I thought I was a goner.I was working up north, on the Alaska Highway out of Whitehorse, and we had stopped our Highways Dept. pickup on a steep, icy stretch, to check for a survey marker.We were blocking the right lane, when two semi-trucks appeared … one coming down at us, one coming up at us.My buddy yelled at me to get in the pickup and move it over — quick!Now, this was a good plan, but ... I didn’t have a valid driver's licence, not that it mattered up north.I just wasn’t handy with a 4-speed on a steep icy hill.So what did I do — I slid the truck to the left, blocking the entire way.It was then that I looked up, and saw the semi coming down at me, jack-knifing. Looming large, was the Mack logo!My buddy shoved me aside, and took over, saving the day.But man oh man, when that Mack came past us slowly, the driver yelled just about every expletive known to man at me/us.The fellow coming up, had to back all the way down, and then go up again. He too gave us what for.It didn’t help, that my buddy thought it was funny.That was just one adventure I had up north, though most of the rest were pretty amazing.The north is a great place to visit or work, and I'm glad I did so in my youth.But the world was a different place then, folks. Much different. We had hopes and dreams.The '70s was an era, where you could be anything, do anything, and things were still affordable.When I worked on the Alaska Highway in the summer of 1974, some 50 years ago, I thought I had it made in the shade making $4.50 an hour!Good money at the time, for a drilling assistant with no experience.I was lifting 50-pound drill bits all day, as we bagged soil samples for a new route for the Alaska Highway.After months of doing that, I had a wicked slapshot on the ice — one that slammed against the glass, and scared goalies.I had a pretty First Nations girlfriend, a waitress at the Mile 143 diner, and I had a private pilot's licence at the age of 19.I even got to do some flying in the Yukon, which was fantastic.I had no fear, none. Not then.What I'm saying is, those were the days when things were affordable, such as education. Back then, a university semester was $600.Books were still pricey, about $1,000 a year ... but with a part-time job, one could easily put oneself through school.Gas was cheap, food was cheap, hotels and restaurants were cheap, booze was cheap, clothes were cheap! Everything was cheap.I knew that someday I would have a career, maybe a wife and kids, own a home, buy a new car. I knew these things would happen, and they did.The times were tumultuous, of course. The Vietnam War ended, leaving more than 58,000 Americans dead, and President Richard Nixon would be forced to resign over Watergate.But the decade would also see the birth of the Apple 1 prototype computer and the genesis of Saturday Night Live. Thinking back, I can't believe how lucky we were. Fifty years later, in the year 2024, things do not look so promising.Generation "Z" faces different issues, some of them almost insurmountable.Many will never own a home, never get to buy a new car. Burdened by crushing student debt.In case you are living in a cave, a debt of $60,000 to $80,000 CDN, is not rare for a student today, depending on the program.Yet, in a recent Harvard University survey of U.S. residents between 18 and 29 years old, student debt ranked dead last when the pollsters asked respondents which of 16 issues mattered to them. Israel and Palestine ranked 15th of 16, climate change 12th. The top three issues were inflation, health care and housing."It's the economy, stupid" was a phrase that was coined by James Carville in1992. Carville was a strategist in Bill Clinton's successful 1992 U.S. presidential election against incumbent George H. W. Bush. But the phrase could also apply to today's world.In Canada, we too are facing the same inflationary issues. Perhaps even moreso with the passage of damaging legislation, out-of-control federal spending, and a leader in over his head.A man who never should have been elected in the first place. A mop-haired charlatan.To quote a Carville phrase, attacking the government of Justin Trudeau "is like that of a mosquito in a nudist colony." A target rich environment!Despite being resilient and pragmatic, Gen Z are pessimistic about the world around them and the future ahead. They worry about their financial security, the high costs of rent and groceries.A 2023 survey from the Globe and Mail found that nearly three-quarters of Gen Z disagreed that, as a generation, they would surpass their parents. This past week, my daughter, who just got her real estate licence, told me, "Dad, when people can't afford food or shelter, that's a bad thing."It sure is. And that reality, is coming at us, like a freight train.Like many of her generation, she feels powerless, having lost all hope in today's political leaders.I don't wish to be dramatic, but a day of reckoning is coming, my friends.We are all vulnerable, we are all at risk.I hate to use this phrase, but our only chance is to take back our country. That's really what it comes down to.Frankly, we owe it to our kids.
