Anything is Possible

We live in a world where anything is actually possible. I truly believe that statement which has been ingrained into me my entire life. It becomes overly hard to believe when you see the unemployment numbers for London (8.8 percent) and the rest of Canada (7.4 percent), but imagine looking at that number for those age 15-24 (14.7 percent). That is a ridiculous number.

We are looking at a situation where people now fear for a lost generation. Can you imagine that, an entire generation lost? For what reason? Do we not have the skills of previous generations? The Intellect? The Ambition and Drive?

I refuse to believe that. A band called the Sloppy Meateaters once said, "I don't like how you're running things, but I got no solution". While certainly not the greatest grammar of all time, I think it has been one of the most influential statements of my life. I don't blame the government for the youth unemployment rate, with a recession they need to make sure families are getting fed. I don't blame the employers who are hiring for the experience that my generation simply doesn't have. When you look at it, you might be able to hire someone young for less, but you might spend more time training them. I understand that argument. I may not like how things are being run, but there isn't a clear solution to me. So what to do?

There is another option in my opinion. Start it yourself. I know that this isn't the safest or easiest route, but doing nothing under the threat of a lost generation is more dangerous. You think you have a good idea? Do it. Do you see a gap in the market that you think you can solve? Solve it. Say you start something and in a couple years when that great job you've been looking at is looks at your resume and sees that you have been actively honing your skills, at a job you created. I think that looks pretty good.

It's incredible to me to see the generation of people in this city and around the world that are from my generation are are solving problems. Look at things like "Palm Pass", or, I'm gonna toot my own horn here, "LondonMusic.ca"; these are things started by young people offering their services to the city.

I think for a lot of people while it is easy to wallow about the lack of jobs, I think it's important to seize this opportunity as a chance to reflect on what it is you really want to do. Take this chance to take a breath and make sure that if you are putting the effort into a job, that you are happy when you get it. Know that every single person has something that makes them special to contribute to society. And just because it takes a little longer for society to figure that out, doesn't mean that it is any less special.

And for any of you that are interested, here's the song I was referencing earlier. It's appropriate as I always keep a picture of Kurt Vonnegut in front of my desk to remind me of the fact that, while he was selling Saabs in the 1960's, he was also continuously reading, and writing, and honing his craft, into something that has made my life immeasurably better. I owe a great debt of gratitude to that man, for never giving up on his dream, and I would encourage you all to do the same, because you'll never know the impact you could have on future

generations otherwise.

(The connection is that Kurt Vonnegut wrote a book called Slaughterhouse Five which the song references)