See What the Young Are Saying…and Be Moved!

I appreciate the author's good intentions and the students' hopeful approach, no matter how large or small their efforts.

Evolution is a process of small changes...

Rainbow Warrior February 21st, 2008 1:04 pm

"we might be building the first straw bale home for this program next year in SW Colorado."

I'm glad to hear that, I've been watching straw bale and rammed earth technology for six or seven years. Would really like to build my own home using one of these methods. I just don't have the knowledge yet. Education in all areas is the key.

Something I want to do right now is build a solar powered oven, dryer and heat system for my home. Most people don't know that you can build a solar heater/oven, if you willing to be a scavenger, practically for free. It will cost you less than fifty bucks if you want to buy the materials. You can also buy them for a few hundred dollars or less if you don't mind getting the screw and giving away your money. In my opinion companies should be able to sell these thing for seventy to a hundred dollars and still make a good profit.

I'm definitely scavenging enough material to build a solar oven. My understanding is it's the oven version of a crock-pot. These can even be built into the south sides of any building. I'm planning on setting it right beside my smoker/grill. In the summer we don't use air conditioner very much and the one we have is only a window unit cooling a small room. So we do a lot of cooking outdoors.

After that I'm planning on building a solar food dryer. I'm planning on growing and drying my own herbs for over winter use plus I'll make a few good relations with some of my excess. I've considered drying vegetables also but I have a freezer for storing the abundance of my small organic garden. Yes I even make a few good relations with some there also. I'm going to wait on my solar air heater for my house because I only have one small window on the south side of my house.

I'm also in the near future going to build my own solar hot water heater. Reading about how to do it on the net I believe I can scavenge most but not all the things I need for free. The only thing I don't think I can find is insulation, valves, copper pipe and fittings.

Each one of these items I mention can be made by the average person in a way that blends in and looks good on their property.

Rainbow Warrior I think a solar heater for that straw bale home could easily be incorporated in a south facing wall.

Have you seen this article?

Thermosyphon Solar Heater
These articles describe the simple and inexpensive passive solar collector that I use to heat my shop/barn.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/solar_barn_project.htm

We can all change but we have to do it at the local level. Support you local farmers market. Volunteer your labor to houses for humanity. Demand brown paper bags and if you have a garden compost them. Don't buy into the hype called ethanol gas. Not only does it cause more harm to our environment, it wears out your vehicles faster. Remember to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Rainbow Warrior,

Very inspiring comments. We need more people like you.

Being in for the long haul says two things to me. One that there is recognition of something requiring a long haul, and that it expresses the perspective at present. The 'long haul' will probably morph into a blossoming of definitions and perspectives not even imagined yet. It says one other thing - that one's heart and mind are rooted (the root of the word 'radical' is 'root' - look it up).

Sustainability radicals will always have the earth on their side. It been around longer than war.

thanks, olga, for the carbon footprint calculator link. however, you DO realize that k college is an exceptional place. still, it is great to see what young, fresh vision can see that we wearing mindbindings can't.

let us all go into the future doing the best we can.

g50, was this, "Longer lifespan thanks to medical advances & the green revolution. Extending the human lifespan is the opposite of destroying lives," your answer? How does that even begin to address the U.S. as a destructive force?

Change is consistent, but there is no instsant gratifaction from the proccess, it takes decades to change the coarse of a large ship of state like the US... When I graduated with an Earth Sciences and Enviromental Studies BS in 1980 I thought I could help change the world in short order. Regan entered office before I graduated in june, and his first infamous "100 days" in office side tracked and marginalized the evironmental movement to this day! Remember Ann Bueford and James Watt?

