Have you stopped to think about what this recession will do to our kids? Don't you wish you could talk to a survivor of the 1930's depression era about their experience? If they were old enough to understand what their family had before the crash of '29, this "survivor" would be over ninety-years old today, probably born before 1920.
It is more likely that you're going to get a second-hand story ...
maybe from your parents.
In a strange twist, however, the person who gives you the second-hand version of the story would probably rather tell you about their own life-changing world event.
That might be the story about man landing on the moon, or going to a Beatles concert.
Maybe their preferred story is the one about a family trip across the country to tour Yosemite Park or Disney World.
It might be as simple as the family traditions for Thanksgiving celebration.
If you can find the 90+ person to talk to about their life, they'll tell you how watching their parents go through tough times during the depression changed them.
As a result, they spent their whole life making sure their own kids would never see that happen again.
They lived a frugal life and told stories to their kids about The Ant and the Grasshopper, encouraging hard work and savings like the ant.
That next generation, born around 1945, worked hard and developed the magical world of radio, television, computers, and the internet.
Don't forget they also put a man on the moon.
And what special guidance did that next generation give to their own kids? For most of those kids, born around 1970, the message was The World Is Yours! They were born into a better world of conspicuous consumption.
By the time they graduated from high-school, color TV was in every home.
Interstate highways made it easy to take the family cross-country for vacation.
They were introduced to computers (Remember the Commodore 64?) for games, and later for work.
For the child born in 1970, travelling on a jet to visit grandma was nothing special, even if grandma was.
And when they were just starting to have their own kids, around 1995, these new parents were using cell-phones, had two cars in the garage, and listened to fantastic music on small systems fitted with their own headphones.
They bought rugs from Pakistan and toys from China.
In the winter time, they bought fresh fruit imported from South American countries where it was summer.
Indeed, they knew the world was theirs.
And since medicine and healthcare had also improved along the way, their parents were still alive and right there to encourage them to enjoy what they were doing.
That brings us up to 2008.
Have you identified where your generation is in this story? Do you know what happens next? This is the part where the more appropriate story to tell is Humpty-Dumpty.
Our economy has fallen off the wall, and all the king's horses and all the king's men are doing their best to put our economy together again.
The kids born in 1995 will be able to see the difference as our world changes from living in a dream state - where we can use a credit card to get whatever we want, where houses smaller than 3000 square feet are considered "small", and where we make sure every kid who shows up at their team game gets a trophy - to something much more sober.
The kids you see around you today will become adults at the same time our credit system starts to look more like it did in 1970.
And they will see the importance of repairing the infrastructure of our country after decades of deferred maintenance.
Their challenge will be to find a way to support the world's appetite for electricity and travel.
They will understand that even medical care is a limited resource, and that having a known treatment doesn't mean everyone is entitled to get that treatment.
Yes, these kids will be different.
They won't really know they are different from those who have gone before them because they won't have anything to compare it to.
But the parents and grandparents of these children will likely have trouble adapting to their children's vision.
We adults know the difference between the world as it was ten years ago and what it is today.
Ten years ago we still had the World Trade Center standing and our economy (well, at least the stock market) was suffering only from irrational exuberance.
What do we have to teach these kids? I'm not sure I know at this point.
But I wouldn't be surprised if they turn around and ask us to please see it their way and help them make our country, and the world, a better place in their eyes.
When that happens, I want them to know that the tools they have at their disposal, as well as the knowledge of how to use them, were part of the dream pursued by their parents and grandparents.
James W.
Stone lives in the Chicago area.
He speaks on managing your lifestyle and your money.
His special interest involves how we make decisions about money and spending.
http://www.
jameswstone.
com Copyright 2009, James W.
Stone, all rights reserved worldwide.
It is more likely that you're going to get a second-hand story ...
maybe from your parents.
In a strange twist, however, the person who gives you the second-hand version of the story would probably rather tell you about their own life-changing world event.
That might be the story about man landing on the moon, or going to a Beatles concert.
Maybe their preferred story is the one about a family trip across the country to tour Yosemite Park or Disney World.
It might be as simple as the family traditions for Thanksgiving celebration.
If you can find the 90+ person to talk to about their life, they'll tell you how watching their parents go through tough times during the depression changed them.
As a result, they spent their whole life making sure their own kids would never see that happen again.
They lived a frugal life and told stories to their kids about The Ant and the Grasshopper, encouraging hard work and savings like the ant.
That next generation, born around 1945, worked hard and developed the magical world of radio, television, computers, and the internet.
Don't forget they also put a man on the moon.
And what special guidance did that next generation give to their own kids? For most of those kids, born around 1970, the message was The World Is Yours! They were born into a better world of conspicuous consumption.
By the time they graduated from high-school, color TV was in every home.
Interstate highways made it easy to take the family cross-country for vacation.
They were introduced to computers (Remember the Commodore 64?) for games, and later for work.
For the child born in 1970, travelling on a jet to visit grandma was nothing special, even if grandma was.
And when they were just starting to have their own kids, around 1995, these new parents were using cell-phones, had two cars in the garage, and listened to fantastic music on small systems fitted with their own headphones.
They bought rugs from Pakistan and toys from China.
In the winter time, they bought fresh fruit imported from South American countries where it was summer.
Indeed, they knew the world was theirs.
And since medicine and healthcare had also improved along the way, their parents were still alive and right there to encourage them to enjoy what they were doing.
That brings us up to 2008.
Have you identified where your generation is in this story? Do you know what happens next? This is the part where the more appropriate story to tell is Humpty-Dumpty.
Our economy has fallen off the wall, and all the king's horses and all the king's men are doing their best to put our economy together again.
The kids born in 1995 will be able to see the difference as our world changes from living in a dream state - where we can use a credit card to get whatever we want, where houses smaller than 3000 square feet are considered "small", and where we make sure every kid who shows up at their team game gets a trophy - to something much more sober.
The kids you see around you today will become adults at the same time our credit system starts to look more like it did in 1970.
And they will see the importance of repairing the infrastructure of our country after decades of deferred maintenance.
Their challenge will be to find a way to support the world's appetite for electricity and travel.
They will understand that even medical care is a limited resource, and that having a known treatment doesn't mean everyone is entitled to get that treatment.
Yes, these kids will be different.
They won't really know they are different from those who have gone before them because they won't have anything to compare it to.
But the parents and grandparents of these children will likely have trouble adapting to their children's vision.
We adults know the difference between the world as it was ten years ago and what it is today.
Ten years ago we still had the World Trade Center standing and our economy (well, at least the stock market) was suffering only from irrational exuberance.
What do we have to teach these kids? I'm not sure I know at this point.
But I wouldn't be surprised if they turn around and ask us to please see it their way and help them make our country, and the world, a better place in their eyes.
When that happens, I want them to know that the tools they have at their disposal, as well as the knowledge of how to use them, were part of the dream pursued by their parents and grandparents.
James W.
Stone lives in the Chicago area.
He speaks on managing your lifestyle and your money.
His special interest involves how we make decisions about money and spending.
http://www.
jameswstone.
com Copyright 2009, James W.
Stone, all rights reserved worldwide.
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