It is said often that, “This is the best time to be alive.” Is it? Sure, medical innovation can extend our lives beyond those of our forefathers. Of course, modern technology creates opportunities unfathomable to the likes of Edison, Graham Bell, Tesla and the Wright Brothers. At the heart of the issue, however, lies a more personal problem…whatever happened to being an American? To patriotism? To unity? Why in this age of “me-first” can we not look to our left and to our right and embrace the person standing next to us?
These days, our country limps along as numerous factions vie to impose their version of totalitarianism, of groupthink. Each spends too much time trying to have their opposite see things their way, rather than focusing on what is best …show more content…
It also happens to be near the top of my personal list. Every generation deals with its own issues: social, political, economical, and otherwise, and extremism and acceptance looks to be one of Generation Z’s, of which I am a member. It is sad to realize how far we have come in some areas in this country, and still, so far we have left to go. I learn of history, and of their misfortunes, and hope in some part of my being that my generation’s hatchets receive a burial before they enumerate to archaic proportions. I hope so, because, if nothing else, of the faint sense of childhood optimism remaining inside of me. As kids, we all look at the world through a utopic lens: there is no war, no death, no disease, no hatred, and no deception. Growing older, the levels of realism within ourselves heighten to the point where we can have sayings like, “No good deed goes unpunished.” It frustrates me to no end to see both the political right and left refuse to recognize the skeletons in their respective closets, and instead, act as though they hold some sort of moral high ground the opposite side hopes to