January 12, 2005

Cynical, Me?

Are young people really this cynical -

People under 30 tend to be incredibly cynical about the future. My hunch is that if you asked them whether any once-august but increasingly maligned institution will be around in 40 years--functional public schools, a reliable healthcare system, an objective media, sit-coms, music videos, the Brooklyn Dodgers (oh wait...)--a majority would probably tell you "no". It's just their natural reflex

Personally I think public schools will stick around and that the music video will never die, but I'm pretty sure the healthcare system and the objective media are doomed.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Well, not to be cynical...But, isn't the health care system already failed and not failing? 45 million uninsured Americans means that 45 million Americans don't have access to a reliable health care system. That's like 20% of Americans, not to mention the many more underinsured and those who have insurance and yet are denied health procedures by their insurance companies.

I don't think we're cynical, folks. I think we're just realists....

Chris said...

I'm pretty positive about Europe these days. I think that countries on this side of the Atlantic in general have a better set of priorities about health, transportation, employment, marriage, the role of religion in government, and so on. Hopefully the US will catch up eventually. It is still quite a young country afterall.