#generation gaps

[jasonborrowed]

Have you noticed that things have changed so much in last 20 years? I mean, how and when did it happen that if you bring up "Sex, drugs, and Rock 'n Roll", younger people immediately think your asking about "Pro-nouns, Prozac, and bowling alleys"!?!??

[writingwithcolor]

Indian Character Name Checks and Relationship Hierarchy

@gardenfornoone asked:

I have two questions about some characters in my story. The first question is about their names. I created these characters a few years ago and am not sure what sources I used to name them or whether those sources are accurate. One character is called Mona Sharma and is from India (though I’ve lost my notes saying where exactly I intended her to be from so I’ll need to do that research again) Mona’s sister is named Reena. Reena’s son (whose father is a white Australian man) is named Mahender Stephens. I was wondering if there are any issues with these names, or if they make sense together. I’m particularly concerned about Mahender’s name, as a lot of sources say the name is derived from the name of the god Indra, and I don’t want to unintentionally disrespect anyone’s religion. Are there any issues with the names I’ve chosen that I should be aware of?

My second question is about the interactions between Mona and her nephew, because I know from reading this blog that in Indian culture, there is a lot more of a hierarchy based on biological age compared to in western culture, and I want to write their interactions in a way that makes sense. Mona is in her mid thirties while Mahender is in his mid twenties, and they don’t have a good relationship. Mahender was born and raised in Australia, which I’ve heard has even less of an age-based hierarchy than most other western counties, and the way I’ve written his character so far, he hasn’t shown a lot of respect for older or authority figures (e.g. he has no problem mouthing off to his much older boss), so I’m thinking this would affect his interactions with his aunt. What are some things to keep in mind if I want to write these characters interacting in a realistic way?

Please Consult the Naming Guide

What part of India are they from? Are they Hindu? *slams head against keyboard* Please find your notes or decide where they are from and what religion they are, and I will be happy to check your name, find someone who can, or point you in the right direction of finding more details.

In regards to age gap conflicts, I think whether or not the aunt was raised in Australia will heavily impact how she interacts with the nephew. It may play out as conflicts over respect for elders or not listening to advice.

- SK

Hi, please read our naming guide for South Asians. It is also not clear to me where your story is set. Diaspora migration patterns vary between countries. I agree with SK that we need more information as to the regional and religious backgrounds of these characters. 

The generation gap between first and second generation immigrants can be a serious point of tension, but it also doesn’t have to be. A lot depends on your characters:

Their beliefs and priorities

How much they value their identities

How much they want to accept or reject assimilation

Their desire to understand each other

Another key thing is many of these qualities won’t stay static. Case in point, my sibling and I were raised the same way. In school, one of us embraced assimilation, while the other didn’t, and now as adults, we’ve switched. Our parents have been thoroughly bemused throughout the entire process.

- Marika.

[igotswag77]

Courtly Love In Thrawnbine - My Review

This Tumblr inspired me to try again on the concept of COURTLY LOVE -- thanks for the nice art.

This is long... No tl;dr. I have been writing my THRAWNBINE fanfiction since 2014-2015. The initial transcripts were lost because my computer and the external hard drive crashed. Therefore, the research, development, key ideas, metas, etc. are gone. I have to start from scratch, hope some of them are in the cloud, and rely on my memory, which is another discussion. This piece here is not about the validity of the THRAWNBINE ship. It is a discussion of story elements I wanted to include as I write this fanfiction. It is not about me forcing any fan to accept my proposal. As a Star Wars fan, I like creativity and this piece is an example of what I think about when I develop my creative writing for fanfiction. It is what I want to do with my life right now because I can do it now.

However, a while back in one of the SWAG77 blogs here, my group discusses the idea of COURTLY LOVE: As I understand it as a beginner creative writer, it is how the COURT of the kings, queens, princes, princess, (on down) and knights in the Middle Ages and Medieval times expressed their love to each other. (x)

From my interpretation on my reading, not just Wikipedia but others, when noble single men, who were knights, often fought "religious wars" returned home to the court and would appeal to royalty to marry a certain young woman. They planned to "woo" these women with sayings, phrases, poems, etc. as an expression of their commitment and love. The issue is, most young women at a certain age (late teens, early 20s in the 13th -15th centuries) were considered "old maids" (spinsters) and they were made to marry whoever their families could get who were often older men 10+ their senior. Once married couples could not divorce, because of Church, and if caught cheating on their husband, women could be thrown away or killed. Many marriages turned loveless. When the knights returned home, they discovered the love of their lives was married, and therefore, they could not marry her because it was against the Church. Of course, back then, there were not a lot of sexual infidelities, because women could be killed for that, and any resulting child was forced into servitude, enslaved, or killed.

