My generation, like all generations, is not innocent.  We accomplished some good things in our time, but we also seem to have not considered sufficiently the needs of future generations with the committed energy needed. Many indigenous societies and cathedral builders lived with their community’s future firmly embedded in mind and soul.  All we, in this era, can do now is invest what time and resource we have left to make up for this shortcoming.

Part of building a viable future for descendants of all generations has to involve the public and the political realms. In recent decades the political vote we hold so close to the heart in democracy seems to have devolved from an inherited trust to a common commodity.  As citizens we are offered from one party tax cuts or the other party: taxing the rich.  Right now both parties seem more or less than happy to increase national debt for someone out in the future to pay principle and interest. When I hear the campaign promises it feels like one could actually calculate the dollar value of a vote on this new auction block of an election process. With the commodification of the vote we have learned to live with blinders in the short term.  The future generations will be left to figure things out for themselves as the debts and environmental degradation come due. With the scope of future challenges ahead of us in this age, for any adult of voting age who becomes cynical and withdrawn about government, taxes and how we invest our vast resources will be hard to forgive. Time is up and we must reinvest our many remaining assets now and fast. Unfortunately the auction block vote market, which pins down power and resource, is volatile.  We have some commitments we need to make in perpetuity as far as environment is concerned. But in this age even a five year plan is hard to accomplish because Congress and legislatures seem not to be able to commit beyond two or four years in terms of assigning resource. 

Living for a future sense will ask of us a spiritual sacrifice of a portion of the present moment’s estate. We don’t all have to belong to the same religion but we must all gather to hold up a practice of values that could give the one thing all future generations will need: hope. And hope in this time will likely mean voting to invest in things for which we, like the Cathedral builder will not live long enough to enjoy. Hope is so much more than a commodity.  Hope, even if grounded in remote possibility, is still a good and essential need for all generations. For those motivated by fear, there is nothing more lethal and dangerous than a generation of human beings who can feel no hope for the future. We have no option other than reclaiming a democratic government that can marshal the resources to leverage our current path sufficiently to prepare a fighting chance for the children’s life spans. We can’t accomplish this alone or privately.