The future looks pretty depressing for our kids

[Anonymous]

I'm honestly scared for my Gen Alpha kids and the mess they're inheriting. Schools are underfunded, healthcare is a joke unless you're rich, and more basic rights are getting chipped away every day. Meanwhile billionaires hoard everything and politicians only care about their own interests instead of actually doing anything. Climate change is getting worse and half the country still acts like it's not real. I don't want my kids growing up thinking this is normal. I want them to believe in a country that actually cares about people, not just profits. But right now, it’s hard to feel hopeful. And that's just the surface. I'm not even going to start talking about the economy they'll inherit.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the world's a mess right now. I worry about this stuff too. but here's my take every generation faced their own version of the world is ending. The Cold War, AIDS crisis, 9/11... different problems, same fear. i'm teaching my kids to be tough but kind. to fight for what matters. the world needs more good people, not fewer. don't give up. Just raise them to be better than we were.

[Anonymous]

I had this battle with myself a while ago. It is really hard to have hope with all that is going on, I agree.

A good life is never a guarantee, though, and there will always be some level of struggle. My husband put it this way: the world needs intelligent and empathetic people to keep having kids, even if life is hard. Because you know damn well that the idiotic and selfish ones who got us here are gonna keep having more babies. We have to level the field. I do worry about my son's future, but I just try to protect him and give him a good life to the best of my ability and I will continue to and that's all we can do, really, I think. Teach them the best we can, protect them when we can, show them love and empathy and guidance and hope that they bring more of it to the world so this stupid predicament ends.

[Anonymous]

Doom spiraling doesn’t help, though. Hank green has a couple good videos about this. Basically his point is - if we give up hope for our children, what are we even living for? Yeah, shit sucks right now. But I have hope BECAUSE of my son. He’s a freaking delight, and so smart and interesting. And my husband and I are gonna do our best to raise a person who’s going to contribute good to this world. That’s the best we can do, and the rest is out of our control.

[Anonymous]

We are spending more on social programs and income redistribution schemes than ever before, and it's never enough for you.

You're the one with the problem.

"From those according to their abilities, to those according to their needs." - Karl Marx

[Anonymous]

The wealth divide and erosion of the middle class is problematic. This has happened a time or two throughout history and has a solid track record of not ending well.

People have been crawling and clawing upwards to earn rights and freedoms that are swiftly being disintegrated.

I understand your worry. I feel it, too.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, depressing talk does me no good now. I have kids and I can’t take them back. All we can do is act. I have friends who love to be all “ugh we’re so fuсked” but STILL refuse to play hardball with their Trumper parents or even publicly support a candidate.

[Anonymous]

Don't forget AI! It might cause a lot of problems if left unregulated.

But you know, as bad as it is now, I am sure there were worse times in history for people's kids. We don't have Genghis Khan or the black plague to look forward to, after all. Though some sort of plague is not off the table. Something worse than we've seen.

Also, it isn't really super horrible right now. We have a lot to be grateful for and a lot of good things too!

[Anonymous]

The future didn't look great when Millennials were kids with Bush, 9/11, and the GFC.

The future didn't look great for Boomers when you were drafted into Vietnam, and literally didn't have Civil Rights.

The future didn't look great for the Greatest Generation who had to literally land on the shores of Normandy, and so many others and discovered millions of people massacred and the threat of nuclear war.

You could keep going back to when we literally enslaved people, or the Middle Ages were your only upward mobility was being a peasant farmer.

I would much rather live today, than any other time in history.

/signed a Millennial African American who doesn't have to be a slave and can marry whoever I want.

[Anonymous]

Agree. It’s even more depressing for those of us with kids who have lifelong, pre-existing conditions.

[Anonymous]

Things have always been bleak.

I never understood the argument that everything is depressing for future generations when the entire human history has been dark.

WW1, WW2, Vietnam, Great Depression, Spanish FLu, Women couldn't vote until 1917, segregation, the cold war. I'm sure parents felt great when kids used to do nuclear war tests in the 1960s/70s

And that's just really in the past 100 years. What about life in the 1500s? 1600s? Before vaccines? Infant mortality rates? Women dying in childbirth?

It's not like humanity has been living in this rainbows and butterflies of nostalgia.

Life has always been hard, and will always be hard because each generations will face challenges that the other generations couldn't even imagine BUT there are challenges that our kids will never understand because it's different.

All you can do is raise your kids the best to your ability to be a positive contributing member to society, and try and make the world a better place. But that should be your goal no matter the state of society.

Edit: I would also like to add the addition of social media in today's generation has allowed these type of conversations to be had at this level. I wonder how society would view history differently if these type of discussions could be had regularly.

[Anonymous]

Shit was never good for minority children.

But this means it’s time to get serious about politics. So many Americans haven’t cared unless it messed with them. Now it’s messing with us all.

[Anonymous]

I believe in my kids and therefore believe in their future because they'll be the ones writing it. The way I see it, having children means having hope for the future.

[Anonymous]

We can still make a difference for them!

I personally don’t want to raise my son in the US cause I don’t think the school system or the health care system here work. My husband and I are working our asses off to save and invest as much money as we can before he starts elementary school to have a good safety net for when we move to Europe. Obviously it’s also not perfect there but life is more family friendly, less chaotic and we love the Mediterranean culture (I’m from Spain).

We hope our generation can slow down the effects of climate change and he can have a normal childhood in general.

[Anonymous]

Yep every generation has their bullshіt. Buy all the Zinn books about people's history. Teach them the reality without being too pessimistic. That's all we can do.