My hope for 2010

"You shouldn't have to work that hard." That seems to be a refrain I hear often from people in my parents' generation (the Boomers). Their parents, growing up during the Great Depression and World War II, came through those crises grimly determined to get only the best for their children. They succeeded, and for a lot of people who came to maturity in the 60s and 70s, life was expected to come easy. Get a degree, work in an office, come home to lounge in front of the TV. Big salary, big house in the suburbs. Retire to travel, get a place in Florida in a retirement community, and relax. That was how it was supposed to be.

Things are changing. Even the white-collar jobs are being outsourced overseas. Unemployment is becoming a long-term issue. My generation (born in 1971) will have to shoulder a lot of burdens in the future, with increased taxation to pay incredible debts, care of elders not provided under a decreased Medicare, and care of our childless selves as we age.

We really will have to work hard, probably harder than many Americans in recent generations have worked. We'll have to relearn the skills of frugality (rice and beans and backyard vegetables, hand washing and line drying clothes to make them last longer, sewing and repair, etc.) and extend them. We'll have to reject the label of "consumer" and produce something good for other people. We'll have to turn from our culture's idolization of self and back to God for any long-term good to be done. Let's start in 2010.