What couples did that time to express their love, devoid of sex to relieve that tension, the nobles created "courtly love" where the knight would serve his lady in any command and he would in turn be chivalrous along with his poems and sayings of love.

"The Lady and the Unicorn" (x), (x) tapestry art from finished in 1500 in France, is an allegory for "courtly love" by its subjects in the art, and symbols. The art comprises six tapestries that depict individual senses in each of them:

In the sixth tapestry, the words display, "À mon seul dési," while obscure in meaning it says roughly:

"To my only sole desire" "According to my desire alone" "By my will alone" "Love desires only beauty of soul" "To calm passion"

In my literature review to build the THRAWNBINE ship, I weaved the idea of "courtly love" as a plot element, in case my story hypotheses were inaccurate. That no matter what, Grand Admiral Thrawn knew he would have to serve under Countess Sabine Wren due to her royal status. By the time Thrawn meets Sabine face to face, she might be royalty with the rank of a countess, or she might be a rank higher than one because she has a direct right to Darksaber, as explained.

Sabine Wren might be a Marquise because she has an exemplary war record. I believe that Sabine Wren is the rightful heir to the Darksaber over Din Djarin because when Djarin defeated Moff Gideon, the Moff is NOT Mandalorian. All Djarin did is confiscate the Darksaber FROM Moff Gideon to give to the rightful heir. Lady Bo-Katan Kryze is not the rightful heir. She was given the Darksaber because Sabine believed in her. But the Darksaber is magical, like the Excalibur sword, and this saber did not choose Bo-Katan, and Bo-Katan never won it by ritual combat. The last Mandalorian who fought against another Mandalorian in ritual combat was Sabine Wren. Why Sabine gave it to Bo-Katan? Maybe the Sabine Wren character is like Nimue, the Lady of the Lake who gives worthy people the Excalibur, and in this case, it would be Sabine. But the Darksaber is ENTRUSTED to one that is worthy to wield it and NEVER lose it to scurrilous powers or persons. If Filoni et al. is using parts of the Arthurian Tales to explain why Sabine gave the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, then it was Bo-Katan's job not to lose the Darksaber. But she did and somehow, Moff Gideon "acquired" it -- he is definitely unworthy of it.

Maul, while he fought in ritual combat to obtain the Darksaber and killed for it, CHEATED during the fight with Pre Vizsla. Ritual Combat is a test of pure fighting skill, will, and strength. In the book, "Darth Maul: The Shadow Conspiracy", Maul has the fighting skill, a will, and the strength to fight Pre Vizsla, but there is the Force, and Maul used it to defeat Vizsla with his Force abilities in precognition. Maul knew all the moves that Vizsla would take before he made them. In my opinion, that is cheating.

While the Darksaber will work in a non-Mandalorian's hands who can wield a saber, the crystal used for plasma that Tarre Vizsla built, is responsive to the worthiness, nobleness, and chivalry of the wielder. Most stories written about enchanted swords say they do not work optimally in the wrong hands. Did it fail Maul, probably not, because Maul was so Dark Sided that he could "bleed" a lightsaber crystal for his uses. But I can imagine that a Mandalorian who uses weapons for his religion, like Tarre Vizsla who has the Force, would build his lightsaber in a way that his crystal, while it can be bled by a Dark Side user, still holds its resilience hoping for a worthy, noble and chivalrous Mandalorian to bring together the people and raise an army.

Another caveat to this story I think is Sabine Wren wielded the Darksaber while she was possessed by the Nightsisters trying to relive as Maul wanted. She almost kills Ezra Bridger, but Bridger was strong enough to pull the ghosts out of Sabine (and Kanan) in the Star Wars Rebels Episode 11, "Vision and Voices". Anyone who understands possession by spirits knows that not ALL of the spirits leave the body. Moreover, one possessed by spirits is not always evil. It is an ancient practice by those who are a part of the Vodoun culture in Western Africa, the Caribbean, Louisiana, and Gullah -- my culture (which I have some practice in it). Part of Sabine's ability to wield the Darksaber and other lightsabers come from the memories of the spirits that entered her body on Dathomir and the touch of the Daughter, which I have repeatedly written about on the Sabine Wren site (x), (x), (x).

