The ‘yewts’ (youths) of today have more ways to communicate with the world and each other, and yet, a majority spend their time on video games, cartoons, and a very lot of suggestive videos that would be better left alone. Imus is not even a footnote to history as far as the vulgarisms of racism and sexism is concerned. There was a time when reading was a normal thing, of books, newspapers, magazines, and periodicals - by the younger generation. In my day, teachers and parents pushed reading, I suppose partly to give the rural depression era generation escape from their bleak existence and surroundings, and show ‘the’ something better just over the horizon.

I am afraid now ‘the’ just over the horizon means a football, basketball, and other athletic endeavors - the chance for big money and fame - not just the athletics, but movie stars, rap artists, and other entertainment possibilities for making big money. I lost interest in baseball, basketball, and other sports because it had reverted to which teams had the most money - was no longer a sport played for the fun of it. I knew the names of most baseball players during the 40s and 50s. My favorites always were Pee Wee Reese, and Lou Gehrig. I was in service in 1951, when Thompson stole the show from the Dodgers with his long ball of history.

Today, I hardly know the name of any baseball great of the day. I got to listen to baseball as a very young child - at first, on a homemade crystal radio. And after that, went big-time with a battery radio. It wasn’t until I was out of service that TV started sprouting up like mushrooms all across the country. My wife and I were among the first to have a TV in that rural area. One day, when my wife came home, she heard the TV on. It was a neighbor who hadn’t seen one. At that time, no one feared their neighbor unless it was the Hatfield and McCoys. In any event, she felt entirely welcome to do that. Too bad today’s neighbors wern’t the same. When I was growing up, we lived quite a way from a small town with no car. Consequently, no library close by. You read what you could get your hands on. My mother, who’d been a school teacher before marriage, had a few books which were read at least twice - Ivanhoe, The Odyssey and the Iliad by Homer, Pecks Bad Boy, and the best book ever written about the Civil War… Si Klegg.

Every weekend, we would get the grit - a newspaper delivered to the rural areas, five cents a copy. It always had continuing stories - Zane Gray among others. Lamp Oil was ten cents a gallon for the lamp my mother read by, and we always looked forward to having her read to us at the end of the day. Sometimes you wonder if progress is such a good thing. Of course, I am not serious, but seems to me a lot of these communication tools could be used for a better purpose. Strides in communication continue daily. Now and one wonders where it may end. Probably never. The only thing wrong with mass communication in this day and age, is that sometimes it is used for nefarious purposes, such as politics or violence. In many cases, it is used to silence a minority, for instance: The GLOBAL WARMING FIASCO. If you don’t believe, watch out!

During the 70s, there were scientists predicting a new ice age. However, since there was less mass communicating, and less venom in presenting the case, you could disagree without being threatened or intimidated. Try that today. Newspaper, magazines, and periodicals are on their way out. Unfortunately, this only means the mass media of TV and internet will continue to grow more powerful. And it comes to my mind that we must guard against this type of ‘1984′ mentality.

I will close with the hope that the ‘yewts’ of today will not reach the fate we fear.