Spoiled Fruit

   by Tara Overzat

I find myself surprised time and again, uniquely shocked, at the spoiling of many people in my generation and of the one coming up rapidly behind it. Expensive clothes, expensive cars, expensive electronics- much of which is purchased on credit – are being doled out to immature children who have not held a job and do not comprehend the true value of money.

A miniscule ray of hope presented itself in the MTV show “Exiled!” where six of the stars of “My Super Sweet 16″ were sent to some of the poorer areas of the globe for a week to understand just how good they had it. If this was an actual lesson in humility and self-reliance, not a stunt for the benefit of the TV audience, it would be laudable.

I grimace when people my age tell me they didn’t work in high school, and nearly faint when they inform me they did not work in college either.  I often hear the tired line of “My job was to be a student.” What?! Really?! Not surprisingly, the people in our culture who tend to thrive long-term are those who did start working at 14 or earlier, those who understood at a young age how to contribute to society and have society reward them in return through a paycheck.

The abject laziness and sense of entitlement of so many people 30 and under will impact America. The changes in today’s global economy will leave us with only one clear advantage over nations like China and India – independent thinking. Innovative ideas. Inventions. But these things only sprout from the soil of ambition. When a child always gets what he wants, from the $249 pair of jeans to the $600 Playstation 3, he does not learn desire. He does not learn goal-setting. There is no thinking outside of the box. There is only whining, crying, and manipulating mom and dad, which not only will not work in the real world, but en masse will further cripple our economy.