The key is persistance and dedication, and to be true to your conscienceness. I never cut my hair, at age 51 I still have my hippie pony tail. I have been a vegeterian for 36 years. I have never given up the fight! In the late 80s and early 90s I helped edit the first series of the Sustainable Design Resource guide for the AIA. In the mid 90s I helped develop the first Built Green Program in Denver Colorado with the Home Builder's Accos. in conjunction with Austin Texas... talk about walking into the lions den as a fresh piece of meat!!! But we were patient, persistant and now that program is an International Standard. I have been involved with solar and wind for 25 years, and we are just beginning to see results that were possible 30 years ago... I have helped develop and perfect load bearing straw bale home construction and natural earth plastering and rammed earth thermal mass flooring for passive solar, and after almost 15 years of hounding Habitat for Humanity, we might be building the first straw bale home for this program next year in SW Colorado.

I don't share these things to pump my ego, but to make a point that change for the better against the many economic interests out there is a constant up hill struggle. You can never take your eye off the ball, or ease up for a moment.

There is hope, and any and all inspiration is welcome. Some of you that post here and claim to be progressives have become cynical and frustrated...
be proud, hold your heads high and look the opposition in the eye and smile. Stop nit picking other members of the team effort here, don't sweat the small stuff! Have the courage to continue to speak truth to power, even if you get the crap beaten out of you emotionally and politically! We know we are on the side of good vs evil on many issues, it is black and white and becomes clearer every day. Once past the tipping point that looms in the near future we can once again add full color to the picture and bury the old ways so they can never be recycled!

Just hang in there. We have come so far and are now so close to the realization of our best collective dreams for the future. But we can not, and must not shift this burden to next generation!!! At age 51 due to my life style and spirituality I could take on at least three 20 year olds at the same time, but violence will not win this war. Leadership by example and demonstartion has been my personal key to success, stand in that place of integrity by actions and not words... there are far more followers than there will ever be leaders. Become a path finder and a gate keeper to find new and better ways to live and then hold that place open for others to follow.

The first proggressive movement of the 21st Century has so much beautiful energy as it begins to snow ball, we will win over many by it's positive energy and youthful spirit. We have a vission of an increadably better future for all, not just the top 10% that drives our oppostion at the expense of the other 90%.

You are nuts. People have been dreaming of the end times for longer than the concept of peak oil has been around. Romantic throwback, luddites reconstituted, etc.

By Randy White
Editor, Lawns to Gardens

Oopsy. Looks like America was caught off guard from reality. I still am in awe some "News" outlets are still debating whether a recession has arrived.

1) What schools did they go to?
2) Don't send your kids there

Just today, oil scored a new high price record at $101 a barrel.

The logic of OPEC's argument makes no economic sense. They report:

"Market analysts say OPEC producers might cut production in response to the slowdown of the US economy, which is world's biggest oil user."

Excuse me, but does that make any sense? Have we seen a drop in demand? Why would they decrease the amount of oil when the demand is rising? To me, this screams geological realities and market distributors making excuses for an inability to add more oil to the market. And that constitutes post-peak. Here is another comical take on peak oil, this one is from MSNBC:

"Oil futures shot higher Tuesday, closing above $100 for the first time as investors bet that crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon.

There was no single driver behind oil's sharp price jump; investors seized on an explosion at a 67,000 barrel per day refinery in Texas, the falling dollar, the possibility that OPEC may cut production next month, the threat of new violence in Nigeria and continuing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela."

See the contradiction? Wake up to real economics, folks.

Since the new Depression is most definitely here, and it is only going to get worse before things get better, how are young people reacting?

Young people do not have to be defined by their age. Normally, youth is associated with inexperience and naivety, which is why they are often discredited by the more entrenched, 'experienced' adults, right?

But what happens when that experience turns obsolescence, and the adults themselves have attention deficit disorders? To me, it would imply that they are losing control and don't know how to solve their problems.

The most amazing thing happened the other day. I was home and there was a knock at the door. Two young giggling women opened their introduction with: "Hi. We're a little short on Rent this month, and were wondering if you had any soda cans you might want to donate?".

I must be turning into a bit of a scrooge, because while I invited them to go through my recycling containers, I certainly wasn't about to give them money. Not after they showed up on my front porch with their cell phones in hand.

