “Our Generation First” response to the economic crisis we had a major hand in creating. My state of
And
Education used to be a leading cause for Boomers. Look at what we expected of our schools for our students with special promise and special needs. Why would we Boomers now find it more logical to cut education before raising taxes? The possible answer that saddens me is that, statistically speaking, most of our children are now cycling out of the educational system. When it was about us and our children, we demanded better education. Now what are we demanding?
Unless we reverse this recent trend, here is the end result that I fear will be part of my generation’s legacy: The generation we rebelled against made major sacrifices so we could have better educational opportunities then they had available to them. We might end our tenure as the generation in power by demanding our assets be protected through sacrificing educational opportunities for our children’s children.
Unfortunately, we are seeing here in Kentucky, that one of the first areas in education that is cut is the arts. But all is not hopeless...I work for a non-profit group called the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning and their approach to education is a hybrid program of teaching, blending math with creative writing, literature with art, etc., so that the arts can be used as a tool to promote learning in the core subjects. So, as a fellow 59er...don't be too hard on us...at least we are coming up with some solutions to the mess we have created.:) Ronda Adamic
ReplyDeleteAt least in principle, no one wants to cut educational programs, no one wants to cut health care benefits, no one wants to take welfare checks away from those who really need it or rip unemployment checks from the people who have truly fallen on hard times. The problem is, however, all of these social programs increase mandatory government spending which, among other things, furthers our growing national debt and extends the recession (or at least the effects of the recession) to subsequent fiscal years. So if education programs cannot be cut because they are too vital to the future of our country, what social program in its place should be cut instead? The reality of our current predicament in America leaves us with only two things to do that no one likes; we as a nation must first tighten our belts fiscally and cut some important social programs. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the result of our past choices.
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