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A recent study has proven what I've long lamented from the rooftops: getting a college education in this country is sending young adults to the poorhouse.

The report, "Generation Broke: The Economic & Political Lives of Young Adults", was released yesterday by Demos, an organization which despite its name is in fact not Democrat, but rather a nonpartisan, non-profit New York public policy group.

The PR Newswire reports,

The economic security of younger Americans is eroding at an alarming pace as a result of slow wage growth, underemployment, rising costs and mounting student loan and credit card debt, according to a new report, "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Younger Americans," released today from Demos, a non-partisan, public policy group based in New York City.

"This is an age when you set credit and finance benchmarks for the rest of your life," said Tamara Draut, Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos and lead author of the report. "Young adults starting off in the red will find that it impacts their financial security for years to come. This report should set off alarm bells for every American."

The report's data and findings, based on in-depth analysis of the most recent Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances as well as dozens of other sources, paints a troubling picture of the financial health of America's population of adults aged 18-34, who are entering the period in their lives when financial responsibilities begin to expand. Ironically, this coveted demographic for advertisers and marketers are slipping into a downward debt spiral that is unmatched in modern history.

Now that won't preach. Oh but there's more.

"The report finds that major costs associated with adulthood that begin to mount between the ages of 25 and 34 -- such as housing, child care, and health care -- have all increased dramatically over the past decade. Coupled with rising unemployment or under-employment, slow real-wage growth, and sharp tuition hikes that have led to larger student loans, a massive debt burden has been unleashed on America's young adult population."

Did I mention that my friends and I sit down and commiserate around our college loans? Yes, it's that bad.

When it comes to getting any type of financial aid for college, it pretty much stinks to be middle class. Take my words with a grain of salt as no one twisted my arm behind my back and made me choose a university with $36,000 a year tuition. My parents made too much for me to get an extra large chunk of financial aid. Unfortunately, I grew up in that la-la land reality world where everyone is under the insane impression that their parents have some secret grandios college fund saved up for them. Every time I asked my parents about my "college fund", they pointed to my private school bills and my 81,000 after school activities. To even think that I was getting a free ride, was surely entertaining illusions of grandeur. Meanwhile, I apparently wasn't smart enough to land one of those fabo full-ride scholarship dealies and so to supplement what my over-priced college wasn't giving me in financial aid, I followed the traditional route and took out college loans. As of today, I strongly dislike Fannie, Nellie, Sallie and the entire Mae family. Let's just say, I wouldn't have them over for dinner.

Check out some of the statistics found in the study:

• Growing numbers of Gen-Xers carry a balance. 71% of credit cardholders aged 25-34 revolve their balances, compared to 55% of all cardholders
• Generation-Y may be the most at risk. Three out of four 18-24 year-olds carry a credit card balance, due largely to unregulated, aggressive marketing by card issuers on campuses. Between 1990 and 1995, one survey found credit debt had shot up 134%, from $900 to $2,100. By 2001, a Nellie Mae study found college seniors graduated with an average of $3,262 in credit card debt.
• More young Americans now face debt hardship. 13% of those aged 25-34 are in debt hardship (using 40% or more of their income to service debt), up from less than 7% in 1992.
• Credit card debt among the youngest adults (aged 18-24) skyrocketed 104% during this same period to $2,985.
• Student loan balances have doubled in the course of a decade. The average 2002 graduate carried $18,900 versus $9000 for 1992 graduates.

I wrote about this same topic earlier this year in a piece called "Graduating Slaves". The debt to income ratio of the college graduates of my generation is frightening. That's not to say we don't play a part in our own over-spending. There's a reason we're the target spending group. Still, there are young adults who've graduated college debt-free or very much in a position to speedily repay their borrowing. I count myself rather blessed to be where I am financially in spite of what this study may show. Every time I pay off one of those wretched college loans I party like a rockstar. A sanctified one that is. I plan on buying a house this year and it certainly is no thanks to my burden of educational "privilege". Then again, I never got the blessed degree.

Of course studies like "Generation Broke" are usually void of any tangible solutions to the problems they expose. As for the heavy credit card marketing campaigns to college students, the motivation there is purely evil. No one is held accountable these days. My younger brother started getting credit card applications when he was 14 and couldn't even hold a job.

