WTF People?

I have two young children, currently six and seven, and I am depressed and anxious for their future.

Part of the anxiety is the general tone of the politics in the United States these days. I don't believe in the "good ole days" but the posturing, finger pointing, partisanship, and blinding need to get reelected is so disheartening. Politicians work to stay in office harder than to represent constituents and even when they try to act in what they believe are our best interests it's so mired in inflexible dogma that the concept of compromise is a joke. What happened to the Republic we were promised by the founding fathers? Ben Franklin had it right when asked what kind of government the founding fathers gave us he responded "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it." We have lost the republic to "mob rules", sound-bite driven democracy we currently have.

Nations as a rule are following economic policy that no one would imagine using in their own homes but they seem to believe is fine on a macro level because, you know what, they probably won't still be in the same political office when it hits the fan.

We also have a planet that is beginning show signs of cracking. I'm not going to spout statistics about global warming or other numbers and such, but the threat of global warming certainly is part of my anxiety. You may not agree with our level of influence on global warming but you cannot dispute the Great Pacific Garbage Dump. That's all ours and it has nothing to do with nature's cycles. We have become a consumer driven, wasteful nation. No where is this more evident than with the toys I have had to unwrap for my kids when they get gifts. Eight feet of wire ties and tape later I can hand a barbie to my daughter. Then I'm left with a giant pile of cardboard and plastic that I hope gets recycled when I put it in the recycle bin. There is more to life than stuff but even the little bit of stuff I buy is 80% waste and marketing.

With all that how do I look at my children and their future and not be depressed and anxious?
- JMH