The point is since the spirits entered Sabine Wren and not all of them left her in that SWR episode, and she picked up the Darksaber once clear of the complete possession, the Darksaber, especially the power of the crystal and the "spirit of Tarre Vizsla" encased in it, wanted Sabine to become the Mandalorian to rally all other Mandalorians together as one.

In SWR Trials of the Darksaber episodes, after Sabine defeats the Imperial Mandalorian, Gar Saxon, only to be killed by Sabine's mother, Ursa Wren, it shows that the Darksaber is rightfully hers. Why Sabine gave it away? The writers of SWR do not add scenes or dialogue meaninglessly, every piece of scenery with lighting, etc. and dialogue is added into each episode carefully to tell the story that these creatives want you to see. Sabine felt she did not have enough political skill to command Mandalorians, or better yet, military leadership to command Mandalorian -- for "you don’t tell Mandalorians what to do. You suggest it and they either heed your advice or not. (forgotten reference)"

Thrawn had to have learned that Gar Saxon died well before Season 4 Episode, "Heroes of Mandalore" part 2. Also, Thrawn knew a lot about Mandalorian culture through its history, philosophy, and art. What he did not count on is that he would find an artist -- Sabine Wren. I don't know when Thrawn discovered Sabine was an artist that painted the graffiti on the retaining wall. Through his studies, he deduced it was her by the armor she wears, the changes in her armor, and how important the armor is to the Mandalorian culture. This is why he was able to figure out that Sabine built the weapon. Her method of creating art reflects on how she builds weapons whether she knows this fact or not. But then, the Darksaber, which he has not seen, and would not really know its lore because it seems that story that Fenn Rau told Kanan is an "oral tradition" than a written one, and the fact that it was "liberated" from the Jedi seems like an embellished story -- liberated? More like "stolen" maybe? Thrawn had not heard that story. But Sabine knows it. I am not sure if Thrawn knew that Sabine is the rightful owner of the Darksaber. But during the battle sequences, he must have gotten glimpses of it and piecemealed what exactly it is as his job as a strategist to know what he is going up against. However, the Duchess Arc Reactor was not reconstructed to blast through Mandalorian Armor as the new leader of Mandalore, Tiber Saxon desired. It was a test and a chance for Thrawn to see the strength of the fight of Mandalorians (who fight each other all the time), and a chance to meet Sabine Wren in person. He had not met her. He met everyone except, her.

____________

I think that Sabine Wren would be a higher royalty if Filoni et al. were to write that Sabine is a rightful heir with a title. Therefore, she would be a Marquise who protects the frontier. In this fanfic, Thrawn would have to marry Sabine to obtain the title of Marquis to protect the border of the galaxy from the Yuuzhan Vong (lite = Grysks), and his military background fits in this fanfic story. Therefore, he will do whatever it takes to keep Sabine alive, protected under the symbol of the Darksaber and her people with his military (army). He would have to show "Courtly Love" with the addition of sex, to serve as her advisor, confidante, and supreme commander of her militaries. While he could keep his titles, they are not royal, but political, such as "Ranking Distant" or "Syndic" or "Patriarch" -- but that's the Chiss Ascendancy and he has been exiled from it (on paper: meaning officially he is exiled, unofficially he is in a black operation for an intelligence-gathering mission.)

As a separate story, he knows he really can't return under his current position back into the Chiss Ascendancy. But he can annihilate threats in the Unknown Regions using Galatic Empire resources -- of course, the Emperor nor Darth Vader like that idea. When the Deus Ex Machina scene occurred, wherever the space whales took Thrawn and Ezra, the end result should be, IMO, someone in the Chiss Ascendancy rescues them. And it can't be just two people, it has to be a group of them, mostly Imperials. And they take them to a planet, apparently under snow and ice in the Dave Filoni art.

Before I knew anything about SWR in my first fanfic, Thrawn met Sabine at an art auction.

After the Ezra Bridger Deus Ex Machina with space whales, it seems based on Dave Filoni's art of Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano, Thrawn officially meets Sabine. For many headcanons, metas, and short drabbles I can't get into atm, they kick off their relationship, and for Sabine, it is unexpected. And while Thrawn might strategically want Sabine to stay (to seal the deal), they have to have legacies. With legacies, Sabine would not want to leave unless she had to.