Still, I'm inclined to think that we set-up young adults for failure when we induce debt so young. Unfortunately, our current economic and educational structure doesn't support the belief in that last assertion. Does anyone?

 

Bush's support among black voters is on the up and up. Polls are pretty much worthless to me, but since everyone else seems to be referring to them as though they were they were the Torah, I think it's worth noting that a recent New York Times poll showed black support for President Bush at a whopping 17%. That's more than twice his support from the last election.

In her most recent column, "Why more blacks support Bush this year", Star Parker gives reasons for the percentage increase.

"I have been writing that traditionally Democratic voters in the black church going community are becoming disillusioned with the Democratic Party and that, in particular, the gay marriage issue has become a focal point of that disillusionment.
.......
The black community is by and large a religious community. When surveyed, blacks respond at higher rates than whites that religion plays a "very important" role in their life.

The interesting reality over recent years has been that blacks have not taken their faith with them into the voting booth as do whites. Regular church attendance has been a reliable predictor of voting behavior among whites, with church goers disproportionately voting Republican. Among blacks this has not been the case.

The gay marriage issue may very well be the tip of the iceberg of change among the black electorate. Gay marriage, and claims equating the gay movement to the civil rights movement, has been a wake-up call. "

Meanwhile, in what seems to be the Democrats last attempt at scaring up that crucial percentage of the black vote, Kerry/Edwards and cohorts have hit up black churches like free all-you-can-eat buffets.

The Gaia-worshipping environmentalist Al Gore recently spent his Sunday talking politics and scripture at a predominately black, Jacksonville, Florida Baptist Church.

While Al Gore perpetrated a fraud, John Edwards was schmoozing at Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio, where the Kerry/Edwards memorial pew fans were passed out, and where the pastor Rev. Donald Jordan not only gave the Kerry/Edwards ticket a public endorsement, but also declared before the congregation of 1,200 that Edwards would be the next President.

Meanwhile, John Kerry did his "good deed" last Sunday by campaigning at Mount Hermon AME Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Pulpit, you have just been pimped.

 

 

You may have heard about this on network news, but here locally in a Seattle podunk suburb called Puyallup, school officials have decided to ban all Halloween festivities for the entire district.

The decision was based on two factors. The first being the fact that teachers reported that the events surrounding the holiday distracted students and took away from class time. The second, and more prevailing reason was due to the fact that local members of the Wiccan religion claimed that many of the costumes are offensive to "real witches". Yeah witches costumes offend me too, but not for the same reason (see my Halloween post).

Puyallup, Washington isn't the only district to make this decision. School officials at an Illinois school made a similar decision to downsize Halloween festivities in favor of more academic time.

Puyallup is also home of Boy Scout devotee Hans Zeiger who not surprisingly has his own take on the events:

"Last December, I returned to Puyallup High School for the first time since graduation to discover that the administration had banned the display of class Christmas trees at the annual Alumni Assembly. For decades, students of the sophomore, junior, and senior classes had decorated Christmas trees to show forth their class pride. Now, political correctness has overwhelmed school tradition. I found, in the course of conversations with older alumni, that I was not the only one offended by the onslaught of the Office of Diversity Affairs and its vicious holiday code.

And now we must pay our respects to the local witches. Let us cancel one holiday to offend the Christians; let us cancel another to please the Wiccans.
.......
As for me, I actually consider it a good development that Halloween is off the calendar in Puyallup. But political correctness is worse than Halloween, so it's no time for celebration."

I agree that Halloween shouldn't be celebrated in schools, but Zeigler is correct in pointing out the district's blatant inconsistencies in regards to Christmas. They would have been smarter just to note that the holiday takes away from academic time and keep it at that.

 

I've said it often and I'll say it again, American is more pagan than we care to admit. This Sunday, the last day of October will mark the annual celebration of what I believe to be one of the most disturbing and widely accepted holidays of the year: Halloween. I won't be celebrating, and I have my reasons.

I believe that the origin of everything, but especially holidays is worth knowing and very seriously considering. There is often a lot of symbolism involved in our "commemorations" that we tend to ignore or make excuses for. I count October 31st as one of the biggest cover-ups for Satanic activity to come along since, well, a certain rock music group which shall go unnamed.

I'm not generally one to bore with the facts. A simple "Google" search on the origins of Halloween can bring you this information, but I thought I'd condense it a bit for the sake of the lazy reader like me.

