My Children Will Do it Differently

Just over a year ago, the founder of this project, Chris Brogan, wrote a blog post entitled 100 Topics I Hope YOU Write. I bookmarked it for future reference – it was, and still is, a great resource for when the blogging ideas well runs dry. Today sees the first fruit of that blog post’s labors, for me at least.
The world is a crazy place. Some may say it always has been, but you know, the last decade more than anything has seen everything change. These are scary times, and we only have ourselves to blame in many cases.
I’ve been sitting watching the news about the terror in Mumbai coming through, both on mainstream media and Twitter, of all places. For anyone with family or friends in Mumbai, Twitter has been playing a key role in updates on the situation as they happen.
Now I’ve just read a headline about the horrendous death of a Wal-Mart worker in Long Island, NY when shoppers burst through the doors of the store he worked at. The worker was knocked over by shoppers hellbent on getting the best Black Friday deals, and tragically he died from suffocation.
Combine these two stories with everything that’s happening around us – the ill-conceived War on Terror, the collapse of the economy and the destruction of our planet’s resources. When did we stop caring about each other so much that we seem destined to end each other’s existence?
Is this the legacy we want to leave our children? Will there be any legacy to leave them?
This is why we need our children more than ever. Every generation says, “This time it’ll be different.” Every generation says these words with good intent, I’m sure. But so far, every generation has failed. We have to offer hope that our children will do things differently.
Perhaps this time will be different. Perhaps Obama’s “Vote for Change” will really mean something, as opposed to just being a campaign slogan. The signs are good – now is the time to take these signs and make good on them.
We have to teach our children not to hate.
We have to teach our children greed is bad.
We have to teach our children tolerance of others and belief in mankind.
These life lessons and more start from the top, but we need the powers that be to offer a helping hand. What good are our teachings about greed when our children see corporate CEO’s banking millions while overseeing the worst financial crisis in recent years, and not being punished for it?
We need to stop the madness. Stop the conflicts. Stop the craziness that sees a single day of sales result in death and injury. We need to stop hating, stop the bigotry, and start loving our fellow man again.
We need to say, “My children will do it differently.” And believe it. And make it happen.
Danny Brown is father to a beautiful daughter and owner of Press Release PR, a boutique agency specializing in search engine optimized press releases and social media PR. He is also a blog partner