Welcome to the United States of Adolescents

My past 20 years as a parent has given me a lot of respect for the process of growing up. Children learn how to put away their toys and do things they don't want to do, or to go to bed for no other reason than it's bedtime. They come to understand that good manners can take them far in the world, and that beating people up (literally or verbally) won't.

Although my children are still not yet in possession of full-frontal lobe development, they are on their way, headed in the right direction.

I wish I could say the same of Congress, or TV program chiefs, or corporate leaders, or the drivers I encounter every day on the Washington Beltway. I wish I had more opportunities to feel that, as a country, we were in a really good place, and headed for maturity. Or at least, that we were more willing to listen to each other, to think before developing opinions, to sacrifice and give each other the benefit of the doubt.

Mature people know that you stop playing video games when the baby's crying, and don't whine about it. Mature people know the difference between entertainment and information, and don't overdo one at the expense of the other. Mature people know they can't have it all; mature people don't even want it all!

If we were a mature nation, I believe, our relationship to each other would be different. Our government would be different. How we educate, entertain, travel, use our spare time, and inform ourselves would be different.

I created this blog because having a conversation about this seems important. We live in a time of miracles and wonder--as well as devastation and horror. We can be better than we are. This is one vehicle I have to learn how to make this happen.