The Origin
You can trace the origins of Halloween back a number of different ways, but most will lead you to a Celtic Festival called "Samhain" which celebrated the changing of seasons and their "new year" on November 1st. The Celts believed that on the eve of their "new year" the boundary between the dead and the living became blurred. On that eve of the "new year" (October 31) they believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

On that eve, the Celtic priests (also known as Druids) built huge bonfires and offered crops and animals as sacrifices to Celtic deities. During the "celebration", the participants dressed up in costumes and tried to tell each other's fortunes. When the Romans conquered the Celtic territory, they combined their pagan festivals into one.

Traditions like bobbing for apples find their origin in the worshipping of the Roman goddess of fruit and trees called "Pomona". The symbol of Pomona is the apple (we French speakers know the word for applie is "pomme"). Even the tradition of the "jack-o-lantern" is historically based on a mythological character.

Years passed and with the influence of Catholicism, celebrations evolved into what we now call "All Saints Day" on November 1 or loosely translated from Middle English, "All-hallows". The day before "All Saints Day" was known as "All-hallows Eve" or what we now call "Halloween".

Dressing in Costume
Celebrations were marked by bonfires, parades, and people dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils.

The History Channel reports some interesting background on Halloween:

"The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter."

Speaking as a Christian, we are not to make idols of the dead. We honor the dead, but we don't worship the dead. There is only one who gets the "worship" in this deal and it's God. The dead are dead. Let their bodies be in the grave and their souls rest in heaven or hell.

The Origin of Trick-or-Treating
It's been suspected that the act of going from door to door to get candy traces back to the All Saint's day parades when during the festivities, the poor would go around to peoples' houses begging for food. Families who answered the door would give them pastries called "Soul cakes" in return for their promise that they'd pray for family's dead relatives. This practice was eventually given over to children and intended to replace the tradition of leaving out food for "roaming spirits".

Today
Jump to the present. There isn't a lot that has changed from the past. During the 19th century, there was a move to center Halloween on family and community, but the roots and traditions are still visible and prevailing.

It is widely known that Halloween also serves as a time for those involved in the occult to commemorate their own sacred rituals. Covens gather and the worshipping of spirits commences. We often turn our shoulder, but the Wiccans, witchcraft, and demonism are very real and very prevalent in our society. There are many things I'm willing to tolerate and entertain, the occult is not one of them.

Many would argue that the holiday is all in fun and while I agree there are aspects of this celebration that seem harmless, the undertones are not something with which I personally desire to associate myself or my future children. Aside from trick-or-treating, the fruit of this holiday is arguably not heavily weighted towards "community". The abundance of haunted houses, witches, devil, and ghost costumes, séances, scary stories, and the general presence of "death" is not edifying in the least.

I believe people should act according to their convictions. If you choose to celebrate this day by putting your own moral "twist" on it, so be it. But I also believe we're accountable for what we know. Many black Christians know the negative origin and roots of Kwanzaa but choose to celebrate the holiday anyway. I am not one of those people. For those who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ, the connotations of Halloween are not good. The foundation for Halloween is steeped in paganism.

With Americans spending an average of $6.9 billion (not million) to commemorate Halloween, that makes it the second largest commercial holiday of the year. When people ask me what I'm going as for Halloween, I say, "I'm dressing up as the wacky Christian girl who believes the holiday is pagan."

 

 

I respect authority in many forms: God-given, parental, spiritual, governmental, you name it. I was raised to respect those with authority over me and I truly appreciate those who serve to ensure my safety on a consistent basis.

That said, despite a number of circumstances that should determine I do the opposite, I even respect police officers. However, I must say, my patience is wearing thin.

I would be lying if I said that all of my encounters with law enforcement have been positive. They haven't been. In reality, the fact that I have even had multiple experiences is sad enough, but what's worse is how mind numbingly irritating and humiliating 75% of my encounters have been. If you've even read one week's worth of content on this site, you know me, and it's clear I'm not into crying "victimhood". Similarly, I'm not generally prone to jump on the "black injustice" bandwagon, so forgive me in advance, but today I am completely frustrated with law enforcement, their pre-conceived notions of who the "criminals" are, and their completely self-regulatory nature and extreme lack of checks and balances.

