What kind of society are we, as humans creating for the next generation? One full of war and materialism? Is there more to life than this? Sometimes I wonder why people in war torn countries or Third World countries have children when they know they will be subjected to hardship, pain, and suffering. Why have a child and allow them to experience such things?
What a depressing world-view you have. If you consider all of history, we currently live in the most prosperous, safe and peaceful time. A poor person in a first world country lives better then most of the people who have ever walked the face of the earth. A major difference is the news. Now we are hearing about tragedies around the world 24/7, whereas life before the 24 hour news cycle you didn't get to hear about every death across the world (which there were plenty of.) I think a lot of people have children thinking things will improve and their children will have better lives then they did. For the most part this is true. Also a lot of the war torn places were not so bad a few decades ago before the major world powers got bored and decided to muck around. Look at Afghanistan in the 1970's to see what I mean. But there is always a future for people, regardless of how bleak things might be. Look at Marvam Monsef, who came to Canada as a refugee from the Afghanistan war and has now been appointed the minister of democratic institution in the Canadian Federal Government. I guess the real point here is nothing is that simple, the world is a crazy complex place that defies putting things into concise little boxes of information.
I always hear people talk about the good old days when life was a lot easier and everything was better. Pollution has messed up the environment and there's no remedy to it. That's one problem the next generation has to deal with or get destroyed by it. While yes the next generation lives might be relatively easier in some ways thanks to technological advancements as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, life is going to a lot harder for most people. That's what the future holds.
Unfortunately its a sad time in history at the moment and I often question if we're the cruel ones for creating life, only for it to grow up in the sort of environment the world is at now. While I won't say there's no hope for the future, it's only a glimmer but that's fading away quickly.
I think future generations are gonna have to deal with out screw ups over climate change and I also think that there is gonna be a lot of trouble over political correctness being, well, too politically correct! I would like to look on the brighter side of things but at this point in time I honestly can't see anything that great for our generations to look forward to. Virtual reality will likely be refined and spread among the general public within 20 years, if that counts as something to look forward to?
I think children born in developed countries will turn out luckier than those born in developing countries and this events will just multiply exponentially-- all the pain, the good, the education, the suffering, the happiness everything will be based on fate, on which country you will live in. They're gonna look forward to a lot of beneficial technology definitely but they'll also have to deal with a lot of religious, gender and cultural divides that haven't seen true peace even at the dawn of civilization.
It may appear depressing, but it's also the real world. Yes, there are things to look forward to, but where is the humanity? Unless you are brought up somewhere rural, most people will be subjected to materialism early on, and with the media being so prominent then you hear of all the tragedies. Of course if you never travel or leave your hometown then the outside world may seem remote, but I am talking about real experiences. Climate change has affected humanity, so has nuclear weapons in wars, and advanced technology. A different kind of society is evolving.
Well yeah, the next generation will probably not be having an easy time. Climate change and other environmental worries, overpopulation, all these silly wars (though that is a common problem throughout history) and other fun stuff that we can't forsee yet. Also quite worried about robotics, not really as in terminators coming just yet but more about the majority of jobs being done by robots in 30 years time. The point about robots taking jobs... we all know it's going to happen. It's already happening. That is why my investment portfolio will be left for my kids (if I have any) instead of being sold for my retirement pleasures. Because being an owner instead of a worker will be one of the big things in the future.
The trouble is though, the future generations will look back at ours as being the major influence on theirs. Global warming, wars and unrest across the world, a lot we are responsible for but now, there's not a great deal we can do to fix it.
I've been grappling with these sorts of things for a few years now--I'm 33 years old and many of my peers are having children. I have a GF and we're slowly talking, here and there, about kids (we've been together almost 3 years). I truly am worried about where the world is headed, but on top of that... ...this PC culture that is gripping America is also causing me concern. I don't want my daughter(s) to be raised to feel she is an oppressed victim and resent men, and I don't want my son(s) to be raised in a culture where what he is is considered a problem. I've dealt with enough "man-shaming" in my life, and it took me some years to get over it, I don't want my little boy dealing with the same nonsense, and it seems like it's getting worse thanks to social media.
