I sometimes wonder what the world will look like in another 20 years. One of my favorite songs is The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," the rallying-cry anthem for angered and newly-wise youth for decades. The line that haunts me is the final one: "meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

There is this whole air of polarization with the previous generations that the people my age just cannot seem to comprehend. Even our once "liberal" grandparents seem to get to an age where everything is a cause for indignation. "That was never how it was when i was your age," or "I remember when a coke was a nickel!"

That is funny (and sometimes obnoxious) but it is mostly harmless. What really scares me is the intolerance and anger caused by knee-jerk reactions from a still-politically-polarized older generation. They see one thing that they are not sure about, and they get all up-in-arms. You mention universal health care and they pull the "socialism card." You talk about conservation and "going green" and suddenly they see you as a hippie, and a tree-huger. Its B.S.

I certainly have issues with people on the far left. I always have. I don't need someone to yell at me because they don't think i know how to recycle, and I find it laughable that PETA wants us to call fish "sea kittens" so that we will feel more sympathetic to them, and therefore less likely to eat them. But I am equally disgusted by conservatives who refuse to actually conserve. People who think it is funny, or a form of protest to go through recycling bins and throw stuff out because they "hate hippies that much." If you hate hippies that much, then destroy hemp clothing, or blast Ted Nugent... don't ruin the planet for everyone. You're morons.

My sincerest of hopes is that the understanding and openness I see in most of my peers is something to which we are able to hold. It is an interesting time we live in; we are not the hippie counter-culture of the 60's, all about screwing the man, and free love, and do whatever makes you feel good and all is well in the world. We are a different kind of radical. We are radical that says you don't have to tow the party line. You can actually think for yourself, and fall on one side or the other, depending on the issue at hand.

It is strange that being a legitimate "moderate" is such a radical thing. I recently had someone tell me that there is no such thing as a moderate... just someone who is too afraid to admit what they really think. The funny thing is I have heard that form the extremities of both sides of the spectrum. It was strange, too, because for the longest time I was just afraid to admit that I was a moderate.

I hope and pray that my generation can hold on to the open mindedness that most of us have. We don't need to compromise our beliefs, or cater to others, but just understand that it is our differences that make us worth knowing, and worth listening to. If we all thought the same, wed have nothing to talk about.