So it makes me wonder - just how are clueless dolts in America going to handle the severe lifestyle changes that are coming? Many people have never dealt with Trauma, choosing rather to tune out into whatever entertainment experiences have kept them distracted from dealing with pain. It's always the easy way out, trying to take pills to mask symptoms rather than getting in shape.

Only something is different now, isn't it? It sure is getting harder to live the same way, isn't it? But, "like, everything's gonna be all right though, won't it dude? Won't we be able to keep dancing like they do in those TV commercials, and keep buying all the neat products and services they tell me to purchase? If only I could afford it."

Sorry kids, financial stress is just the beginning. Wait until you have to grow your own food. Ha! If only you knew how awesome gardening is, and how much food we can produce on a small piece of lawn.

I would like to know when people are going to put the math together and start waking up to the fact that money is about to go bye-bye and we may have a crash of civilized life. I just hope the Internet remains operational - I see it as one of our only hopes for communication and keeping things civil.

"Truly, the best part about teaching is being inspired by the students!"

I thought that was YOUR job. You know the one YOU get paid to do, to inspire the students. It's obvious by your report that you're so politically clueless you couldn't inspire anyone. If you're going to get "inspired" because your students have decided to end global warming by taking cold showers, YOU are failing them in their education. Of course, nothing new with that when it comes to "education". Education within a capitalist system is all about bullshit and NEVER challenging the system itself.

Percentages:

Perhaps the large reason it is so difficult for our country to take the path of Integrity is that on just about every issue since the Revolutionary War we are devided 49% to 51% with very nearly half of our population (can't call them citizens, really) abstaining to vote for anything at all. Those that have opted out of the process would be instrumental in helping effect positive change that would be of benefit to them if they would make the small effort to bother to vote. Human nature being what it is, I am not holding my breath for results in that area.

Veteran '66-68

penscot: so right. In my profession I worked alongside both the powerful movers and shakers and the lowly laborers and grunts. By far, there was always more happiness and realism at the bottom than at the top. Had a client - wealthy, politically connected, big house, expensive car - plopped himself down in a chair opposite one day and fairly cried his way through the littany of his unhappiness, and of his friends. And he didn't understand what was happening to him, at the time in his life when he should have been enjoying the rewards of a life of hard work and ambition.

A very good friend of mine about ten years ago was going through a very serious period of depression due to a loveless marriage and lack of social interaction from being out of the workforce. I advised her to do some volunteer work. She did, and the change in her was a complete turnaround. Though the effort she got involved in was terminated for political reasons, it was a lesson learned permanantly. I know- I learned it a long time ago.

Changing their lives they do because they no longer trust their leaders to make changes, and that includes their parents. Big suv's, mcmansion homes -- they have everything, in a lot of cases, and like the rest of the Western World, they are not happy. It's that simple. Everything that people have said has been mostly correct, on both sides, but the simplest reality of all is that they are not happy with the way life is now.
I grew up on a small island nation: everything was imported, and we recycled things until they dissolved. We were happier with the life we led then than people are now, with all the Stuff they now have.
So don't mock 'em: they're changing what they directly can.

I'm mostly with Lizard today: may you find a nice warm rock and bask in the sun of the glory of being created.

However, why so long a laundry list of things to do? It can all be consolidated into one action:

Call for the impeachment of Cheney/Bush.

Until the sadistic behavior, most outstandingly demonstrated by the current Presdent and Vice President of the United States, is confronted...well it won't just go away; plus the dynamic duo of doom are such perfect poster children for targeting the bully behavior which, yes, we would do well to learn to confront at home, work and play...but what a perfect opportunity that still sits in front of us.

And, though I've been purchasing second hand cloths for 20 years now, just like it's our birth right to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and clean water, it's also the birth right within a civilized society to wear our own cloths as we wear our own skin...