If you want to know why I have a hesitancy to co-sign on the "racial profiling is a really good thing" declaration? Because I have zero convictions that the aforementioned statement is either true or ethical. Experience has led me to believe that our enforcement of it is highly, and I mean highly suspect.

To put it bluntly, I am taxpaying citizen with absolutely no criminal record, moving violations, let alone even an overdue library book who is quite sick and tired, and tired of being sick (and tired too) of being pulled over, harassed, and spoken to like I have zero intelligence by some of the low-life power tripping insecure ninnies that call themselves police officers. It is getting ridiculous.

I am certain that there are some folks who never grew up having "the talk" with their parents about proper police officer-pulling-over-etiquette. Maybe that's just a "black family" thing. Maybe not. Who knows really. One would think that with us having exited the era of Jim Crow, such conversations would be entirely unnecessary. In come, our jacked-up United States mentalities. Point being, I have long been trained on how to handle myself in completely unjustified situations with law enforcement.

Don't make sudden movements. Keep your hands close to or near the steering wheel. As a woman, if you're driving alone and it's dark outside, don't ever get out of the car--even if the police officer asks you to. Request to drive to a location where there will be witnesses. Don't get smart mouthed (even if the man's uncouth behavior is deserving of backtalk).

These are the fundamentals I remember from my semi-yearly reminder discussions with my mom. Sad huh? And I'm only a black woman. My brother got an entirely different speech.

And maybe if this were some hokey after school special I could say something to the likes of, "The police officer was just doing his job." Right. Let's outline this so-called "job" and re-cap some of my experiential chronology.

A Police Officer's Job Description:
- Excuse all the other high school students (none of which were doing anything wrong) on account of the fact that they go to the well-established white "prep school". Nevermind that they all get high behind the school during lunchtime.

- Don't assume the fact that I go to the same "prep school" because after all, I don't have that "look".

- Pull over a 16-year-old girl for going 6 miles per hour over the speed limit on the highway and inform her that you don't think she even has enough money to pay a speeding ticket.

- Pull over a 17-year-old girland her brother, doing nothing wrong, on their way to get ice cream and harass them about their destination. As if the two of them are really going to Baskin & Robbins for ice cream. Right. Sounds suspicious.

- Flash your spotlight on a parked car in an apartment complex and demand to see the identification of an 18-year-old girl and her best friend who are simply sitting in the car, having a nighttime discussion about the Bible. Because of course, whoever talks about the Bible without cocaine nearby?

- Lastly, flash your lights at a 23-year-old girl and her best friend who are parked in a restaurant parking lot talking. Do so for no apparent reason. Send another car with flashing lights for back up (and further humiliation). Usurp authority and demand to see both the driver and passenger's identification, insurance, and registration. Find spotless records on the computer. Feel stupid for having pulled over squeaky clean citizens. Try to make small talk with them as you completely humiliate them for no good reason. Have your partner ask them what church they go to stall your further search for some sort of "dirt" on the trusty computer. Leave with your tail between your legs because you acted like a Biblical donkey.

Those are just a few. You've seen my pictures, do I look like a criminal to you? How's about our law enforcement officials go out there and fight some real crime? They can start by busting up that white collar crack house a few blocks from where they flashed their lights at me.

What a waste of my tax dollars.

 

So ends another semi-fruitful week. I am exhausted, but the 80s references are totally "taking me back" and giving me a much needed boost, keep 'em coming.

On another note, add these to my list of words I simply must use more often:

Balderdash and Poppycock.

Quite honestly, I don't understand why anyone needs to cuss when there are an abundance of perfectly suitable obscure words that will leave the person you're talking to staring at you like you're crazy.

Oh yeah, and my "correspondent" sent me this link about Newsweek writers supposedly declaring John Kerry as the winner in print. To that I say, "poppycock".

Have a great weekend everyone. See ya Monday.

 

Let me begin with a few notes. If you made it through that last screed, God Bless You. Simply put, I had to get that off my chest.

In other news, to whichever reader that's never met me but sent me the "halitosis" email, to which I jokingly referred yesterday, HA HA VERY FUNNY.

Okay, on with the missive.

Maybe it's because I've only been bothering people since 1981, but I am utterly convinced that the "80s" have few redeeming qualities. Verbal expressions like "Fresh" and "Cool" were abundant. So were pleated stone-washed jeans, and neon, and bad hair, and Olivia Newton John. Reagan ruled the land, and Bobby Brown declared it was "his prerogative".

