Another War We Don't Intend To Win

Once again, President Bush is lying to the American people, the people he's supposed to be representing, and trying to persuade us into consenting to another war, whether by actual consent or the consent of silence and inaction. We can't let him pull us into Iran when he's known for months, and now we all know as well, that Iran disabled their nuclear weapons program years ago. This fact (as well as his knowledge of this fact for the last few months) has been acknowledged by his own National Security Adviser. It is not alright that our president continuously lies to us about such consequential things as this. We cannot afford another war, and most in this country do not want it. We have to let our president know that his bid for war will not be supported by us, twist facts as he may. It's imperative that our congress should stand up against the war-mongering duo, since the people have elected them to speak for their constituents, not sit idly by. President Bush has no authority to wage war against Iran, but he will if we say nothing.

A Possible Contributor to the Lack of Respect Shown Elders by Today's Youth

Note that I said A contributor. I don't think this is the only or even the most prominent cause for the marked lack of respect shown by today's 1st World Country youth to their elders and especially their parents.
I was on the bus the other day and I overheard a group of older men and women grumbling about how their children and "the kids today" don't respect them or listen to them. And they all said it wasn't so when they were younger. I wanted to join the conversation with a hypothesis that came to me then.
The hypothesis was this:
The exponential development of and current social dependency on technologies that have been developed during the lifetimes of the current "up and coming" generations influences and contributes to a lack of subordination or reverence in said generation, today's youth. Technological knowledge is almost a birthright now of any child born in a first world country. It used to be that skills and knowledge required to build a career and make a living or even just live well was passed down from the generation above from parents to children or masters to apprentices. Now older people tend to know less about these technologies that rule today's American economy, making kids feel like they know more than or as well as adults, undermining respect that used to be given automatically to those older or more experienced.

Irwin challenged me saying that really it all began to fall apart when T.V.s became a household item, and grew worse once people started having multiple televisions in a home. People used to be closer connected to their family unit, spending time with them at meal times or even gathering around the television to watch the news and discuss it. Now there are many channels and many shows, and people schedule their lives around them. A father in one room watching the football game and a kid in the other room watching whatever crappy reality show came out this season. There's no more real family bonding time thanks to this particular household technology.
I agree. I think this is another major contributor. There's a disconnect fostered by yet another technology.
I also think, however, that with the rise from tertiary to secondary and now to the primary sector of economic activity, people's fates are less intertwined with that of their families to begin with. And while that in itself may not have caused the same vast disconnect, it certainly allowed for it.

Ok, so much for that. I'll now turn the floor over to the people who'd like to challenge or add to it. I enjoyed all the responses I got to my rant on fairy and folktales. Perhaps I should continue this open forum discussion board style while I'm in San Francisco being a good productive little member of society.

An open response to the anonymous commenter on my rant about fairy and folk tales

Indeed, anonymous commenter, it's true the age is a remnant from a time when 16 was considered adult. My problem is that in today's society, where these tales are still being told, now by Disney instead of the old woman on the corner, they haven't adjusted the age to reflect the infantalization of today's youth. No longer are the kids today mature at 16 or equipped to make life decisions such as in regards to marriage and kids.
We've idealized the age of 16 because of leaving it a remnant. Now all our dreams are supposed to come true at that age when most kids are just trying to get through highschool and not get in yet another fight with their parents.
If we treated the kids today in such a way that they grew up MATURE enough to make such decisions I wouldn't have a problem.
Just because todays kids grow up fast, doesn't mean they grow up mature. In fact, I'd argue that the commercialism and the sexuality and violence in the media make them grow up with a lightly warped view that they then turn into reality via emulation.

P.S. Dear god I would HATE to be 16 again.