Commentary

‘Instill optimism’: Americans on how future generations can succeed

December 20, 2024

Dr. Frank Luntz (Commentary Contributor)

Americans discuss changing standards of living, disruptive technologies, and what opportunities the next generation might inherit. — Image credit: Reuters

All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.

It can be difficult to predict the relative living standards of future generations in the modern world, where it seems like so much is changing so fast. Emerging technologies like AI, for instance, might empower and accelerate human productivity, but at the same time could also exacerbate wealth, income and power inequalities. And while many of today’s opportunities might not exist for the next generation, it’s also probable that new opportunities will emerge which we cannot yet imagine.

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Watch the above 21-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz dives into the debate about changing U.S. standards of living over time, how those changes relate to evolving technologies, and what advice today’s Americans would give to the next generation.

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All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.

For so many people, the definition of the American Dream is the ability to pass along a better world, a better country and better quality of life to your children and to the next generation. So my question to you to begin this really important segment, do you think the next generation is going to have a better quality of life than you or is it going to be worse? More Americans are pessimistic than optimistic. Why are you so concerned about the next generation having a better quality of life than yours? One of the important factors, I think, is education. I think our kids.
I guess the last 20 years, our education system has failed our students, and the byproduct of that is going to be the next 10 to 20 years, all our kids are not proficient in math basics that all of us learned, whether it’s history, economics, whether it’s anything just relating to education, has gone downhill, and our poor children are going to suffer and are suffering in the future,
no matter what is going to happen. That’s that’s scary. Kevin, why are you concerned that the next generation is going to have it worse than this generation. I look at our education system. We have kids reading comic books at the high school level. We have anti semitism making a comeback. Our children don’t have the attention span to make it even through a film, much less a book or a long form article on a particular topic, and we’re losing our cultural knowledge and our cultural understanding, and we’re forgetting John from Ohio. Why do you think it’s going to be worse?
The COVID Screwed our education up worse than it already was. I didn’t do the greatest as a parent through that time, but the Faure of our schools and how they treated our children during that time period has devastated the educational system, and I got three more of you. Sepi, you tell me why it’s going to be worse. They’ve just chipped away at our rights and protections.
I don’t think that doing if you’re not doing enough, whether it’s, for example, climate issues, then if it’s not enough, it’s just not going to work. Or they have us hating each other for stupid reasons, instead of focusing on how we can lift each other up or work together, or it’s just not going in a direction that is one that cares about each other. It’s just, how can I survive Period? End of story, Ma, I see you nodding your head. Can you tell me why climate change failed? Education hate. So those are the things we’re going to destroy this country. It’s it’s already here so, but we’re not doing anything about it. So what’s going to happen to the future generation? Now I have one Frank. The children love luxury, you know, right now, and then they just have bad manners, and they don’t have contempt. They have contempt for authority, and so they’re just disrespectful, and they love chatter instead of exercise. And so a lot of those factors are the reason why I think that the kids today are going to have a harder time in their generation. So let’s do the other side now, because there are a bunch of you do feel that things are going to get better. Can you explain why? Yesenia, you go first and then Thomas, um, I feel like as long as the parents are being responsible and setting up their kids to be better than us. I think it would be a great generation for them, as long as we take the steps that we need to take for them. Can I get one more of you to tell me why you think the future is going to be better for the next generation Asia? I’ll go with you. Yeah, I definitely feel this next generation is going to be great, just because they’re so bold, they’re not afraid to hear, allow their voices to be heard again. With technology, how advanced it’s become. So I think the future is going to be very bright for this next generation.
They hold a lot of potential.
If I ask you about the next generation’s quality of life, in a sense, what do you think of being able to own a home and provide health care for your family at a better place than where we are now. David in a sentence, what is quality of life as you think of the next generation Well, being able to provide the means to survive, um, the economy and life’s up and ups and downs. Melinda in a sentence, quality of life in the next generation.
Means limited, very limited because, because of the technology I feel, I feel like that they’re going to be replaced. Is everything’s going to be, you know, I can’t even think of the word I’m looking for, but everything’s going to be automated, or robotic or something. It’s not going to be them, you know, doing the job or having the potential to do the job. Luis, when I asked you about quality of life in the next generation, how do you define it instill family virtues in your children to make better decisions. And is that happening today? I don’t think so. And why not? I think there’s a lot of breakdowns in family, and it’s translated into the workplace, Cepi quality of life. I think there’s going to be a lot of struggle, and as the wealth disparity and wealth inequality continues to grow and get larger, I think you’re going to have a very small group of people that don’t have to worry about anything and have excessive amounts of everything, and everyone else is struggling for the basics. Home ownership is a key building block to wealth, if we can make sure that people who are coming up from the younger generations can afford to purchase a home build that wealth that sets them off in the right direction. Also the freedom to worship, freedom of speech in a society where they don’t have to worry about being