So I ask, what made the 80s so great? What made them not-so-great? Quite frankly, I think we could have skipped them all.

 

My maternal grandfather is a very matter-of-fact type man. Aside from his occasional use of the word "Oriental" to describe things other than rugs, he has always been practical in his lectures to his grandchildren. From the time I turned thirteen, he has been perched at his proverbial lectern, rambling speeches out the sides of his mouth on "youthful lusts" and avoiding "moments of indiscretion" caused by the "urgency of the moment". To these words, we usually rolled our eyes, but as a young adult reflecting, I respect his cautionary wisdom.

There are few things that "kept me" during my youth. I don't profess to be saintly. In fact, quite the contrary in my own right I must say. I have, however, by the grace of God, avoided a number of typical "adolescent", "teenagery" and "young adult" pitfalls. And no, it wasn't any thanks to that horrible D.A.R.E. curriculum or the hokey "Smoking Smokes You" commercials. Credit wasn't due to the predictable after-school specials which were generally marked by their propensity to find the most washed-up and horribly corny celebrity to deliver our generation some played out "reality check". And God knows it wasn't the vapid and confusing "What's Happening to My Body: for girls" book (complete with how-tos) we had to read in our "Life Skills/Sex-ed" class, and it certainly wasn't my childhood doctor giving me the unsolicited disclaimer that if I ever considered becoming sexually active, she could provide me birth control without my parents' knowledge. No. None of these things did much for me amidst a morally relative culture.

I am quite certain, that the main ingredient that "kept me" was the fact that at a very young age, I had my eyes opened up to my own human potential. I saw my life beyond what was right in front of me. I knew early on that the journey wasn't just for tomorrow, it was for a lifetime. It was purpose. Purpose guided me, and purpose kept me. It was that simple. No magic tricks. No shaking the magic eight ball to find out what was next. Carefully aided by those who cared for and influenced me, God slowly revealed me to me and for that dominant reason, I am who I am today. I can't apologize for or shrink back from what I didn't experience, but I can be objective.

To the older and wiser, I assert: I think we might be going about some things the wrong way.

There are many, even those who don't profess to be Christians, who are familiar with the beginning words of Proverbs 29:18 which reads, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." A different translation reads, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." Of the vast amount of life, wisdom and revelation the Bible breathes, I am convinced that the admonition in Proverbs is most apropos to my generation.

If you give an innocent 2-year-old a fresh, uncreased copy of the latest Wall Street Journal, chances are, the young one will use it for everything but its true purpose. The "toddler" may crumple and tear the pages, scribble on it with a crayon, or even attempt to eat it. The Wall Street Journal is useless to 2-year-olds. They could care less about the wealth of business information and current events available in its content. For them, its purpose isn't yet defined nor has its proper context been revealed. That lack of revelation leads them to do what is only natural and inherent--abuse the newspaper. Abuse is merely "mis-use", and how many of us are guilty of doing that with our lives?

At some point or another, we have all "cast off restraint" for lack of personal vision and understanding of what exactly this vessel called flesh was really meant to do. One of the saddest states of humanity is when we operate at a quality of life that is lower than what God truly expects from us. This isn't about some "just believe in yourself" or "reach for your dreams" message the average teenager has heard so many times that they've completely tuned it out. This is about recognizing that a person who has no real concept of who they truly are will abuse their life in an undoubtedly repeated fashion.

The sea of insecurity and lack of identity that plagues the typical middle and high schools is no respecter of class, race, or degree of intellect. From the urban, nearly-run-down-with-no-books-classroom, to the elite private school where the "old money" sends their inheritors, you will find the same fundamental issues: Lack of purpose, and lack of vision. It is the number one issue facing my generation and it is leading to self-destruction.

"Self-destruction" manifests itself in a plethora of ways, many of which are somewhat camouflaged by society's concept of "normality". If a young person is packaged the right way with all exterior evidence of what we deem "good" (e.g. new school clothes), we assume them to be healthy and well-adjusted.

