Adolescents

When I was an adolescent I had it all figured out. Together with my fellow adolescents, we knew more than all adults combined. Well, that's what we thought. A couple of years, a couple of kids, a couple of jobs, and a couple of major moves have given me reason to suspect that I might have overestimated myself then. Oh the wisdom of age.

Of course, age is relative, but the principle applies: we know more when we're young and get smarter as we grow older. What's true for individuals is, I would think, true for other areas of life as well, like politics. Yes, I can understand how folks who have never really been anywhere, who have never really done anything, who have never experienced anything different, who are politically wet behind the ears can think that they have something to say. When I was an adolescent, I, too, thought I had something to say. My parents knew better, regardless of how much I thought I knew. And, the wisdom of hindsight assures me they did the right thing: they let me talk and went about doing what they had to do.

The events of the past week, in particular, have reminded me of my own youth. I sympathize with the Occupiers, because I've been there and done that, even though for different reasons. What appeals to me most is that it is not just young people, not just white people or people of color, but a real cross-section of those who got hit the hardest when the "best and the brightest" decided they couldn't have enough. Whether some people want to admit it or not, it was American (and British) bankers who went off the deep end (allowing all those who aspire to the nonsense that represents to try and jump on the bandwagon), and now to watch the mindlessness of the run-up to the Republican primaries and to hear the newest adolescent on the block tell the rest of the world how to handle their affairs, all I can say is, it's time to honor my own father and mother, just let them talk and go about doing what I have to do.