I have contemplated for some time how to write this next blog. I am afraid of sounding too harsh, but I think its time someone just called this socio-economic crisis what it is.
It is the product of the "me" generation: those of us who were "raised" in the 70s and 80s by latch key society, MTV, and day care.
(There I said it. Now for the barrage of hate email to follow.)
But really- let's think about this:
I am one of those kids that was born in the 70's and graduated from High School in the eighties. At that time we were considered the most self-centered, self-conscious, self-aware, self -esteemed generation there was. And we had someone to blame: our flower-child parents who grew up and taught us - as best they could- and tried to give us everything they didn't have as children: and I mean literally everything!
This "ME" generation was the one that experienced the onset of branding: Jordache, Cabbage Patch, "boom boxes" you name it there was "the" brand, and as soon as one hit their height of value and prestige: the next one would raise up alongside it: Gloria Vanderbilt, Garbage Can Kids, and MTV, MTV2, MTV3 etc (you get the point there)DeLorian, Miami Vice, Reebok, LA Gear, Guess, Esprit, Sony Walkmans the list can go on and on. Bigger, better, faster, sleeker. All for free just like the free love and adoration from our flower children parents.
Where did all this stuff come from? The media. The advertising agencies. Our Parents.
Our parents became the dual income society. Our parents worked and gave us everything we could want and then some so that we would never "do without". In addition, they gave us independence and the freedom they craved from their youth. The two became quite a personal sacrifice for our parents, but also in our worldview as we in the "me" generation grew up. We came home to empty homes with no parents, turned on the newly marketed cable channel "Nickelodeon" or MTV or VH1 and waited for our parents to come home and give us attention, run us to activities, and meet our every need and whim.
Then the "Me" generation "grew up" (and I say that using a very loosely held definition). We became known as the "slackers". We wanted everything handed to us on a silver platter. Life was our adventure: the world was our footstool, and we were waiting for our parents to come home and take care of whatever we wanted. Except now we were on our own. Eighteen figurative years of self-serving selfishness is a hard habit to break.
This may sound like I am blaming our parents. When one is a child they are the product of their parents, but once adulthood sets in, one needs to make their choices with their own consequences and parents are no longer an acceptable scapegoat for what we are today.
What are we today? Overextended in our finances and our time. Overworked- and tired.
Stressed. Imbalanced.
Why?
Well, once again, as happens with many adults, we have all become our parents, but still refused to grow up in the process. You see, our parents ideology was that we should have opportunity, so they got their acts together and provided for us- almost to their own demise as well as our own self-righteous self indulgent detriment. They did it out of love for us. We could possibly say the same thing about what we are doing with our children as well.
Every day, I talk to people who are struggling. Their lives are taxing them to their very limits. Financially they have overextended themselves with unnecessary credit, excessively large homes, and cars that are beyond believable. Their children are in every activity known to mankind so they can be rounded (and break the bank at 2-4 dollars a gallon for gas)so that every minute can be maximize (or over scheduled). I know people who actually pride themselves on how BUSY they are.
Much of what we adults (ages 30-45) "own" today is suspended in unrealistic credit lines. Again, as adults, we have been sucked into the entitlement mentality of our childhood and teen years.
I spoke with someone recently who has been struggling with financial issues in their family. This person spoke of getting a new job, relocating to a smaller home, and the devastating affects this may have on their children and family. There is serious financial risk in the home. The I was told about their holiday cruise and new 9+ foot pre-lit Christmas tree they bought because the other one was a few years old.
Another person recently confided in me that after the marriage split up and the person was forced to move out on their own with their children, that there was a danger of the family losing their new home due to financial restraints. As the conversation progressed, as all conversations do, the person told me about advice that was given to him by the family's cleaning lady followed by plans to visit an American beach as their children had only ever been to foreign beaches.
What is wrong with this picture?
Imbalance. The basics of simple money management. One could even say common sense.
and we wonder why we are in the socio-economic quandary we are in as a country....
Grow up Slackers.
Or as the famous line from the 80's would put it: "get real!"
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19
Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? Job 34:33
