Ramble: Future of our world

With the 2008 presidential election upon us, I find myself contemplating the future, not just for Ashley and I, but for my children as well. I find myself looking at the world and all the changes I've witnessed as I've grown up, and wow- how it has changed.

I remember cassette tapes, and vhs. I remember when CD's were released and how that paradigm shift was seen as revolutionary. I remember a summer in my teens when gasoline was 89 cents a gallon. A world that seemed so much smaller, a world without the internet. At least not as we know it today.

The world wasn't yet a global community, it just didn't feel like it when I was young, and perhaps that's why- I was young and hadn't really thought about it to any real extent. I look at my parents and I can envision an even larger change from their perspective- perhaps even an exponential change from our world today. Many older folks would probably laugh when I mention 89 cent gasoline.

It is this thought that makes me wonder about the world my daughter and son will eventually inherit. I wonder, for instance, what kind of unique challenges they'll need to overcome. What types of joys they'll be able to experience, and of course, I worry in small part to the unforeseen changes of this world.

Climate change is one. Over population. Deforestation another. I worry quite a bit about what we're doing to our world- the only world we have. I worry because we are now in a point in human history where it is entirely likely that we've gone too far. Like we've crossed some invisible threshold. I read recently that one quarter of the worlds mammal species are in jeopardy of going extinct. One quarter!

So how many mammals are there in the world? 4,260. That means of the 4260 species, there are 1,065 species in jeopardy of extinction.

We're undoing billions of years worth of evolutionary progress on this world- and in a scale of perhaps 200 years - I would guess it really took full effect after the industrial revolution. The point that I'm trying to make is that these important issues should be prevalent in all of us as parents. It's not meant to scare, but it is something that each and every one of us should take concern in.

I look at my daughter, and my son (who's not quite here yet), and I wonder what I could be doing to teach them better. I wonder what I can do to help Isabella's brain mature, to help nurture a thirst for knowledge and the habits that lead to better cognitive development. Sure we read, draw, study images of animals and places in this world, study the alphabet and practice our numbers. Sing and dance. But will that be enough?

I guess every good parent eventually asks the question: "are we doing good enough?". In most cases, I would argue, that those of us who do ask that question, are. Sure parenthood can be tough, but its the best damn job in the world...