Opinion It wasn't always this way

[Tommy Carcetti]

6. It's really unfortunate.

My formative years were the 1990s, which--at least in the United States--were as peaceful and prosperous as you could ever imagine.

My own children, on the other hand, have grown up in the age of Trump. And there's no indication that it will get any better any time soon.

My parents were born out of World War II (one of them literally fleeing its direct effects), saw tensions rise in the Cold War and times of civil unrest, only to see things stabilize for a while (the aforementioned time where I grew up) and yet now see their later years threatened again, and the prospects even more uncertain than before. They are both in their 80s now, thankfully still in decent health and mind, but I pray that whenever their time does come they won't be worrying about the future that has been left to their children and grandchildren.