You – Topia

It’s a new generation and new words are popping up on the horizon every day. Even though it is not in Webster’s Dictionary yet, I feel that at the next printing it will be. Believe it or not it is not a hip new culture word yet, it popped into my brain a week ago. So… when you hear it being used in the future, you can say, “You heard it here first”.

So what is the thinking process behind this writing, you say? The time of man, I say.

Every youthful generation has had its share of the pie, but the youthful generation of 2005 – 2009 has seemingly gobbled up more of the pie.

When I was graduating from high school, our class was going to go out and change the world. We knew we were smarter than the previous graduating classes and could see the future and knew what to do with it and for it. And off to college we went. Some became lawyers, some doctors, some teachers, and a few never got past year one, because they were partiers, yet the dream lived on. Those who completed college and went on to Master Degrees and PhD’s, continued the quest for utopia, the quest for self gratification and a sense of fulfillment. Most of us had enough common sense and good upbringing to realize that there was a thing in life called balance. But, in our quest for this utopia, we left behind our families, our wives and our children.
We were on a mission to have more than our parents, we were tired of hearing the phrase, “I’m sorry son/daughter, we just can’t afford it right now”.

[“Back in the day”… there were no Credit Cards. If, and I repeat if you had credit at a store, you paid it in full at the end of the week and only bought what you could pay cash for. It didn’t make any difference whether you were “rich or poor”, you always paid cash you lived on “what you had”.]

Back to the future…. As this generation grew up and wanted more, they could never define, “How much was enough”. The phrase was, “Just a little more”. If you made $20,000 maybe $50,000 would be enough. Of course when you got to $50,000, that didn’t seem to be enough, so then it was $75,000.


“You need a bigger car”, no problem, pay it off in three years. Bob and Judy just moved to a bigger house, we need to have one too. Now you salary isn’t large enough to keep up so you need $125,000 to make ends meet. Steve and Sarah went to Hawaii on vacation. We only get to go to Florida this year, but next year we’ll go to Hawaii.

Where does it stop? It doesn’t… for most people. That is why utopia will never be reached. You are bound to the past by debt, which is robbing your future.

Were we really going to change the world when we graduated from high school or college? Or was the world going to change us? The answer is obvious; we were changed by the world. We got “caught up” in the vortex of “Have it your way”, “Have it all”, “Have it now”.

Back to the future, again…. Therefore, because all that I have said, this generation is “caught up” in the You – Topia Generation. Those who are of the age from 18 to 35 or even maybe 40 years old, have the mindset of, you promised me, you owe it to me, now hand it over. No one is responsible for his own way in life. “I’m stuck here because you didn’t give me something I needed”. “I’m stuck here because you won’t give me a raise”. Even though the person has never put forth any effort to “work at the job” and try to improve himself/herself.

You – Topia: It’s all about me. It is no longer about we or us. It is no longer about how I can help you, so we can improve the product to make more profit, to improve the company, to sell more products, to be able to hire more people, to get a raise. It’s more truly stated, “I am here for the duration, you need to pay me more money every year and not bug me about how much work I do or don’t do”. And boy, are you lucky to have me!

Another aspect of this generation is that they think history started when they were born. And those of us who have lived a little longer are just “old fashion”. “You – Topians” have yet to figure out that is was us/we, the old guys/gals who brought the past into the future through blood, sweat and tears. They have yet to realize that, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. They have yet to realize that freedom is never cheap just because it is free. But they are about to loose their freedoms and don’t even realize it. Freedom is never cheap, just because it’s free.

What did that credit card do for you? Did it give you the freedom you thought it would? Probably not, so you got another credit card because the old one didn’t have a high enough credit limit on it. And now you’re still not satisfied. How much is enough? Do you continually want more? Can you live within your financial budget? Or do you ask, “What’s a budget”? At this point, can you even “get out of debt”? Are you so “in hock” that the interest rate keeps you even on the principle when you make a payment? How do you stop the madness? Are you having fun yet? Have you found utopia, or have you found “you – topia”?

Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk,
Ron
reskew@aol.com