They're Afraid...They're Very Afraid

So this is what evil looks like.

Terrorism is everywhere. Racism is everywhere. Homophobia is everywhere. Chauvinism is everywhere. Second hand smoke is everywhere. Offensive humor is everywhere. Corporate greed is everywhere. Guns are everywhere. Bullies are everywhere.Trans fats are everywhere. Big Gulps are everywhere (except New York City). Happy Meals are everywhere. Plastic grocery bags are everywhere. People who use plastic grocery bags are everywhere. Natural disasters are everywhere. Incurable diseases are everywhere.

Danger is everywhere...and you are not safe.

Got it?

Of course you do. Yet you go on with your life, discerning which threats are truly serious and which are over-blown or agenda-driven.

Thing is, our children aren't making those distinctions. They're being taught not to. Simply put, our kids are being overwhelmed by alarm bells. The inner fight which is necessary for a happy and successful life is being taken right out of them at the earliest age possible.

Our classrooms have turned awareness into obsession. Our politicians have turned healthy fear into paranoia.  And our Entertainment Industrial Complex (which, in this day and age, is far more nefarious than a complex of the military variety) sees to it that no child is left behind to think on his or her own.

After all, so the logic goes, in a world as dangerous as ours, there really is no room for original thought. We must all stick together, do what those who wish to protect us order, and hope for the best. To deviate from the group in any way is to wander into the forest of nightmares. And no one wants to do that.

Right?

I may not agree with Nick Gillespie on all matters, but he's written a pretty good article  about the state of our nation's young people for reason.com. Gillespie argues that American youth has a tradition of being rebellious. And he's right. Just look at the 60s. Or the 20s. Hey, even we Generation Xers took the time to whine back in the 90s.

Yet today, Gillespie argues, our young people are not only content with, but are actually dependent on, the system. They don't want to rebel from their parents. They don't want to gripe about their government. They don't want to view the world in any way other than the way they've been told to. And they're going to suffer the consequences for it.

I, however, don't blame the kids. Nor do I think that rebellion is the oh-so-cool thing that all young hipsters should embrace. I simply believe that it's natural for young people to want to spread their wings beyond the realm of indie rock bands. And today's young people don't seem to have that organic intuition. It's been surgically removed from them by the powers that be.

And that's dangerous. Not just for the kids, either. For all of us. After all, the future is theirs...and some day no one will be there to tell them how to run it.