Too Many Choices... Think About it

I've recently had two very disturbing discussions, and I guess it is only me being an old f___ but even in my most lucid moments I am still concerned by the ramifications such things have on our children, and our society as a whole.

For example, one discussion had to do with the differences in the generations and how it is now perfectly OK to buy three of something (trivial) instead of buying just the one you want. It speaks to the issue of having way too many choices. Young people today are inundated with options, choices, better styles and fads. Slowing this appears not to be an option. Make a shopping list... cost it out... and put a total at the bottom. Then go to the grocery store and do what you normally do. Pay for your food, put it in the car, then look at the list and the total you started with. Should you be surprised and ashamed, or do you accept this as life today, without giving it another thought. Is this what happened years ago? Is it acceptable to you?

The other discussion had to do with the acceptability of same sex marriage. Although I have no clear opposition to it that would surely make me stand out as a homophobe, I am quite concerned at the casual view that our all-knowing young people have about it. Society has only recently gotten over, in some parts, man's supremacy over women, and the young people, as well as the gay community, are flaunting a revision to the family unit that will affect the next generation in ways we cannot even predict. Why does society take these issues so lightly? I am not saying the movement, or desire for such change is wrong... only that it is happening, in the grand scheme of things, too quickly. Yes, some will say not quickly enough, but understand that such changes are trying to mutate staid beliefs that have lasted for millennia.

The previous generation wants things to stay the same, while the young people of today, accept all as normal, seemingly disregarding history. My generation cannot convince them that some things may be moving too fast, but theirs will never convince me that man does not learn from history. The youth speak of wisdom but hope to find it in their peers, but when I speak of wisdom it's in people I admire in my past.

Too many choices, too much freedom, too much entertainment, all coupled with a lack of respect for our elders, our children and the earth, worries me greatly