Reflecting+on+what+we+have+inherited

Reflecting on what we have inherited:

My generation of Americans was born into a country that has overcome many obstacles, but is also facing some of the biggest troubles yet. As Tom Hayden explained in the Port Huron Statement, I am "looking uncomfortably at the world [I] inherit." My generation is being forced to inherit a plethora of national issues which we had no part in creating. Those who created the problems are dying, and have left us to clean up their mess. We have inherited a broken social justice system that refuses to provide equal rights to all citizens regardless of their race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. We have inherited a country that thinks it is acceptable to deny two people the right to marry because they are the same-sex. We have inherited a massive disparity in the country's education system. This education gap is restricting underpriveled children from getting a decent education and thus preventing them from obtaining positions in the work force. We have inherited a nation which still holds prejudices despite a Constitution which created all men equal. We have inherited the 99%; we have inherited the 1%. We have inherited the "monster" which is driven by greed and corruption. We have inherited an unprecedented homeless population, which feels invisible to the world. We have inherited a nation of people who feel defeated and hopeless. Those who came before us inherited their predecessors' problems, and those who come after us will inherit our problems. Although it may make us uncomfortable, inheritance is a right of passage, and it is now up to our generation to face these problems head on.

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