Do you Worry About the Future for Our Kids?

I was reading this blog by I, Cringely and it’s quite different to his normal IT industry commentary. He’s talking about the future for his kids and the opportunities they may or may not have professionally, based on where things are headed – something most parents wonder or worry about in some context today - right? Additionally, with the world hitting seven billion people yesterday, I’m sure this stuff is more top of mind for most.

Many friends have expressed huge concerns for their kids’ futures, and in Asia, it seems to be a hotter topic of conversation. The main reason for this obviously has to do with the sheer number of people in this part of the world – more than 60% of the world’s population – but in these parts, education is also a massive thing. Competition for universities is unbelievable, and with approximately four billion people, that’s a lot of educated professionals entering the workforce! People round these parts are also very very smart – mind boggling so - something the Western world should definitely be taking heed of.

But there is one thing that gives me solace. We’re all so bloody different, we all bring such different qualities to the professional table and we all view things in such different ways - and it is this that reassures me it’s going to be alright. Our kids are going to be much more advanced than us, and I reckon they’re going to move beyond ignorance and separation, realising it is the mish-mash of humanity that makes our world so great. I definitely believe the future will be about the richness and creativity that comes out of our differences and our kids will harness this to create a world we can’t even imagine today.

I definitely know our kids are going to do something amazing, something we can’t even comprehend. I mean look at where they are now? How many will never know a world before the iPad? In fact, some won’t even know what a remote control is when voice activated TV takes off. Shit, dildos will probably be voice activated – or maybe they already are? Technology is a huge part of their world, but it won’t dominate their world because human beings are essentially social and creative, so this fear around digital doesn’t sit with me. Then again, us humans have always feared change and the unknown.

I also reckon our kids are going to change the current war and aggression mentality. They’re going to grow up and realise it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not like it’s ever worked anyway. I think recent generations have made big progress here, but it is the generations coming through now that will really finish this job and move our world towards peace. I really do believe that! Our kids will also sort out the environment, because they’ll have a bigger picture view of the world. They’ll also sort out corporate and media brainwashing, get food back to its natural state, move our world beyond the destruction of organised religion, and so much more. They’ll do it because they’re smarter than us, just like most of us are smarter than our parents. It’s definitely not all doom and gloom from where I’m sitting and I’ve obviously got a lot of faith in our kids.

As you can probably tell, I’m not worried for my boys. They’re going to speak English and Mandarin (and Hindi if I can manage it), they’re going to know and be friends with people from all races and cultures (they already are – an advantage of living in this multi-cultural society), they’re going to learn to dance, sing and hopefully play musical instruments, they’ll have a love of reading because we do, we’ll encourage them to be creative and imaginative, we’ll take them to far off lands so they can see this magnificent world in all its glory, they’ll have us as parents and we hope we do a good enough job for them, but most importantly, in the end, they’ll identify something within them that they want to do with their lives, and it’ll be a perfect match for who they are. And if they’re out of work for a while, they’ll always be welcome home to sort it out and get some extra love. Whatever it is they decide to do they’ll be alright I reckon, we’ve just got to arm them in every way we can - confidence, emotional maturity, skills, education, awareness, life experience, an ability to question, curiosity, sensitivity, acceptance, and so much more - to prepare them for whatever future they want.

That’s how I reckon it’s going to be – what do you think?

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea