As young people I think it is really easy to feel like our time now is the worst ever, the most difficult that’s ever been, etc. because it’s all we see or expose ourselves to seeing. The truth is far more complex than that and any glance back at world history can tell you that we are experiencing challenges which happened before in history. While it’s true that things like technology make awareness of these issues more easily accessible, the issues themselves are always the same: racism, intolerance, wars, corruption, abuses, injustice, on and on. The fact that this country is still in its infancy as a world power compared to European nations for example, also makes these issues here even more poignant but, humans being what we are, also clearly inevitable. It is sad, but it is also indicative of opportunities we always have right in front of us every day to try and make things better when and where we can.

One of the things that helps me maintain this view is my work with older adults (which I have now been doing for decades). When you sit down for example and have a candid, genuine discussion about life, politics in particular, or world views with a person in their 90s who lived through so much of what we only now read about - it puts a lot of this in perspective very, very fast. It is a shame that in this country we often just set aside our elders and completely devalue them (unless we are talking about Native Americans, who most definitely do NOT do that in my experience), because having access to perspectives outside our own generational bubble is really important.