canceled over their views. And I think, the security of knowing when you retire you’re not going to outlive your income and you’re not going to struggle financially. Asia, when I say quality of life for the next generation, what are you thinking? I think the quality of life is going to hold a lot of great things for this next generation, just the
economic growth, job opportunities, they have a lot of great ideas. And I just feel like they’re going to invest so much into bettering
their lifestyle, you know, for their families, for themselves. So,
yeah, I think it’s going to be great. I have one Frank the health, you know, I feel like the quality of life, the longevity people will be able to age longer. So this new generation has more cures and preventative things that help them so that they don’t get sick as easily, and they are more knowledgeable now about all their diseases that can be prevented and also help issues to be helped. Quality of life for my kids will be home ownership, having a having a decent job that they can earn a living at, and they don’t have to kill themselves, working 7080, hours a week like I’ve had to,
and be able to afford to have children. That’s that’s the biggest concern. Is the family. The the core family is is is not really being looked out for in America anymore, to have kids, sorry, in two senses, what do we need to do as a society to ensure that our children will have a better quality of life than we have anything goes. Who will who will answer that question? Two sentences. What do we need to do? Deera, you go first. We should start saving more and thinking about our future, and stop living for today in the moment, because we never know what the future holds. How do we do that? Start budgeting, thinking about your future plans, making goals and setting to it. John from Nevada, your hand is up. What do we do? If there’s one solution to this in a couple senses, what is it instill unbridled enthusiasm and optimism among young people that they can do whatever they want. The American Dream is alive and well, and you can you’re only held back by your own limitations. So have the best life. You can go for what you want to go for,
and no holds barred. And how do we do that? You have to be an inspirational person. You have to rise above the negativity. You have to be that leader in your own family that says, Look, you can do whatever you want to do. I got to where I am from, from nowhere. Anyone can be successful if they put the right mindset to it. They’re optimistic, and they are determined to overcome every hurdle. Kevin, how do we make a change? What’s the most important change to ensure our kids have a better quality of life than us? We need to change our approach to education. I think we are graduating students from not only high school but college who cannot write an essay, who cannot understand basic backup, napkin math. We have a society that has a.
Consequently forgotten its history and forgotten what, forgotten basic civics, forgotten what our rights are, forgotten what our liberties are. And I think that’s going to be a real problem, and we’re starting to see some of the serious consequences of that. Now. John from Nevada, what do we do? Pivoting off of that last comment, I do think it’s important that our younger people are educated on how the Constitution works and why these things were put in place by the founders. It’s a brilliant system, if you understand it, and if you can
think independently about it, and so making sure we have a society that’s well educated on the Civic part of our US citizenship, either from Georgia, yeah, I think helping our kids be self sufficient. You know, not only is that in the classroom, but that’s at home. We have to start teaching them at home. Hey, this is what you need to do. I know you’re doing this work on the computer, but this is your work to do. They’re not going to learn if we do it for them. And then I think, you know, a lot of people mentioned technology, it’s great, but technology has brought our kids out of touch. They don’t know how to talk to one another. You know, everybody’s used to you can finger point very easily online, but we need to teach them how to have these face to face interactions. And not everybody’s the same. That’s okay respect one another, and that’s why we do these focus groups, the idea that you all respect each other now you clearly disagree to do so with respect, with civility, with decency, and that’s very important. And I will point out, if you look at the screen right now, look how many different states are represented, how many different regions of the country. This really is America right here. And I love the ability to bring America to America. Sepi, what do we do with the next generation to make a difference
in no particular order? Believe in science,
be kind and try to be as empathetic as possible. Care about others for the sake of caring about others, and not just your own benefit.
Understand that just because you’re pulling somebody up to be at a level that you are. That doesn’t mean you’re taking away from yourself. Equity versus equality. And everything comes with a context. Things aren’t the way they are, just because you see them in that given moment.
You raise technology by a show of hands. Who thinks technology is clearly a plus for the next generation, something really good for them. 3456789,
of you who thinks it’s a negative? 12345,
of you, okay, three of you tell me why it’s so positive, why this is going to make a good and positive impact on your children and the next generation technology will help the future. It will improve the quality of life just off of just removing certain jobs
that the systems can run, which will make it more efficient and cheaper for people,
