A Losing Generation

Recently it was brought to my attention the Occupy movement. At the risk of sounding like some old, crazy Tea Party member, I think there is something to be taken away from this movement. It says a lot about the people that occupy my age range.

Thousands of people have left their responsibilities to protest something that they don't even understand. Is it so they feel like their existence is validated? Do they think that all this sitting around, yelling, and living in a filthy tent on the street will somehow get their message out? And what about their bills? How many of those people are defaulting on their credit cards, not paying rents owed, or providing for their dependents?

The current Occupy movement is the example of all that is wrong with kids in my generation, something I have seen for a large part of my life. While responsibilities await attention, my generation would rather fulfill desires and their attention first. I mean, what fun is there in taking care of your bills, working, and providing? I don't know, maybe personal growth? Who knows.

When I was a young boy, my grandfather took us under his wing to show us what hard work was about. I remember as a little trailer park ridden child (and that is not a joke)going out to the harvest field to "help" service the old 403 and 453 IH combines. This usually involved asking an insane amount of questions, fighting with my brothers, and getting stuck on the HAND crank fuel pump. All through my childhood my grandparents took us out to the farm and introduced us to the work required to make the farm work. Whether it was picking rocks by hand, spraying thistles with a 3 gallon backpack sprayer, or shoveling animal waste, we did it. We learned that hard work was the answer.

Since I was in my early teens, I have had a job. My first real paid job was hauling hay and shoveling sheep and pig manure for a local hog operation. You want to talk about uncomfortable? I remember filing taxes at age 14 just to be sure that it was done legally. Grandpa introduced me to truck driving in the old International single axle grain truck when I was really young as well. Since then, when we picked up a second combine, I took the wheel and drove truck for the family farm. Home storage is no picnic.

When I was involved in FFA I had a swine project that started out with market hogs and grew to a breeding project. At age 17 I was selling animals to FFA and 4-H members across Washington and Idaho. That project included cleaning pens weekly, learning how to build and maintain livestock facilities, and gaining knowledge of swine, genetics and artificial insemination, and business.

What did I learn through all this? Sure my family got a lot of free labor, but I got a free home, free meals, clothes when I needed them, and unlike most, got a car to drive the 7 miles to school, football, baseball, and FFA events. I got the freedom to be active in the school activities I wanted and travel with FFA. But none of that would have been possible if my grandparents made me contribute to the system, our family. I see that now today. If I do not contribute to the system, my bills pile up, I go hungry, and my stuff gets thrown out on the curb. My generation doesn't make that connection.

Here at college there are students who have mom and dad contribute 100% of their finances to get through school. They don't work, party every day, and consume anything and everything at an insane rate. Then they complain and blame if they lose. The same thing with these protesters.

These protesters are waving signs, yelling chants, cursing at authority, and using violence, all in hopes of getting the same treatment and level of life that the big wigs at Wall St have, even without working for it. THAT right there, is the issue. What happened to working hard? What happened to taking personal responsibility for your actions? Where is the accountability here? We have people running ragged doing drugs, driving drunk, partying till their teeth fall out, having sex and getting abortions, racking up limits on multiple credit cards. Here at my apartment complex they leave trash and dog waste everywhere.

I have seen many pictures of college kids holding up signs saying we are the losing generation. I agree, but not like they think I do. We are the losing generation because someone along the line didn't teach us how to work. They didn't teach our kids the value in responsibility (going to Disney Land when there is a $300,000 mortgage on the home). We are losing because we can get out of trouble when we put ourselves there.

It's time we take it like a man. Get off the couch, off the computer and cell phone, get a job (even if it is flipping burgers), work hard, keep track of your bills, stop blowing your money at the bar/club on the weekend, and then when you have aced your classes, developed an idea and started a business, lived on rice and beans, and done it the way grandma and grandpa did it, evaluate. I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed. You cannot loose if you worked hard because you gained new skills and new ideas. And that to me is how the successful people did it, so buck up and do it.

Stop whining if the next guy has more cheetos than you, it's the way it is. Do all you can to earn more.