Congratulations to the class of 2020 at high schools in Lincoln County and everywhere.
We understand you have had an unusual end to your time in high school and sympathize with your loss of many rites of passage.
Now, we could use your help with a few things.
The generations before you, we are sad to say, have botched things rather badly.
Yes, millenials, Generation X, baby boomers, the silent generation – we have all fallen short as stewards of our country and world for your generation and those to come.
Some of us have tried to make things better. Some have not.
Witness as we bicker about how to cope with a contagious disease and establish an equitable and just society.
We treat our home, the Earth, as disposable; its finite resources as infinite.
Here in America, we have gifted to your generation a national debt that will hamper your ability to solve big problems for generations to come. You’re welcome.
Elsewhere in the world, hunger, disease, and war are rampant. In America, there seems to be little momentum toward or even interest in addressing these problems.
Yes, it is kind of a bummer.
Yet your generation also enters a world with more prosperity, more technology, more tools to solve these problems than ever before.
We need to hear your voices. Some of us still think we can make things better. Join us. Your community, your state, your country, and your world need you.