the cost of goods will go down, and then it will just cut a lot of waste. Two more of you for technology, why it’s going to make such a difference for the next generation? I believe the technology is going to advance us through employment as well as education, making it easier to learn and more convenient to work, either in a workplace or either from home, awesome and
in senior Yeah, I feel like technology is going to be able to open up more opportunities to create money, which is what’s necessary to be able to keep up with inflation. Okay, I need to get four of you to give me the alternative point of view. And I know a bunch of you feel this way, some of you very strongly. Who thinks technology is going to be a real problem for the next generation? John from Ohio, you go first and then the other. John from Nevada, from I don’t the education part with the technology. They’re not learning how to pick up a book and read it. That that interaction, that that I had growing up, the social interaction, I I worry that it takes a while. I know, I know technology is going to be great for the business or employment and stuff like that, jobs. But far as when our kids are growing, I think it takes away from that social that they get, that that I had, that I see my children don’t have now, because their face is always in a phone or a tablet, and even with schooling, if they’re doing it on on tablets instead of books.
Folks, John from Nevada, a couple things. One, AI, is great, but I foresee it eliminating a lot of jobs at some point people are not very good at reinventing their careers, which will add to stress and anxiety and pivoting off of what John from Ohio said, we were raising a generation that doesn’t know how to go out and interact with each other live and in person. That impacts dating, that impacts how you struggle with reacting to someone who’s approaching you in a negative manner. We’re losing all these social skills,
amen. That be you’re up. I think that technology will definitely get better, but I don’t think that that means that we’re going to get better at using it. I think that
we are unknowingly giving away a lot of
our rights and freedoms and things that help businesses make money off of our information without realizing it, and I think that a lot of the technology is going to go is going to be used against us. I
think it would be great if we had people in office that understood technology so they could actually regulate it properly and it could be safer and better used. But until that’s the case, it’s like giving a toddler a sharper knife. Keep the government out of it. The government is out of it, and that’s where we are. Hey, by the way, that’s the best analogy, I think I’ve heard in this whole session, getting the toddler, a toddler, sharper knife. I can see it. That’s really very cool. Heather, you’re up, yeah, I think it’s,
it’s destroying the the ability to communicate, to socialize, to just be able to act properly in society. You know, I know I said it earlier. It’s very easy to point your finger at someone when you’re online and you’re hidden behind your keyboard, but when you are out, you’re in the workforce, you’re out in public, you’re out wherever you are. You know, I feel like as a society, we’ve lost a lot of respect for each other.
That’s a great way to ask my final question of this session, what advice do you have the policy makers in Washington, we’re obviously going to have a change of government shortly, but these problems are still going to be with us. What advice do you have for the incoming leadership in Washington to address issues of quality of life so your kids and the next generation have it better than you did, which, as we said, is really the definition of the American dream. Louis, you’re up first. I think I’m quite optimistic with change of leadership and achieving those goals. Melinda, what advice do you have for the new incoming leadership in Washington regarding quality of life, use their professional opinions versus their personal and to bring back the traditional family value systems, and use a moral compass, uh, focus on even if they’re small but tangible, actual changes that people can see and feel, instead of maybe something that sounds great or would make a good sound bite, and just Be honest, because the idea that they’re taking the most marginalized people and making it a priority issue for a country of 400 million people is incredibly mean. It’s just it’s painful to see the amount of people suffering for no reason other than politics. Heather from Georgia uphold the rules and laws that the rest of us are supposed to do as well.
You know, make they need to be accountable. Just as I’m accountable, just as all of us are accountable, they need to be held accountable as well. Lead by example, Kevin from Minnesota, I’ve heard a lot of promises about reducing the size of government. Get out of the clown car and do it. John from the valley, for me, it comes down to economics. I think the first six months of the new administration are going to be crucial to show meaningful progress towards turning the economy around. If people feel like they’ve got optimism with in their paychecks, everything will sort of cascade down from that. As you’re from Georgia, my advice to the politicians in the White House right now is just to stop all the division and come together, be united, so that Americans can follow your lead and for them to really own their role as leaders and take accountability of their actions and just really set a good example for our country. This has been a really interesting conversation. We’re out of time, but I appreciate the points of view that you’ve offered. I appreciate the perspective.
So you know the numbers here, your numbers are very similar to the countries, which is that there’s a 25 point gap between those who think their kids going to have a better off and worse off, and the majority is worse off. We’ve actually become very pessimistic about the future, and that includes what’s going to happen with our own children. There’ll be more to discuss in the weeks and months in the years ahead, but I want to thank you all, and on behalf of America, speaks on straight arrow news got a lot to talk about, a lot to fix, but if you have conversations like this, I’m convinced that we can make a lot happen. So thank you all very much for your time, for your opinions and for your perspectives. We appreciate it. Thank you. You.

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