by Katie Reilly

Created on: December 09, 2008   Last Updated: September 24, 2011

"Be prepared for the smart young people of the new generation to start sounding like your depression-era grandparents."

Is it possible that young people today are redefining certain sacred views of simplicity? In the midst of diminishing natural resources and rising debt, are the hip folks in their twenties unknowingly picking up the wisdom their ancestors passed down?

Hopefully. While reusing a sandwich baggie or learning to wander around the house in the dark might not make a huge dent in our environmental and financial problems, the decided effort to cut corners where we can will ultimately lead to something more important: A change in mindset. And isn't that where real change comes from?

I have spoken to my own parents, and although they are respectful of the ideas of conservation, they are unable to truly adapt. As children of the 1950s and 1960s, they were raised in national financial surplus. While their own funds may not have been limitless, there was no fear of the sources
of wealth disappearing. And needless to say, no one was talking about driving a smaller car in the late 50s. There would always be the chance to make it up, to take it where you could get it - the well wasn't just going to dry up.

But now it is, and my parents are in their 60s, watching their retirement funds dwindle and their heating bills escalate.

And yet, they run water while soaping dishes. They set out several "atmospheric" lamps. The thermostat reads 68 F, and instead of high-speed Internet, they have dial-up and an electronic dictionary. It's not that their generation doesn't care, or is stupid, they are simply too old to reprogram.

In quiet retaliation, their offspring begin to echo principles before unheard from anyone under 75, with an added twist: "Well, the baggies aren't recyclable, but you can wash and reuse them for your organic baby carrots." The idea is to unlearn reliance on any source, but oneself, and encourage those in training to live the safe self-reliance.

Evolution has given up on the baby boomers, so it is in the hands of Generation X and their younger cousins to alter the mindset of a clinging - yet very wealthy - nation. We are having children, and they are quickly learning to use our computers and cell phones. If we don't begin to teach them the ways of the depression-era ancients before kindergarten, there really won't be much point in the so-called bail-out, will there?

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