The 14-year-old girl who has given up her virginity and some, seeking affection, validation, and affirmation from the man missing in her life since birth is no different from the high school Junior who is quickly heading towards becoming a full-fledged alcoholic, eating away at his liver every spare evening he gets. Similarly, those two scenarios don't vary much from the highly-caffeinated college Senior with straight As in a field of study she detests, cramming for the LSAT her parents are pressuring her to take, yet considering suicide when hit with that overwhelming feeling of lonliness, despair, and helplessness at the thought of going on in a life with no meaning. Even the gang-banger packing heat and occupying that ally over there shares a commonality with all of these constituents of my generation. Really, it's all the same. Same lack of vision, same abuse of our own capabilities, and same attempts to gain approval from people who don't hold our destiny.

Our rampant inability to see beyond tomorrow is a scary epidemic in its own right. Even worse, are those who know, yet still disregard that a tomorrow even exists because they are among some of the ring leaders of those in my generation who are unable to help themselves.

There are varying degrees of evidence that planning and acknowledging the immediate and delayed future are not the popular message.

For my generation, media and consumerism are the gods we worship. If you can package it, we will buy it. If it sounds good and the beat is hot, we'll listen. If it stinks but you tell us it's "hot", chances are, we'll still listen. If it appeals to our flesh, better believe we will watch it. I suppose this is no different than generations past, but in the era of the multi-sensory media--mobile phones, two-way pagers, Mp3 players, 24/7 music video stations, and satellite radio--messages and philosophies are being transmitted at lightning speed and from every direction. The overwhelming message being preached: if it feels good, do it.

Instant gratifcation is "in" and calculated preparation is "out".

That's right folks, don't worry about tomorrow; you can pick up those pieces later. It's okay to waste your life right now as long as you grow up and get a good job and have a family. After all, there is a general allotted time for everyone to be reckless right?

Something isn't adding up. We are not equipping this generation to reign in this new millennium. We throw dollars at the youth, hoping to bring about some sort of "change" or "enlightenment" through far too many worthless "just do right" campaigns, social programs, curriculum and philosophy that is often missing that key element of ushering youth into living purpose-filled lives.

Meanwhile, self-appointed "youth specialists", "adolescent psychologists", and school administrators that don't give a flying fig about our future, often think they have this whole generation figured out as they quietly project their own personal short-comings and insecurities onto us. Excuse me? Who said we were ever called to make the same mistakes as our forefathers? The "you'll have to learn the hard way just like me so I won't tell you what I struggled with, but instead I'll allow you to make the same mistake" mentality is wretched. Yes, growing up, we will make mistakes, but for the love of the Lord crying out in the night, we should at least demand progress. We should at least demand a higher standard than what came before us. Isn't that what the generational concept is all about?--building on what was and not starting at the same place our parents did?

Is not an entire generation dying a slow and silent death?--playing life like bumper cars, crashing against the culture walls, curses and low expectations that lack purity and character. Is it not glaringly obvious by the continual seeking out of all methods of guidance through song lyrics, fortune cookies, horoscopes, email forwarded personality tests, celebrities and faulty "guidance counselors" who themselves are quite bitter and often lack their own identity and vision?

The preached message of "just believe in yourself" is rendered useless when the "self" we're encouraging people to "believe in" is fake, flawed or in many cases, nonexistent. And yet we continue to feed the generation that will eventually lead this nation with watered down, feel-good messages of socialism and humanism, concepts that have proven themselves to do very little at readying young people for no more than future disgruntled lives as adults who would have "done things differently" if again given the chance. The evidence of past generations displays this in neon lights.

So where is the vision? Believe it or not, people are perishing. The war for truth is taking place in our bedrooms, our classrooms, and most importantly, our minds. This "trying to find yourself" business is figuratively killing kids off. We will continue to reap a harvest of young people left cleaning up the mental mess of years of systematic indoctrination and lies if we do not stop prescribing medicine that merely treats symptoms. Shake the magic eight-ball on that and it will probably read, "Outlook not so good".

Oh how I long for the day when we will hear a consistent message from those with a willingness to speak on what is right. We are not what others are telling us to be. We are not mistakes or accidents. We are not just to be "thrown" into the garbage or picked off like targets at a shooting range. Our minds are reserved for greatness. Our bodies are precious. We are vital to our collective future. There are countless individuals who are depending on us being us. We need to get in touch with the one who formed us in the womb. There is a plan for us to do great things even now. We can even walk a straight line if we want. The pathway of most resistance is merely waiting for footprints.