"Kids these days... UPDATED

...have no respect. They just don't have a clue as to what our generation had to go through. They take so much for granted."

I'll bet that particular lamentation was conveyed, somehow, amongst our pre-human ancestors depicted in the "Dawn of Man" sequence at the beginning of "2001: A Space Odyssey" before the arrival of the monolith.

It continues down the ages, through poems and sagas, Greek history, and lately through commenters on blogs. A near constant drumbeat of apocalyptic doom, foreseen because of the coming generation.

So, is there any hope at all?

Bill Whittle ( Eject! Eject! Eject! ) pointed me to this link: The Future Speaks, and this article Daddy, I want a Golden Ticket and I want it Now! as proof that the end ain't here quite yet.

The blog is authored by two 14 year old St. Louis residents, Cole Campbell and Lyda Loudon, who still retain sentience and the ability to think for themselves. How they will be when they reach the ages of 18-20 (when they will know everything and become insufferable for most of a decade :-) remains to be seen, so it's probably best to check them out NOW.

That such insight and common-sense can come from these two gives me great hope for the coming generation. That's quite a statement from me, as I can be one of the gloomiest, most depressing people you could ever hope to avoid; sometimes being of the "Not only is the glass half empty, but IT'S LEAKING!!!" type.

I expect to check in on them periodically as much needed therapy for my innate pessimism. :-)

(I see that I've managed to use the word "hope" quite a few times here. I'm going to have to check out good synonyms for it; I'm afraid The Won has poisoned that word for me.)


Update - 26 Apr 2011 - The site appears to have been released.  It's been about nine months since they had posted anything on it (their time being monopolized by school and probably many other things) and the site shows only links to "Where to find..." various things; in short, advertisements.

So, I am deleting them from my blogroll and hope they are doing well.  I suspect that life has intruded, as it will. To them, all the best.
-