Is there going to be a world left by the time I'm 50?

[DGoeij]

You tell me.
My dad's 50th birthday was recently, great celebration off course, but I wondered if I will make it that far. I'm a healthy person, but how long is the world going to last? Johannesburg is going to be a downright dissapointment, and a lot of nations are way too triggerhappy these days.
Am I just pessimistic or do you Tweens have these feelings too? Are we going to inherit the Earth, or the left-overs?

[Legolam]

I don't think we should be so pessimistic. Yeah, so there's a few big guns in the world trying to mess it up for us, but it's all happened before and we've made it through. The thing I'm more worried about is the apathy gripping most of my generation. Previous generations have been outspoken and tried to change the course of history before they've inherited their world. We just seem to be waiting for it to come to us and then we'll do something about it.

[DGoeij]

I don't know. A lot of my friends think the current adults are screwing everything up with their happy sixties attitude, thinking they belonged to such a great movement and all that. Instead of looking at the facts and act with some common sense.
But we have the odds against us, there are a lot less you people nowadays in comparison to the huge numbers that were young during the sixties and seventies.

[In Flames]

I think there will always be wars fought around the world, i don't think that the world will be a much worse place when our time is up than it is now. But lets say that in about 200 years i wouldnt want to live on this planet. The polution is getting worse, more and more countries with "unstable" leaders are getting their hands on nuclear and biological weapons. If you have money you can get whatever massdestruction wepons you want.

I believe the strong and rich countries will only get stronger and richer, while the opposite for the poor countries. I have donated clothes and money to a organisation here in Sweden, that have been highly respected for years for their work to help 3rd world countries. And now it turns out that only 20-30% of the clothes and money that people have donated reached the ones who needed it! The chairman and other people have taken most of the money for themselves!:mad: I don't make a huge salary, but i can afford to donate 2-300 kronor a month,(20-30$) but then i want to be sure that it gets to the ones that need it! And not to some already rich, greedy bastard!

[Elbereth]

I had never been one to believe in prophesy before, however, after living in New York City for six years and seeing a biblical prophesy come to life right before my eyes ...I have reason to worry about not living to see my 50th birthday.

The world is a crazy place right now. It has been spiraling out of control since our grandfather's generation was in power. Ancient annimosity and years of political bickering and backstabbing still plague us today...and I only see it getting worse before it gets better.

Since last year...I have had to ask myself whether I should continue the life I started her in NYC (which I love) or to leave the city and hide away in some small distant town far away from the craziness of the world. But the fact is we can't hide from the troubles of the world... we just have to keep on living. I try to dream about the future...building a strong career, getting married...having a family...seeing my grandchildren...but regardless there is still that nagging fear in the back of my mind that I may not have that opportunity.

[DGoeij]

Originally posted by Elbereth
...but regardless there is still that nagging fear in the back of my mind that I may not have that opportunity.

That's what I mean. I live, study, have fun and all, but it's the nagging feeling you described that is not going away. And I'm only a witness of these horrible events by TV.

Just look at the latest post in the US&Iraq thread in the Guild of Politics....

[Niniel]

I just can't be so pessimistic. The world has gone on for so long, with terrible things going on all the time, that I don't feel it will end or that there willl be a war here in Europe. Of course everything can happen, but I just don't want to worry about it before it happens.

[DGoeij]

I'm not afraid of war in Europe, I'm afraid of triggerhappy people all over the globe, who have acces to NBC-weaponary. It's only since the last decades that these things have come available to mankind, and we are not known for our caution with dangerous things.
I know worrying doesn't help. I'm just hoping, very cynical, that if the disasters will happen, it will happen one continent further.

[Aulë]

I'm worried about this North Korea conflict. They appear to be rather trigger happy, and America seems to be taking great pride in taunting them. A nuclear war could be a real possibility. :(
I heard recently that they (The N. Koreans) were even aiming their missiles at Japan. Madness!

Hopefully China will calm things down. (Who would have thought? Us relying on the Chinese to create peace)

[Snaga]

The thing that seems most sad of all is that there is noone with any good ideas for the future as far as I can see. I can't see imminent annihilation as a threat. Just slow environmental degradation, as the world 'develops' but there are still as many people living in misery as ever, and ever more Liberia-style wars where people fight over the scraps that the rich countries don't want.

Hey, that was happy...:S

[Mindy_O_Lluin]

I come from open prairie
Given some wisdom, and a lot of jive.
Last night the ghost of my old ideals
Reran on channel five.

And it howled so spooky for it’s eagle soul,
I nearly broke down and cried.
But the split-tounged spirit just laughed at me,
He said “Your serpent cannot be denied.”

(from Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter – J. Mitchell)
I think there should be plenty more discussions like this. Yes, some idealists in the 60’s started movements towards peace; harmony with, and preservation of nature; respectful, non-violent conflict resolution (which apparently Bush never studied); eastern spirituality, meditation, and karmic sensibilities; positive, healthful ways to raise kids, etc.; but it scares the heck out of me at how many of those same people sold out to Wall Street, selfishness, fundamentalism, and other evils, now that they are in their 50s.

It’s up to you young people to pick up the baton and run with it!

The major killer of progress towards an ideal is: apathy. This is being currently indicated (in microcosm) by the example of Los Angeles’s big plans to clean up the smog in the LA Basin. NPR has reported that, after a few years of improved air quality, it is again getting worse, because the conglomerate of individuals that make up the population, are back to doing what is self-gratifying and easy. – Buying SUVs and avoiding the electric or low-emission vehicles, avoiding the low-emission mass transit. GM is now forced to kill its line of electric vehicles due to lack of demand. Why should they make positive strides in R&D if you, the people, don’t demand it? And of course, population increase is a big reason – now that ‘population control’ is a bad word.

It’s true that there have always been similar problems throughout history – but the ebb and flow if the ‘idyllic’ must swing back into the majority’s consciousness before the destruction becomes irrepairable. Tolkien knew it takes 12 or so Valar to counteract the bulldozing force of one Melkor.

[edit: Study these things, start clubs and political movements in your schools. Vote. Do SOMEthing!
A strong grassroots movement can 'change the course of the future'.
You may say "this is hard!" but you must put energy into a system if you expect it NOT to fall into chaos. And young people are the ones with the most energy.]

[DGoeij]

I know enough people can make a serious difference in how things might work out in the end. It's just that it always seems that it takes a far less amount of people to create disaster than it takes to create joy.
I mean, I visited the Deutshces Eck in Koblenz last week. A monument to remember the reunification of Germany in 1989. A cheerful moment in a country not that different from my own, that took a lot of effort and many years before this sad episode finally ended. The week before that, I visited Westerbork (http://www.westerbork.nl/), a former campsite in the Netherlands, where people were gathered for some time, before they were transported to the east, to places like Auswitsch, Treblinka, Lubljana, etc. In under five years, 107, 000 people were sent east, less then 5,000 returned.

A rather sad efficiency that nevers seems to be albe to put into action when it comes to really helping people.