Are We Falling In The Same Slump As The Great Depression

Many people fear that our country's economy has still yet to recover and might even fall further into the slump that it is in now. Are we going to fall into a great depression similar to what was seen here in the 30's. Most likely not according to economists who wrote in "The Shadow of Depression" written by Robert J. Samuelson. According to these people our economic status is nearly as much of a problem as it was back then although if the country continues to be tight with their money we could see this depression last for longer than expected. Although its hard for citizens and companies to spend money at times when they know the dollar will fall short, it needs to be done to get money flowing back into the system to help revamp the economy. If people weren't so tight with their money and spent it wisely it could help to create more money flow to help us climb out of this depression. Another thing that is reassuring about our economic status is the fact that our country is a lot more developed than it was back in the 30's. We now have federal unemployment insurance that help many struggling families and it was non existent back in the 30's. The other role that is going to help revamp the system is the government which has tried to more quickly help with slumps in the economy than it used to. All in all we as a country can rise from this slump in our economy if we are willing to let a little more money go back into the economy to help get it on its feet again, because if we don't our economic future is uncertain.

Alcoholism in Teens

As a child my father and I had a very close relationship and would do about everything together. We have pictures of me and him working on his old white k10 chevy and I couldn't have been any older than 5 at that time. I was rocking a pair of cowboy boots and attempting to help him put the lug nuts back on the tire. We would go and spend time in the woods hunting for mushrooms or when we got a chance to fish we would. As a child I always wanted to grow up and be like him. Then he started hanging with parents of my younger siblings and they would drink on the weekend and his personality would change and sometimes so much I couldn't stand to be around him. It made me view him in a whole different way and we started to grow more distant and I started going to my mom for more things than I used to. Well after this went on for a few years he decided to cut back on his alcohol consumption along with most of his friends and we are starting to get our old relationship back, that Ive missed so dearly. This summer he is going to help be build ranch hand bumpers for my truck and repair the rocker panels, cab corners and doors to remove all the rust from my truck to help it look nicer. I hope that these go through because it will be some good bonding time for us before I have to move out to go to school and won't be able to see him everyday. The point I'm trying to make here is alcohol is the tool of the devil, and a bar is a pit stop on the way to hell as one of my dads friends always put it. I keep seeing more and more teenagers going out and getting wasted every weekend because they think its fun, or because they just want to say they got wasted. Whats the point of this? You don't remember a thing that happened over the weekend and probably won't remember much from your teenage years consequently. What memories are you going to have to look back onto when your older or what stories will you have to tell your kids? Oh when I was kid I went out and got wasted every weekend, what kind of story is that to tell your kids. You would think you'd want some interesting story to tell them such as some of the things that have occurred over my weekends where no alcohol has ever been involved such as going fishing in a farm pond with your friend and catching 5 pounders, or sitting around a bonfire with your closet friends or best of all setting your best friend on fire because everyone got a little to cocky one night. Kids these days need to understand that you don't need to drink to have fun, especially drinking so much you can't remember what happened. I wish people would start broadcasting this message more than the one that you have to drink because everyone does in their teenage years because its fun.

Portraying Nature the Wrong Way?

Are our current generations parents portraying the outdoors in the wrong way making kids think it is a bad place to go. Many kids haven't fully experienced nature but would prefer to be glued to a television screen inside somewhere. Although are these kids to blame? Many parents are very protective of their kids and preach to them about the dangers of being outdoors like pedophiles, rapist, and getting hurt. This makes the kids want to go outside less and less because of all the images that are being put into their head. I think my age group was the last to really experience what nature was, not as much as generations before me who could leave home in the morning as long as they were back by dinner. Now you can hardly leave the yard without the eyes of your parents on you. This limits the amount of things you can do but even then they are limited more because if they aren't safe then the child will be scolded. I like the example I've heard were parents preach for their kids to go climb trees but not to high because they could get hurt. I think parents need to relax a little so that kids will willing go outside. I've seen it with my family my brothers won't go outside unless forced compared to me who spends all my time outside. They have tons of free time but they use all of it to play video games and with what free time I do have I use it to do something outside, even if it involves hard labor i'd rather be outside doing that than stuck indoors. Its sad to see newer generations appreciate nature less and less because of the ideas that we are putting into their head.

Childhood Memroies

With the up and coming warming weather and precipitation in the forecast I can't help but think back onto my childhood and the things my father taught me. He would always say that we could start hunting for mushrooms as soon as it warmed up and we had enough moisture in the ground to allow them to pop up overnight. We would scramble through the woods looking high and low for them and some years we would finds 3 or 4 grocery bags full and others we would be lucky to fill one, but that wasn't what mattered now that I look back onto it. Ive now come to the realization that those are memories I will always hold with my dad and the campground that we belonged to were we would go about hunting for them. This wasn't the only thing he taught me about nature though, when camping we could spend hours on a little 10 foot john boat fishing our hearts away.
Children now a days don't get to experience all of this stuff with their parents because they are all so wrapped up in some electronic device what seems to be 24/7. I think parents need to start regulating the time children spend in front of a television, playing video games, or watching videos through their phone and take them outside to show them what they can do to entertain themselves. The way they act now they won't have those special memories like I do of my childhood with my father that I hold onto so closely. I guess since I will be leaving a little over a year for a different college it makes me look back onto my childhood and all my memories and then compare them to my brothers who are victim of the electronics era.
I feel parents should try to implement nature in our children's lives and show them how much stuff their is to do if they would venture away from the television and step outside. It can't be healthy for a child to sit in front of some electronic device for 6+ hours a day like my brothers do. I wish they would get up and go outside and do something but they have fallen victim to the era that never wants to go out and do anything that involves physical labor, so they'll rot their brains inside staring at a screen. Children need to experience the outdoors with their family like I have because their family isn't always going to be there, so it would leave them with some fond memories such as the ones I have.