With the right laws and incentives, science and technology could solve many more of the problems that plague the nation and the world. I’m no technophile but I can’t help being impressed by what science and technology are accomplishing, such as the COVID vaccines that have saved countless lives, and solar and wind energy sources that are rapidly replacing carbon fuels. This will also be a great boon to America, and the world. It portends more women in leadership positions – in science, politics, education, nonprofits, and in corporate suites. I should also point out that 60 percent of today’s college students are women, an astounding achievement. I’ve been teaching for 40 years and I’ve never taught a generation of students as dedicated to public service and as committed to improving the nation and the world, as the generation I’m now teaching. That diversity will be a huge source of strength - as our growing diversity has strengthened us since our founding.įor another, our young people are determined to make America and the world better. Most Americans under 18 are now people of color. For one thing, we are on our way toward becoming a nation of startling diversity. What about the future? No one can tell, but there are some reasons for optimism. And it seems likely (although hardly a certainty) that American families will get help with childcare and universal pre-K, and more. We will soon be investing over $1 trillion repairing our crumbling roads and bridges and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. More than 70 percent of us are now vaccinated against it. In 2020, Trump was sent packing, and Democrats took over the Senate and the House.ĬOVID was a horror but Congress created a safety net that prevented millions from falling into deep poverty because of it. In 2018 we elected a record number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ representatives to Congress, including the first Muslim women. Eighteen states raised their minimum wages. We elected a Black man president of the United States. Eventually we achieved marriage equality for gays and lesbians. We enacted the Environmental Protection Act. And then in November of that year, Richard Nixon was elected president.īut we did recover. Young people were tear-gassed at the Democratic National Convention. The nation was deeply and angrily divided. Tens of thousands of young Americans (including several friends) were being ordered to Vietnam to fight an unwinnable and unjust war that ultimately claimed over 58,000 American lives and the lives of over 3 million Vietnamese. When I graduated college in 1968, I thought America would never recover. Your daughter Sarah chimes in about the continuing menace of Donald Trump and lawmakers too timid to stand up to him.Īll reasons for concern (except for those of your Trumpish uncle Bob), but I’d hope someone at your table also notes that America has gone through worse times, and have in some ways emerged better. Your friend Sid can’t stop worrying about the pandemic, or assault weapons, or hate crimes, or near-record inequality, or the opioid epidemic, or soaring homelessness, or voter suppression. Your son Jared, back from college, wants to talk about systemic racism.
Your Trumpish uncle Bob can’t keep his mouth shut about Biden’s failures in Afghanistan and at the border. Some of it, about sports or jokes or jobs or plans.īut some of your guests (perhaps even you) will want to talk about the distressing state of the nation and the world.Your cousin Sue worries about climate change and how little was accomplished in Glasgow. Friends,If your family and friends are anything like mine, there will be a lot of talk today over turkey.
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