Any guess who said this?
Since the dawn of a younger generation, the older generation has been convinced that the younger generation is lazy, under-motivated, and destined to destroy all that the older generation has built. Don't believe it? “[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. … They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” Any guess? Nope, not one of the gen-experts from the 80's or 2000's. That quote is from the writings of Aristotle and it dates back to about 4000 B.C. But we've gotten better since the dawning of the enlightened age...right? “Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie . . . the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.” This little tidbit comes from Robert Barnes and it was penned in 1624. And it goes the other way as well. For as long as there has been a younger generation, they have been convinced that the older generation is destroying the future. "The older generations have eaten the future of the younger ones." Penned in the late 1960's by Giuliano Amato a statesman from Italy. Sounds somewhat similar to what we are hearing from today's youth. My point is, that it is human nature to blame others for what we view are the faults of another group (In-Group/Out-Group Dynamics). If we really look at what we are seeing, the younger generation is doing exactly what we, the older generation, did. We see the world very differently as we age and gain "experience", and much of what I hear coming from younger people are statements that I made when I was their age and in their life stage. I know I have uttered the phrase "If they would just put me in charge...I would fix it all." - Scott Wuerch ~age 23. What we ascribe to "generations" is most likely actually caused by the stage of life, and the socio-economic status of the person we're looking at. My other point is that it is time to put a stop to the name-calling and assumptions of that "other" group (doesn't matter if it is age, skin color, ethnic origin, sex, hair color, etc) and realize that we are ALL in this together and if we want a better outcome it is going to require that we all work together to achieve it. It is time to put away our assumptions, our biases, and our anger and get to know each other in a way that helps us understand what we all want and how we need to work with each other to accomplish what we are looking to achieve. If we can do that, then we will be able to achieve much as the human race! We've seen it happen on a smaller scale when a group (community, company, etc) comes together and knocks it out of the park because they we concentrating on what they had in common rather than in their differences. It's past time for us as a society, as a mass of humanity, to do the same thing. When we finally do, the possibilities for what we can accomplish are endless. Oh, the quote in the picture at the head of this blog...that's from Socrates and it was recorded somewhere around 2400 B.C. Are we actually still in the same place as a race (human race) that we were in 4000 and 2400 B.C.? Kinda sounds like it, doesn't it? I like to think that we are capable of better.
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AuthorScott is the owner and principle for Unilimited Pie. He has been many things in his life: Firefighter, Paramedic, Teacher, Business Owner, and Award Winning Leadership Development Expert. But what he is the most proud of are the leaders he has grown over the years in each of his roles. Leadership can be learned, if you have the right person to advocate for YOU. Archives
February 2020
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