I'm a pessimist and a cynic when it comes to American politics and the future of my generation.
However, I know my generation well enough. Once we stop being apathetic and depressed, we can be passionate. We honestly want to help people, save the world, find world peace. We're all so sick of watching adults who supposedly knew what they were doing screw up. I think we honestly can get it right. We are the brightest minds in history, the most tech-savy, the ones who've got the most to lose.
This is what I hope.
I hope that we'll have figured out there is a way to balance jobs like logging with safe environmental practices, that auto workers can be trained to make good clean cars, that the environment will be valued above money.
I hope that every man, woman, and child in America, and hell, maybe even the world, can have enough money so they can eat, get an education, have decent clothing, a safe place to stay, and health care.
I hope that we'll figure out the easiest way to deal with conflict in other countries isn't with force, but with diplomacy and peace, that the lives of our brave, valuable troops are worth more than some foreign oil.
I hope we can find good alternative fuel, so we won't need to depend on foreign oil or off-shore drilling.
I hope that women will be considered worth as much as men, that they make the same amount of money for the same job, that their lives are valued around the world everywhere.
I hope that religion extremism cools off, that poor young men who would otherwise be driven to become extreme can have a better secular education, that all religions can coexist.
I hope for adequate freedom of speech and press around the world, for reporters and protesters not to get beaten and killed just for expressing their ideals.
I hope for sex education other than don't do it, for contraception for those who need it most, for easier access around the world for abortions and maternity health centers.
I hope for an end of TB, measles, chicken pox, a cure for HIV, and better access to medications and antibiotics, for the wealthy pharmacutical companies to stop keeping meds from people who can't afford.
I hope for health care becoming a human right and not a privilege for those who have the money and don't have any pre-existing conditions.
I hope one day, all people are valued as equal, and can have equal opportunities in life, regardless of sex, race, age, sexuality, or religion.
I hope the death penalty is abolished, and a one-time drug user gets rehab instead of twenty years in prison for basically nothing.
I hope adults understand that lowering the drinking age to 18 would only stop college kids from getting arrested and people would not start drinking much earlier.
I hope somebody realizes that gun control helps limit violent and gang-related crime, and it's not just inner cities that have gun problems.
I hope big business is not as greedy, but since that will never happen, that the government is able to regulate them, because anything that is too big to fail can and will fail.
I hope those who are coming to America to try to get a job and make life livable for their families will not be thrown out and abused.
I hope that free trade is not free anymore, and fair trade practices come back, so everyone in the world can benefit.
I hope only organic farmers get crop subsidies, because they need it more, and it's healthier to eat local and organic.
I hope that American children will learn to eat better and work out more, and stay in school for longer, and really reach their full potential.
I hope we can save the world and the United States before it's too late.
What do you hope for?