If one wants to simplify and challenge oneself:

cut the laundry list to one word: impeach,

then develop all the human skills that you have

to to stay focused.

Longer lifespan thanks to medical advances & the green revolution. Extending the human lifespan is the opposite of destroying lives.

Oksy---prove the statement, "The US is a destructive force on the planet," to be wrong, g50.

The US is a destructive force on the planet - ugh

You know, when I see this coming from people on the left, it makes me want to be a conservative just to stick it in your eye. My nation is my democracy, my history and my community, how can you expect anyone to listen to your information or proposals if you say this kind of thing? It reminds me of how I feel when I see conservatives talking about their idiotic sexual morality and how evil gays and feminists are.

We can wallow in cynicism, depression, and helplessness if we like, but that will get us nowhere. Are the students' comments weak, bland, and just barely scratching the surface of the true nature of our problems? IMHO, yes.

Should they be dismissed and ridiculed. Of course not.

At 55 with two sons, one 22 and one 16, I'm the most radical person I personally know. Growing up in the 60's and 70's radicalized me, and I've been aware of the impossible future of our current systems for most of my life. I never pulled any punches explaining this to my boys as they were growing, yet I cannot be with them every minute of the day to counter the propaganda unconsciously repeated by their friends, their teachers, and the media.

My oldest son, now dilligently working his way toward a teaching degree while working full-time and raising a child recently told me that, as a teenager listening to my rants about U.S. and world affairs, he thought I was "crazy." But many of the teachers he's had (many of them socialists,) telling him the same things I did for years have made him realize that I'm not in fact crazy, but saner than the rest of the country. When he was 5 he began shutting me out of his personal world; would confide his personal life to my wife, but not to me. I understood the cognative dissonace caused by comparing what I was telling him as opposed to what this society was telling him.

Now at 22, he calls home every day to talk to ME. I can't get him to shut up, it's all coming spilling out of him, and I'm happy as a clam. Not that I've turned him into a cynical defeatist, but that he can finally "see." Despite my abhorance at our society and culture I never lost hope and was involved in many small ways in positive endeavors, conducting myself morally and ethically. Can be a very lonely and lone exercise here in the good ol' U.S.A. but I've come to realize (as has he) that the small things do make a difference. I may not have changed a lot of minds, but at least I've caused many to think and to question.

The odds that our government will be an agent of change are so long that I wouldn't even try to quantify that possibility. Any change that may be in the offing will come from the bottom up, and where do you think the agents of that change will come from?

There is a big flap over Michelle Obama's "Proud of America" statement. The conservative, response is to wave the flag, and sing, "I'm proud to be American." It's right up there with our old bumper stickers, "America right or wrong". The press accepts the criticism, and runs with it, while projecting than only the wierd, the unamerican, the radical are troubled with American world positions and reputation. Lay the fault at the clergy, (I'm one of them) for if we proclaimed any type of prophetic reality, those who attended church would have heard a call to repentance and acknowledgment of our sin.
I applaud these students, and understand Lizard's laundry list. I have attempted both the simple change myself and my family, and the complex -- educate people to the big picture. Both are difficult, both have limited effect, and both are necessary. I am willing to attempt active support for Obama, while questioning both his chances for success in bringing long term chanage, and his commitment to radically and fundamentally changing our position in the world. I am willing to support him, because his campaign offers a place for both Lizard (and the rest of us old time Viet Nam generation, civil rights activists and todays new student generation to learn together, work together, and make an impact.

Lizard points out a laundry list of huge problems, but they're so big that no one of us fix them.

The student's list is a list of things that they can do themselves and can start doing right now. Instead of blowing up the problems to be so huge they are unsolvable, they have identified the things they can do that will help.

The only way we are going to fix these huge problems is with small steps made by ordinary people. Just think of the effects of a whole generation deciding not to buy new and to eat local.

If that is the true state of our youngs thinking, especially those at an age suitable for marching and demonstrating, then we are doomed. DOOMED.

