Never before have I been more concerned about the world we are creating for future generations than I am now. I have only graced this earth for forty six years, but our current political climate and state of democracy seems ever so convoluted, and disappointing. I don’t just mean the coming elections and the like, I am referring to what our humanity has suffered in the last several years.

It seems to me we have abandoned our core values. As a nation, we have some painful historical reminders of how we’ve mistakenly taken the wrong path in order to preserve “domestic tranquility” I don’t want to leave a world behind for my grandchildren that I cannot be proud of. I don’t want to abdicate the laws of this land, nor do I think anyone is above them, but where is our concern for doing the right thing? Have we gone so far out on the ledge that we cannot see where we traveled from?

It is disheartening when I look into my little grandson’s eyes, because I fear for his own pursuit of happiness. He deserves a chance to find his way, and grow as any young American does. He doesn’t deserve to pay the price for the ridiculous choices others have made. None of the innocent children being born into our current time frame deserve to pay the price for decisions we’ve made. They most assuredly don’t deserve to suffer the consequences, and there are sure to be consequences.

The older I get, the more I realize my 401K doesn’t mean much to me, if my family suffers in order to negotiate it. I love what I do, so it is not really “work” but nonetheless, I do it with energy and fervor, and that doesn’t always come easy. I cannot take any of this with me, so why would I care how much I hoard while I’m alive? I don’t think we as a civilized people think beyond our own vitality. Many of us live our lives as though we will be here for centuries. We accumulate more crap than any country in free the world, and we have the audacity to just throw it away when it runs out of purpose.

We even do this with human beings. I remember when my grandmother was in a nursing home. We visited her often, and she was mostly in good spirits. However, the poor souls that sat, catatonically waiting for someone to come by and offer a kind word or a home cooked meal tugged at my heart. They were packed up, transported, and forgotten, very much like our nation’s soul at present. How can we sit by, and just toss our values and moral compass into the abyss this way?

When I look back on all this, I will remember what I was and was not willing to negotiate, and I will rest easy.