DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS AND STATEMENTS SET FORTH IN THIS BLOG ENTRY DO NOT REFLECT THE ATTITUDES OR OPINIONS OF PALESTINE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN OTHERWISE.
As the Presidential Election approaches, many of us are left to ponder the question as to whether the country is in a better or worse position than before the election of our first African-American President. Speaking from the standpoint of diplomacy, I am of the opinion that since others have been in power for more than the last four centuries, a change, no matter how slight could only do so much harm on the one hand; on the other, to undo the damage(?) that has been inflicted upon the country cannot reasonably be accomplished in the span of four years. With this being the case, there is a certain segment of American society that wants to fault the President for not doing enough, and another segment asking that he does more. Realistically, even with the limited power he is given the President can only do so much (hence the system of checks and balances), and you simply can't please all the people all the time. Anyway, that's just my take on the situation from a middle-of-the-road standpoint. In order to create the illusion of fairness, I am going to ask a person much younger than myself to weigh in on this situation to gain insight into the minds of the young; for purposes respect and privacy, I am not going to reveal this person's real name, but let's call her 'Shay'..................
PNDC: What if anything do you think about what you have heard in the news and do you have any position on the state of politics in America?
Shay: First of all, people in my age bracket (21-30) don't seem to follow politics and the far-reaching they will have on our lives the way they should; having reached legal voting age, we should be doing more to influence the process than we are. After all the country will be run by some of us within the next ten to fifteen years; when are we going to step up?
PNDC: That's a very insightful answer; my next question is a bit more direct, what would you like to see come from the White House for you and your generation in the event that the current President is re-elected?
Shay: I honestly don't know......because like I said, we don't follow then news to keep up with what's going on in the world. And in keeping with that, that's why we need to follow the news to keep up.
PNDC: Well, I respect you for your candor in answering the question; particularly by including your self in the statement 'We don't follow the news'. But that question might have been better worded by me if I had asked what you would want for the generation of people younger than yourself, since they will be looking to you for guidance, etc.?
Shay: Opportunities need to made more achievable for them; assistance for college attendance, reduced gas prices, better elementary/secondary education; job opportunities. America's supposed to be the land of opportunities and I have been looking for a job for the last few years without success; machines are taking the jobs of four men. More to the point, first jobs are particularly hard to find because employers want experience, but where does the experience for a first job come from?
PNDC: I REALLY hate to say this, but......"When I was young, we didn't have the internet and today, the knowledge of the world is at the fingertips of your generation............"
Shay: Even with the resources, there's a limit on the access in terms of us obtaining compensation. Resources alone are not enough to carry the day. It may well be that even though it seems that my generation should be and in some cases is technologically savvy, there still seems to be a gap between informational access and obtaining compensation/resources.
PNDC: Well, I'm just an old war horse past my prime and don't claim to have the answers to the question which came first, the egg or the chicken. All I can do is hope that at some point in time, we all find our respective niches in terms of work, leisure, satisfaction and happiness. In the meantime, I want to thank you for taking the time to present a generational opinion relative to the question of the direction that your generation is trying to go in, and I wish you all the best in your job search.
Shay: Thank You.
Well, in all probability this will be all that I post in this blog entry and since it's not my personal blog, I can't rant or rave. I would like to thank 'Shay' once again for her input and invite any readers of this blog to weigh in on any question.
As the Presidential Election approaches, many of us are left to ponder the question as to whether the country is in a better or worse position than before the election of our first African-American President. Speaking from the standpoint of diplomacy, I am of the opinion that since others have been in power for more than the last four centuries, a change, no matter how slight could only do so much harm on the one hand; on the other, to undo the damage(?) that has been inflicted upon the country cannot reasonably be accomplished in the span of four years. With this being the case, there is a certain segment of American society that wants to fault the President for not doing enough, and another segment asking that he does more. Realistically, even with the limited power he is given the President can only do so much (hence the system of checks and balances), and you simply can't please all the people all the time. Anyway, that's just my take on the situation from a middle-of-the-road standpoint. In order to create the illusion of fairness, I am going to ask a person much younger than myself to weigh in on this situation to gain insight into the minds of the young; for purposes respect and privacy, I am not going to reveal this person's real name, but let's call her 'Shay'..................
PNDC: What if anything do you think about what you have heard in the news and do you have any position on the state of politics in America?
Shay: First of all, people in my age bracket (21-30) don't seem to follow politics and the far-reaching they will have on our lives the way they should; having reached legal voting age, we should be doing more to influence the process than we are. After all the country will be run by some of us within the next ten to fifteen years; when are we going to step up?
PNDC: That's a very insightful answer; my next question is a bit more direct, what would you like to see come from the White House for you and your generation in the event that the current President is re-elected?
Shay: I honestly don't know......because like I said, we don't follow then news to keep up with what's going on in the world. And in keeping with that, that's why we need to follow the news to keep up.
PNDC: Well, I respect you for your candor in answering the question; particularly by including your self in the statement 'We don't follow the news'. But that question might have been better worded by me if I had asked what you would want for the generation of people younger than yourself, since they will be looking to you for guidance, etc.?
Shay: Opportunities need to made more achievable for them; assistance for college attendance, reduced gas prices, better elementary/secondary education; job opportunities. America's supposed to be the land of opportunities and I have been looking for a job for the last few years without success; machines are taking the jobs of four men. More to the point, first jobs are particularly hard to find because employers want experience, but where does the experience for a first job come from?
PNDC: I REALLY hate to say this, but......"When I was young, we didn't have the internet and today, the knowledge of the world is at the fingertips of your generation............"
Shay: Even with the resources, there's a limit on the access in terms of us obtaining compensation. Resources alone are not enough to carry the day. It may well be that even though it seems that my generation should be and in some cases is technologically savvy, there still seems to be a gap between informational access and obtaining compensation/resources.
PNDC: Well, I'm just an old war horse past my prime and don't claim to have the answers to the question which came first, the egg or the chicken. All I can do is hope that at some point in time, we all find our respective niches in terms of work, leisure, satisfaction and happiness. In the meantime, I want to thank you for taking the time to present a generational opinion relative to the question of the direction that your generation is trying to go in, and I wish you all the best in your job search.
Shay: Thank You.
Well, in all probability this will be all that I post in this blog entry and since it's not my personal blog, I can't rant or rave. I would like to thank 'Shay' once again for her input and invite any readers of this blog to weigh in on any question.