Inspiration like this is so depressing.

Remember Orwells 1984. War=peace. Teach that in your peacemaking class. Or just teach your class what our role has been in "peacemaking" as a country over the last 60 years, and if it is a bunch of happy talk about how we make the world safe for democracy and fight hunger, poverty and disease then get your head examined, get off the drugs, open a book and learn the history of your country, or find another job.

The glum future you are presenting is here yesterday, it is not the future.

Our kids are being brainwashed. Of course, she would be fired doing what I say, so I understand. I do. But I don't understand bragging about being a master brain washer in public

lizard,

I do. And some other students do. But too many are settling for "change [they] can believe in" i.e. Obama's inadequate, rhetorical corporate prescription for America.

I shudder at the thought of so many young people being won over by Barack Obama. I did my research in August 2007 and decided who I wanted to campaign for and support. My choice was Dennis Kucinich.

Since then, I have become further disenchanted with the political process and motivated to pursue reforms. I am going to vote for the Independent candidate or Green Party candidate for president in November and probably do some campaigning for that candidate.

I am a "trusted author" on OpEdNews.com. My name is Kevin Gosztola.

I invite you to see that there is hope---that there are students who are pushing the ideas you listed out because I agree with all of them.

At this stage in the game, the youth of America need to hear what they aren't hearing from politicians and the corporate media. That is why it is so important for those who do realize reality like me to write articles online, publish books, create media like documentaries, etc. so people can see behind the convolutions being spun for all Americans to believe.

Lizard isn't poisoning anyone, what he\she said is the complete truth.
In regard to Israel, cut the funding... Is it that hard???. Oh yes I forgot the US is run from Tel Aviv.

pikaomega February 20th, 2008 4:07 pm

"Perhaps, instead of throwing stones at those of us who were silly enough to be born in the clutches of Reaganomics, our detractors could put up or shut up. If you have the answers, then share them with the rest of us. Lord knows I have the time to listen…seems I'm just spinning my wheels."

First, no, you're not just spinning your wheels. None of us have the answers but many fail to start taking the steps to address the problems as they see them. In that regard, you are to be commended. Having done what you've already done, you're ahead of most on this board.

The Reagan era sucked the big one, and those who came of age during that era were set back from their first breath. However, you were not the only ones who were born into such times, and many people before you were born into even more difficult times. The thing is this: Once you grok, once you figure out that you've been screwed, you have no excuses - you either walk or talk. We each have that choice. Do something or just blow hot air.

lizard commented that s/he is unimpressed and then laid out a laundry list of things that must be seen or done. Well, I understand her/his point of view - I really do. I've come to realize many of the same things and do not consider myself cynical, but awakened.

pikaomega, ladybug, and other younger CDers, I commend you for whatever you're doing in the face of great odds. My generation (I'm 52) did its share of good and bad, as will yours. Unfortunately for us, what started as a righteous attempt to create a new culture based on egalitarianism and brotherhood turned into a fashion statement and then a headlong drive into pure hedonism. Please, don't go there. Get and stay righteously pissed - you should be! Do what you can to live as simply and humbly as possible - it will serve you well in the lean times to come. Embrace each other and learn to create the life you want, or as Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." It really is the only way to be, the only way to create the world you want.

Godspeed.

Message to the young: You're inheriting a society of rackets so that nine out of ten jobs are wasted. Case in point: Window cleaner costs ten times what it should cost. All you need is water and 30% isopropyl alcohol which costs 30 cents a pint at the drug store. The window cleaner industry should be happy to point this out, and deliver the best value that money can buy. But noooooo! The whole economy works the same way. And not only the economy, but the whole mindset. This is "free market" capitalism.

Professor Bonfiglio,

The article is inspiring and any teacher who has a 'peacekeeping class' is an asset to the school, community, country, and the world.

Young people are idealistic and what you teach, will inspire them to conduct themselves in a positive manner and help enrich society for the common good.

