Wealth A Top Priority For Today's Youth
Elmira Star-Gazette; January 26, 2007; page C1 column 2.

A recent AP article by Martha Irvine talked about the materialistic children of today. If you are a regular Oprah viewer, you might remember a recent episode when asked about her motives for building in a school in South Africa rather than here in the US, she replied that [essentially] the South African children would appreciate it more and make better use of her gift! And, sadly, I believe she is correct!

She doesn't go "there" specifically, but the problem as I see it is the gradual but highly effective efforts of liberals in replacing the American Dream of our forefathers with the Its-All-About-Me attitude in the last several generations. As the social elite removed ethics, morals, respect and the Bible from our schools and everyday life, the whole nation has suffered (ie, rampant porn, degradation of women, callousness toward life, divorce, casual sex, ...).

A young man is quoted in Irvine's article as saying, "To be completely honest, I don't even appreciate everything I have sometimes. Yes, I have a nice apartment, a great job, a great degree, great clothing. But I feel empty inside rather often." His response was to run off and amuse himself with a whole new activity. Me, myself and I. If he cared to listen I could tell him that his new pastime won't fill that void either. That void is meant for a specific person ... and, no, I am not going to preach at him ... this is something that he has to come to grips with for himself.

But as a temporary filler, perhaps volunteering at a local shelter or Salvation Army branch might be a far better use of his obvious skills. Done with the proper attitude of humility, it could start him on the road of understanding what is really important in this life: caring for one's fellow man.