We all are aware that change in our personal lives is difficult, constant, and inevitable. We notice it when we look in the mirror or see our children grow. What is not so noticeable, however, but is also constant is the change that happens in our country and our world. That change happens so gradually that we don’t always notice it until those changes have made the world that we always knew unrecognizable. I was born before television and computers were in every household and our world then was different and slower-paced. That world, however, is gone now. We can’t get it back and we probably would not want it back. How would we live without our televisions and our computers?

There is a segment of our society today that is nostalgic about the past and wants to return to the “good old days”, but much of the “good old days” was not so admirable. When I was a child we simply accepted discrimination against minorities as normal. We accepted the career limits of women and the limitations on the role of minorities in society as normal.

More of our young people today are going to college because of the availability of student loans and they expect their country to give equal opportunity and equality to all of its citizens without exceptions. This more inclusive attitude of a large part of our society is now a threat to those who have held power for a very long time and have denied equal rights to so many people for their own personal gain. When a part of our society denies that climate change is happening, it is because they don’t want to give up the oil and other benefits which make them rich. They are only aware of their self-interest and really don't care that they are damaging the environment or our country. If they do not want equality for minorities, it is because it serves their self-interest to keep wages and benefits low. These people, who put self-interest before the interests of society, cannot hold back progress indefinitely. They are on the wrong side of history. People in every age have been striving to make their lives better and although it often takes a long time to change prevailing thought and achieve their goals, they inevitably do win.

Black people after a very long time of being exploited were eventually freed from slavery. Women, after a long and dangerous struggle, eventually won the right to vote. More and more people are signing on to do the right thing rather than the expedient thing. We must all be prepared to go into the future and embrace the inevitable changes ahead which will ultimately change and also enrich our lives..

Our cities will eventually look different and be more diverse and we will all need to become more tolerant of different religions and ideas and different ways of thinking and living. Tolerance and acceptance for the benefit of all–that is the ultimate goal and the ultimate meaning of democracy and freedom.