In this fanfic, any acts like these are about consent. I strive to write consent in my stories.

The conflict in this story becomes how the HAYLE did Sabine agree to all of this? She IS strong-willed like most Mandalorian women are. For Sabine to consent to this life path is:

Sabine DESIRES it; she WANTS to do a pair bond. She figures out that she is getting old and her biological clock is ticking, and perhaps she is tired of constant war and needs a break. But whoops, she did not think that her desire would overtake her and create many legacies. That does happen in real life. Therefore settles that now, this is her life. (This fanfic is the easiest one to write, but slightly dull).

From the LADY AND THE UNICORN held in Paris. Each tapestry depicts the physical senses: (1) Sight, (2) Hearing, (3) Taste, (4) Smell, (5) Touch, (6) Desire. There are allegories and symbols for each tapestry and element. The major symbols are a Lady, a young woman virgin, with a Unicorn, loyal to only her.

There is more information from this youtube: https://youtu.be/5hCWZNm3qpc. My issue about this video, while most of the information seems accurate, the poets are interpreting the tapestries with their modern experiences. In my opinion, it is difficult to understand these tapestries without historical context. To think the woman is in pain is a modern interpretation. Back then, people LIVED in real physical pain because there were no "doctors' like we have now; it is very judgy to make that assertion. Thus, the comments in the video are opinions, and the producers did not announce that opinions were going to be shared. It's kind of like the point of the tapestries was missed without the historical basis.

History for the THRAWNBINE ship is an important part of the fanfic. I am not a great writer, but I work hard to write it. I have reviewed the literature, not think up this ship out of my ass as some fans would assume. I have put a lot of work into it. Also, I am well-read on many Star Wars Legends books and the new Thrawn canon books. Therefore, it is not like I do not know much about Star Wars when I do. I have REAMS of information that I like to share with fans who ask me about it. A few fans do. Moreover, I am not so vain to think that my ideas are the ONLY point of view available. I like trying to write fanfics as close to the Star Wars canon because it is fun, and that is my thing. But there are other ideas out there. It would be wrong to say my way or the highway. Also, I am not young, and those who are asinine toward me, well, I know you're younger than me because I'm old, and I want to do this with my life, I like to do it, and I'm having fun. Some young people do not GET that idea until they fall flat HARD on their face with a lost future. But don't give up your bright-eyed and bushy-tailed aspirations -- you never know where life will take you, and you might be the one. Congrats. Believe me, life can get shitty when you're out there in the real world, like me. And when you can grab your chance at something you find fun, I say do it. Money isn't everything -- but it keeps the kids in touch. I bring up these issues because some young people take huge umbrage against the THRAWNBINE ship due to the perceived huge age difference. Okay, I can see why some young people are freaked out by that. Because someone taught them to be freaked out by the age difference. Moreover, I come from GenX, and most of us, aren't freaked out by that at all. Some of us are in that situation now. So it's no big deal to us. And any generation before ours -- THAT WAS THE WAY... I would not BE if not for huge age differences between my grandparents, great-grands, and great-great grands. Of course, for my greats- yeah, there wasn't much consent. But for my grandparents, at that time and age, there actually was consent. My grandmother was 18 years old when she married my grandfather at 26 years old. By 21, she had 3 babies. One is my father. So, I grew up not caring about age differences in relationships. But for some Millenials (not all) and GenZ (not all) and afterward (not all) -- IDK?