Thank you for your contribution as a TEACHER of 'real' family values.

"That is why I am willing to devote 3-4 hours every other Saturday morning."

A whole 15 minutes a day! Wonder how much TV this person watches?

Not that I'm one to point the finger.

I wonder when the progressives will become concerned that only young Americans who aren't in poverty don't see Obama as just another politician making them promises he'll never keep.

America needs adequate campaign spending limits, not candidates who are mass marketed into office in very unfairly-high-spending campaigns.

lizard is not too hard on anyone. he/she is a deeply suffering being simply attempting to poison others. may all of those of us who know there is light due to our connection to our souls send loving energy to him/her! Yeah its ugly out there, but i know its not ugly inside of me and many of those who believe in truth beauty and goodness. blessings to you olga! health and healing to you lizard...perhaps it is no coincidence your name refers to the lowest functioning portion of our brain?

Having lived through the turmoil of the Sixties, this article provides a wake up call to the cynicism sweeping the ranks of people my age. Hear Hear! Let the young people led the way...

I'm moved alright,...moved to another planet!!! If this is the level of awareness and involvement that's suppose to be our savior...then we're all freakin DOOMED!!!

lizard, you are too hard on the teacher and her pupils. The younger folks are more idealistic in their views, as they figure on being around for awhile and raising families etc, so it is unthinkable that everything is falling apart, and I hope they are right.

I recall having the same feelings when younger, but age has a way of making a person skeptical and pessimistic about our future. Of course it all looks bleak and is not what we should have in our country, but the younger people need to have some dreams of a good life ahead.

The students are grossly unaware. The instructor deserves an F, not accolades.

The world does not need Americans trying to save it, the world needs that America stop attacking it, subverting its good governments and supporting its bad ones. The world needs for Americans, including these students, to MIND ITS OWN BUSINESS. You want to help? Stop supporting Empire. Keep your dog in chains and in your back yard. Do not let him go and attack the neighbors. Simple rule, respect others, don't let your pitbull loose on their children. Got it?

I am totally unimpressed.

The students, after doing research do not say this:

The US is a destructive force on the planet.
Militarism must end in the US
The ignorance of Americans must be changed
The educational sytem fails to teach the true history of the US
Israel is an American attack dog and must be defunded.
The attack on Cuba must stop.
Our leaders are war criminals and must be prosecuted
Our soldiers are and have commited war crimes
9-11 should be properly investigated
Leave Hugo Chavez alone.
Reparations are due all over the world
Laws should be enforced
Defense bdget should be slashed
Demilitarize space
Religion blinds you

Pathetic article, pathetic students and pathetic posters. Oh so inspired, but to do what? Plant trees?

The article is pathetic

I work as a tutor at a county college in New Jersey. I think that a lot of people in my generation (I'm fifty) underestimate these kids. Every single student I have helped are hard working, intelligent and much more aware than we give them. All my props to the new generation. The one thing that makes me sad is something Kurt Vonnegut said he might want on his gravestone. I forget the exact words but it was something like "we apologize for the mess we've left."

Let's see more about Kalamazoo College!

I am 28. I work for an anti-war non-profit-one that is helping put Winter Soldier together-after years spent as a political organizer. My fiancee and I own one car (Prius) that is paid in full, meaning that on any given day someone is walking or riding the Metro. I am a vegetarian, which means that I can opt for cheap, local produce for dinner. We rarely actually GO OUT and spend money on anything besides the occasional dinner, and we buy only resale, if we buy at all.

Given all of this, we still can hardly afford to keep the lights on. I take great offense at the notion that people my age are all slackers that refuse to unplug the iPod long enough to get a job. Tell me, how is it that young people can be lectured about taking responsibility and living in a sustainable manner, and at the same time chastized for falling in the chasam that is crested by doing just that? Perhaps, instead of throwing stones at those of us who were silly enough to be born in the clutches of Reaganomics, our detractors could put up or shut up. If you have the answers, then share them with the rest of us. Lord knows I have the time to listen...seems I'm just spinning my wheels.

