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I've been thinking lately about the state of the world.  Not in a way that I think is in any way unique.  Just about it in general.  One of my favorite humorists is Bill Bryson, and have been reading his book The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, which is basically a memoir about growing up in the 1950s.  In the book there is a repeated theme--the joy, excitement, anticipation, and general happiness of living in the United States during that time.  There was no concern of global warming, fuel crises, pollution, proper nutrition, seatbelts, excessive alcohol consumption, or smoking, among hundreds of other things.  It was a time when retro-futurism was not yet retro, but the ACTUAL future, and society as a whole had not yet discovered that advanced technology had the ability to do as much harm as good, and provide as much worry as it did relief.

Reading this book makes me realize something--my generation has never had a shot at innocence.  Not even a snowball's chance in hell.  My earliest concious lessons in life involve the holes in the ozone layer, the accompanying associated guilt of using styrofoam or spray paint, and "bad" foods like ice-cream and candy.  When i was in second grade, we began learning about the war in Somalia, and there was an article in Weekly Reader about the conditions of refugee camps.  On the cover was a picture of a starving child, he looked like a tiny skeleton covered in a thin layer of dark skin, and he was crying.  All I remember is staring at that picture and wondering "why was someone taking his picture?  Why didn't they help him?  What happened to him afterwards?" I have never ever forgotten that picture.  It pops up in my mind randomly from time to time.  And I still wonder what happened to him.  I've wondered since I was seven years old, and I always will. 

Now, in adulthood, we live in a constant state of anticipation--waiting for China to assume its position as the new superpower, waiting for the next president to take us down for good, watching while the hoods that comprise the core of our government play chicken with our federal funding, healthcare, and civil rights.  There's no light at the end of the tunnel.  We won't come out on top and everyone knows it.  And I'm an adult now, I'm ok with this knowledge.  I just wish that there was a time that I can remember NOT knowing.