A Legacy of Limitations

Generational research and cultural observations have always interested me.  I enjoy attempting to connect the dots to find strategic issues facing our culture. Today, I find myself thinking about the future of our culture and the future of our next generation simultaneously.  Perhaps it is the onset of the political season that is driving my curiousity, but I write today at the intersection of two interesting cultural observations:

 

1) Is it possible that this generation of parents is potentially going to leave behind for their next generation a nation worse off than when they inherited it?

 

2) Is it also possible that – through the gift of over-parenting and over-indulgence of their children – that we will leave our next generation less capable of making the future stronger?

 

It strikes me odd that we might be sitting at the confluence of two very challenging issues:  the dumbing down and over-indulgence of our young people and the limitations of America’s future, dragged down by debt and challenge.  Is it just me, or are we indeed leaving a legacy of limitations for the future?