Thanks Meg and Kernel

The only difference I see in the youth over 18 is the look on their faces when Obama speaks, same as when we would hear JFK or MLK, I wish something would put them into action.
I never see but a few under 40 at Marches, Rallies, different Campaigns, ie; counter recruitment actions, putting their effort into aiding people their own age in the upcoming 'Winter Soldier' Testimony, which costs each Vet or active-duty Afghanistan or Iraq Military to sit. $1200/per day to tell 'TRUTH', never subpoenaed, they took this upon themselves to open this Pandoras Box up so maybe the public will learn. Civilians from Afghanistan and Iraq will be testifying to the illegal atrocities committed upon them. That would help, Peace Corp., NOLA aid, physical work to rebuild the Parish's destroyed there, calling their Rep. Or Senators on a Toll Free 800-828-0498, call Judiciary, daily, only takes a few sentences.
Anything they become ACTIVE about. It would sure take alot of weight off our shoulders, regardless of what we think, Obama seems to move them so I am giving them a chance, maybe they never realized the damage that has occurred, now they know, ao now DO SOMETHING, I laud you for your help, young men and women, DO IT!!!!

ladybug___Congratulations on your conservative and sensible lifestyle. I am wondering, though, if affluent parents are horrorized, while average parents are merely horrified.

Ladybug, you rock.

Way to go Olga! Thanks for giving young people a chance to take their idealistic perceptions and nagging worries into practical strategies for living. More teachers should do that. One teacher I know organized a clothing project where kids researched how their clothes and sneakers are made. The wages, the conditions and the child labor involved were eye-opening. Buying used clothing and buying less often could be one response.

Maybe if young people have a chance to work on concrete things to alleviate the ambient anxiety of war-world and resource-disappearing-world that my generation has created, fewer will escape to constant use of cell phones, ipods, TVs, text messaging, shopping, anti-depressents, drugs, consumerism.

It is not only the younger generation that feels this way. The main issue is that most of us never hear thoughts and statements like this because we are all plugged into a monopoly media system that focuses on cheap entertainment and commercials that encourage us to consume everything in sight.

We need more democratic media systems that broadcast and amplify the thoughts and discussions of citizens. We need to realize that there is a lot more to our world than cheap entertainment and an endless roll of commercials encouraging us to feel better by buying things.

I am 30, so I feel part of this generation of young people who are inspired to fix the mess left by previous generations.
When I told my affluent parents that I buy second-hand clothing as a way to recycle, they were horrorized. But with further explaining I made them see that new is not necessary better and that real freedom to me means not consuming relentlessly. I think they got the message.
It feels good to raise awareness.

Rockerbabe1,

And whose responsibility was it to teach them to appreciate their parents' work? I believe parents of my generation (I'm 44.) have done a crappy job instilling values in kids. Instead, we've been focused on money. Everyone works full-time in almost every household, and kids are left to shrift for themselves.

The students above may be learning for the first time that they can make choices to change the world. Let's give their instructor a hand for that. And the kids deserve a hand too, for recognizing it.

As parents, we need to be asking what kind of example we're setting. Are we willing to forego material goods to spend time with our kids? Are we willing to ask them to make choices about where we as a family spend our money? Are we willing to do the hard work that is parenting.

Let's not be too quick to lay all the responsibility at the kids' feet.

WOW. I am so amazed. These souls came in at this time to rebuild, and this demonstrates their mindsent and character. I feel very inspired and invigorated by their words and actions.

Yes it does and it takes for granted that which their parents have worked very hard to obtain - for them. Many still, even in their middle and late twenties and thirties still can't live within their means and are constantly asking for a handout from their parents. Most do not go into the Peace Corp, Americorp, the military, etc to work for a better world or even protect the one we have. I wish them well.

As anyone who has children knows, the younger generation will always surprise.