Redtree Times

People try to put us d-down (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (talkin’ ’bout my generation)

— The Who, My Generation, 1965

I know that the title of this post refers to one song from The Who while I display the lyrics of another. But both fit the feeling I got from seeing the youth movement in yesterday’s elections. In every generation there is talk of the youth finally recognizing their collective power and showing it at the voting booth. And every generation’s youth voting has disappointed.

But there are signs that the kids– and I say kids with all due respect– are waking up to the fact that they are the ones will have to live in and bear the burden of the future being forged in this moment. It is their bodies, their decisions, their choices and opportunities that were on the ballot.

And yesterday, they seemed to finally understand that they have a major say in how that future will look. They can possibly make the world a place in which they want to live.

And I, for one, couldn’t be happier for them. And thankful for the major part they played in avoiding the dark future that may well have been in store for us without their hard work.

The kids are alright.

Here’s the ultimate kids’ anthem. May the kids from this generations do a better job than those that came before them. Last night makes me think they can, if they stick to it.

Let’s hope…