I guess the equivalence for some of the younger generation to understand why I am doing an age-difference story is that the younger generation demands older generation acceptance of relationships that were not allowed to exist in public because one could be killed. It was not until 1967 that people of different races could marry legally in all states. Shid, one couldn't divorce over irreconcilable differences (at will) until the 1970s. Women could not have their own bank accounts until the late 1970s, and LGBTQIA+ RECENTLY were allowed to marry legally in all states, although assholes are stopping them. Then... some of the younger generations are from IVF-assisted pregnancy situations. Some are surrogates. SHID.......... That was not allowed until the 1980s... Both 1970s and 1980s were when I grew up, when I hear younger generations wracking my brain over CONSENSUAL LEGAL age-difference, I think folks don't know the history and therefore are doomed to repeat it. It is NOT a suggestion to return back to that time where women had no choice. My fanfic is about a man falling in love from afar with a woman who actually has no clue, and he knows he is a lot older than her. Somehow, he has to tell her, and he is afraid because of rejection. Look, some Star Wars fans come from parents who have an age difference between 10+ years. If they grew up fine, and their parents are okay with their relationship, who would we judge? I am not talking about a child with a much older adult; that's not legal. I am not talking about nonconsensual (the age of consent in some states is 16-17 years old). I'm not talking about child marriage. My fanfic is about two adults making a choice to be together in an adult relationship. To say someone older can take advantage of someone younger due to experiences, well, that is a false analogy, and the opposite can be true, too. It isn't the age difference that causes bad relationships. It is the power and control, and all generations have individuals who use power and control manipulation to force and abuse another person.

Matthew Perry on that super expensive dating site was matched up with a young woman profile and wanted someone to talk to and have fun with. Not do unsavory things as the woman painted that picture. She lied about it too.

Matthew Gaetz is an asshole, and he deserves everything that the law can throw at him. I actually do not think he knew better. And as far as the young women, including the underage young lady, he manipulated them because he leveraged his power and control. This isn't because of age differences; it's about power and control by manipulation. "Oh, wow, I'm a big shot congressman; worship me." Bith, puh-leeze. You ain't shit. Look, fans teased me when I first discussed "Courtly Love," and I abandoned the idea because I could not justify it. Which is my choice; I made that choice, I chose to do it. But, some in the younger generation and nascent Star Wars fans must understand that you have no right to say who can fall in love with whom just because there a legal and consensual age difference. It is not fair. You cannot ask the older generations to accept your relationships and choose to have them if you can't accept, assuming that they are legal with consent. Because a long time ago, they were not... And when you have a longtime Star Wars fan who is older that is okay with your desires for legal and consensual relationships, killing us is not going to get these hateful toxic fans off your backs. You need longtime fans to be in your corner fighting for your cause because a lot of us have seriously fought for real shit, too. Not just protesting, but having rocks and police beatdowns and water canons, too. Blame by authorities for throwing in prison all the time. Shid...you should have seen us Spelman women rip a new asshole to fight Apartheid in South Africa against Amnesty International. We fought hard for that.

But you need to be cool with our stuff too. Just ask me. I'll tell you.

[bitletsanddrabbles]

“Thomas is of course an interesting character in that his predicament is one that few of his contemporaries would even acknowledge existed. He is a homosexual, which makes him defensive and hostile but also makes him, to a degree, to me anyway, sympathetic. He is a villain in the first series, less so in the second, probably less so in the third actually, but his real role is to be gay, and being gay in 1912 was very, very difficult. I think there are plenty of younger people out there who don’t understand that it was actually illegal at the time, a crime, and a man could risk prison by expressing his attraction to someone else. Of course, people can say there is still sexual behaviour that is illegal, but it is pernicious. Here, by contrast, we have a grown man who wants to be allowed to enjoy a relationship with another consenting adult, and for this, in 1912, he could go to prison. I think the enormity of that injustice is interesting and makes Thomas somehow sympathetic because of it.

Incidentally, Crowborough wouldn’t have been the first gay peer to marry money in order to rescue his family financially. Aristocracy in decline is a subtext of the whole show and an heiress was quite a popular way out of disaster. The truth is, that life may seem magnificent and even enviable, but, in many cases, by the start of the First World War, it was resting on sand.”

- Julian Fellows, Downton Abbey The Complete Scripts: Season One

One thing I think throws people about Fellowes’s view of Thomas is his use of the word ‘villain’ instead of ‘antagonist’. The thing is, from my experience, the use of ‘antagonist’ instead of ‘villain’ is relatively new. I know I never heard the term until I was in high school, which was the late ‘90s. Even then, I didn’t start hearing it regularly until I was in university. I graduated in 2004.

Now, if you’re Gen Z and were born in 2000, that’s your whole lifetime.

If, like me, you’re Gen Y (why on earth did we get dubbed ‘millennials’?) and may or may not have lived under a rock as far as such terminology is concerned, that’s been about half your life.

Julian Fellowes is in his 70s. They had to reshoot a scene in DA because he didn’t realize men no longer automatically stand up when a woman walks in the room. (This would have been unheard of for....most of his life, actually.) To him, ‘antagonist’ quite likely falls firmly under the header of ‘so that’s what the kids are calling it these days.’

