✍️ Are You Afraid for the Future? Don’t Be. Our Future Leaders Are Better Than Us.

Every generation looks at the next and feels a twinge of doubt.

We scroll through headlines, shake our heads, and think, “Kids today don’t want to work.”

But here’s the thing — that thought is ancient.

Archaeologists discovered a Sumerian clay tablet written more than 3,000 years ago, complaining that “the youth of today are lazy and disrespectful.”

Three thousand years ago!

Even then, the older generation thought the world was falling apart.

And yet… somehow, humanity kept moving forward.

Here’s the truth: today’s young people *are* different from those of the past — and that’s not a bad thing.

They’re more empathetic. More accepting. They understand that kindness is not weakness.

They’re learning that compassion and strength can live in the same body.

They’re less materialistic than previous generations. They want for less, but they *expect more* — more meaning, more purpose, more honesty from the world around them.

They’re not chasing status; they’re searching for significance.

They were taught to value education and learning — not just for grades or career paths, but as tools to understand the world, to ask better questions, and to make better choices.

When you really look at it, this generation isn’t broken. It’s *evolving.*

They’ve inherited our world — but they’re determined to make it kinder, fairer, and smarter.

They were never promised a brighter future than their parents had.

In fact, they were born into a world that was already fractured — and they’ve *always known it.*

From the start, they’ve been aware of climate change, political tension, inequality, and uncertainty. No one shielded them from those truths. Instead, they grew up understanding that the world wasn’t perfect — and that it would be *their job to make it better.*

And they will.

Because unlike many before them, they’re not waiting for someone else to fix things. They know that leadership doesn’t come from blame — it comes from responsibility.

Look at the leaders already emerging south of the border: people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani, young politicians speaking with courage, empathy, and moral conviction. And they’re just the beginning.

The real movers and shakers — the ones who will lead with both heart and intellect — are still coming up. They’re sitting in classrooms, studying, training, creating. Some of them are tying their belts right here in our dojo.

The future will be fine.

Because the next generation isn’t just ready — they’re *built* for it.

Maybe I’m naïve.

Maybe my view of young people is a little biased — my primary example is the dojo, after all.

And karate kids have always been a different breed.

They grow up learning respect, accountability, and perseverance. They bow before they begin. They work when it’s hard. They listen, they care, and they keep coming back.

But even outside the dojo, I’ve been around long enough to see the small differences that signal a tidal wave of change. I see it in my 16-year-old son and his friends — how they think, how they treat each other, what they value.

That’s why I can quantify it. That’s why I don’t worry about the future.

Because the future isn’t abstract to me — I see it every day in the eyes of my students, my son, and this new generation rising.

The future is bright.

Because it’s in good hands.

Osu,

Kyoshi Eric Vinagreiro, B.A., B.Ed.

Northern Karate Markham