craigdailypress.com

Craig — What is the answer?

That is the question that the editorial board poses to you today. As we sat in our meeting on Monday, discussing the issues that face our community, we decided the goal of editorials in general is to provoke thought.

We as a community, young and old, need to have something that creates stimulus about the world around us.

But this is not such an easy answer. It seems as though the older generations are more focused on the vote of the presidential elections and the younger generations are more focused on voting for American Idol.

What are the differences between the generations of people, not only in Moffat County, but across the world? What makes one generation interested in being involved in nonprofits, community improvement organizations and politics, and other generations not? Has it been like this for 200 years? When our parents were our age, were they sitting around having this same conversation? Were they worried whether their country would be in good hands when we grew up? Should we worry about the next generation? Should we do something to assist them?

Of course we should.

What should we do?

We don't know the solution, but one of our thoughts was we must communicate with each other, not just parents and their children, but the community as a whole.

Communication is the key factor to the success or failure as a community. This is evident in many situations such as the Iraq war, the proposed pipeline to move water up hill from the Western Slope to the Front Range, and the future of the Vermillion Basin. Without effective communication, these situations will not be resolved effectively.

Is the aforementioned the answer?

Are the aforementioned issues things that are even on the radar of our younger generations? Do they have a desire to know about them, let alone take some sort of action on them? What is on the radar of our younger generation?

The editorial board is taking a stab in the dark, but we bet it is very similar, if not the same thing that was on our radar when we were that age.

Are they worried about fashion, pop culture, finding a suitable mate, where their next paycheck is going to come from, do they want children, what are they going to do for their rest of their lives?

We do know this: There is not just one answer. In fact, there are probably many answers, and we hope you will take the time to write in and share your opinion. We hope this subject, although convoluted will serve as the starting point for a healthy, meaningful conversation about our generation gaps, or lack thereof, depending on your opinion.

You can also post comments online at www.craigdailypress.com. Look and this and other opinions under the opinions section on www.craigdailypress.com.