A Rare Moment of Optimism

Often I, like many others my age, look at past generations and eras, the events that happened world wide, and feel my generation fell, well, short. We have no great wars, depressions, labor or civil movements, or even music that will alter the world for centuries to come. When I've soaked this in I look at science and technology from the future and believe I'm not going to be there for interstellar travel, non fossil fueled cars let alone flying ones, and cures for cancer and aids. I feel like my generation is stuck in a limbo between two great ages. It's frustrating really, I'm too late for hobos but too early for lightsabers. All the innovations now are stepping stones to bigger things. It is this very idea that gets me thinking, maybe I didn't miss out after all.
I was born in 1987, since then the Berlin Wall fell, hip hop became mainstream, and several small businesses have risen to immense power and choked the life out of Main St., USA. In the past twenty years there have been two unpopular wars in the same region, World Trade collapsed (figuratively and physically), the Internet has taken over and brought forth the rise of independent journalism, and the first black president has been signed into office.
After I contemplate this I then think about what I will see. In the next ten years I am going to first hand experience the death of the newspaper and tiny solar panels that can stay underground and collect energy via a fiber optic wire that are up to six times more efficient than conventional solid panels. We are going to see a rise in fuel efficient cars, Terabytes of data stored on a hair, processors that work almost as quickly as the human mind, and even LED Light Tattoos that glow and shift with the body.
As far as movements there is a very important civil rights movement really taking hold. The Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement grows every day in this country; the demonstrations this autumn alone shows us this and the fervor just keeps on thriving. Race relations, though still not where they should be, are improving every day as well. On top of all this one of the largest revolutions ever in world history, the Information Revolution is in full swing. With internet and mobile technology, ideas, facts, and beliefs are spreading faster than ever. This leads to people all over the world really seeing the truth out there and they're getting pissed.
It's always been easy for me to be cynical, optimism though, especially for society and the human race in its whole entirety has been seemingly lost for quite some time. I now see though what all those folk singers from the 60s I love so much saw, and in turn what the Folk and Blues singers saw in the 20s and 30s. The world is a constantly changing place, and though times can be tough and bleak, dig a bit deeper for that vein of excitement and wonder, and you will see that progress really is coming, and it's just a matter of when the movements of today turn from glaciers to avalanches.

-Jonny Gonzo