If you look at his use of the term and his repeated statements - here and elsewhere - that he finds Thomas sympathetic, thank you, that he likes Thomas, thank you, and that homosexuals in the time period got the fuzzy end of the lollipop, he really does use 'villain’ the way the younger generations use ‘antagonist’.

[blackcoffeedreams]

[jemariel]

Conversing with grandparents on the phone: Oh sweetie thank you for calling, you know, it’s just so much nicer to talk on the phone, so much more personal, it’s good to hear your voice...

Conversing with friends on the phone: I’m so sorry, I know that phone calls are SUPER WEIRD and I’m sorry for forcing this upon you the only reason I’m doing this is because I HAD to reach you RIGHT NOW....

[littlepetbee]

tbh one of the biggest Generation Gaps i’ve found, at least in my own experience, is the drastic difference between the way us and old people view physical intimacy in non-romantic relationships...like it’s a fairly common across-the-board thing for young people of any gender to share beds at sleepovers but our parents think it’s “weird” and “we never did that” even though it’s so much more inconvenient to put someone on the floor. 

and we hug and cuddle with people we’re close to all the time even if we’re not dating them - in fact i daresay it’s just part of being Friends nowadays - and i vividly remember my mom once telling me “there’s no reason for you to be hanging off [your best friend] all the time” as if me wanting to be close to her was strange since we weren’t In Love. 

and idk if it’s just the circles i run in, but it’s pretty normal for groups of friends to be fully or almost naked with each other in non-sexual ways and to casually kiss each other’s faces or sit in each other’s laps, which is something old people find weird and almost “scandalous” or “unheard of”...but to us it’s just intimacy and closeness and friendship. i’m not sure where the change came from between our parents and us, but if being casually physically intimate with your friends is wrong i don’t want to be right.

[ladylasa]

I just had an interesting discussion with my daughter (13) about generation divide, and it started when she asked me if I was a millennial. Being born in 1981, I fall into that micro generation between Generation X and Millennials. There have been several terms for it, none of which has stuck, but the more common ones are Generation Y and The Oregon Trail Generation. From observing interactions with former high school classmates, I’ve noticed that some of us carry the ideals of millennials, while others carry the ideals of Generation X and earlier Generations.

She mentioned a video that my husband (Gen X) sent her, which outlined several things that were “wrong” with millennials, including the so-called sense of entitlement. Now, few things tap into my rage as much as hearing the phrase “millennials are so entitled”, because it puts the blame on an entire generation without looking into the role that previous generations have played.

“Participation Trophies”? We can thank Gen X (and probably some Baby Boomers) for that, as they were the ones who didn’t want their children to feel left out by not receiving anything when other kids left with physical tokens of success. Not to mention, how many times have we heard the remark, “You better study hard or you’ll end up flipping burgers”? I’d even heard the same thing when I was growing up, and the younger generation hears it more than they should. It’s that mindset that adds a negative light to working in a fast food job, regardless if it brings in some income.

That’s not entitlement. The problem isn’t that millennials don’t want to end up “flipping burgers”; it’s that many of them have done everything their parents have advised – worked hard, studied hard, etc. – but jobs in their preferred industry just aren’t there. It would take too long for me to go into detail about how older generations were able to obtain the same jobs that millennials are fighting for without any sort of college degree, while the same jobs require at least a four-year college education, but you understand my point.

I hear the word “entitled” a lot when it comes to a livable wage, affordable education, and accessible healthcare, and that word should not be anywhere near those things. Those three things are necessary, and wanting them has nothing to do with entitlement.

There’s this mentality that says “Well, I had to work for what I have, and so should you.” On the surface, I can see the validity of that statement, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. As a mother, I want my child to be able to live a better life with more opportunities than I had. I want her to have the chance to succeed on her own, but I also want to see her do so without worrying about a massive student loan debt.

The thought that our children should have the same struggles we had is inherently selfish, especially when they have roadblocks that we didn’t have. There’s no benefit in that mindset. I’d rather help pave the way for our children to excel, through their own efforts, but with the support in place that helps them instead of hindering them.

Affordable education, a living wage, and accessible healthcare should not be a political talking point. They have nothing to do with entitlement. They’re about humanity.