Our senior minister Tharman in a talk used the phrases "global fragility" and "perfect long storm" to describe the challenges our world is facing on climate change, geopolitical conflicts, poverty in some under developed countries, food insecurity, energy crisis and stagflation. In a survey carried out in advanced countries less than 27% of parents think that their children would be better than them financially.
We the baby boomers inherit our parents' inter generation commitment to make life easier for their offspring. Since we met our parents' expectations and achieved a higher standard of living than theirs we naturally expect our children to have a better future than ourselves. However the world circumstances do not seem to point in that direction and we are disturbed because we have worked hard to provide for our kids. So it's natural to feel a bit bewildered and sad as well for not fulfilling this inter generation commitment. On top of that we may feel responsible for bringing about the various types of insecurities our children are facing. For instance, we are accused of leaving behind a 'society revolving around profit rather than sustainability.'
Perhaps we must think through what a 'better life' means. Our perception of a better life may actually differ from that of our children. Our children no longer abide the conventional paths of 'success' that we have taken preferring to redefine what constitutes a 'life well lived' which aligns with their values.
In the end we can only hope for a more stable world so that our children can live with less uncertainties and that this 'global fragility' will regain its strength and that the "perfect long storm" be blown over sooner.
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