Our generation was closer, more honest, more humane… and truly happy
With each passing year, I find myself increasingly convinced that the world I grew up in is gone forever.
I’m getting older. My generation is leaving, and with it disappears the spirit of unity that once made our lives meaningful and full of purpose.
Now, when I switch on the television, I see the same thing: floods, broken roads, littered streets, chaos. There are endless accusations – blaming the government, officials, business tycoons, but never the people themselves.
I look at the young people today and realize – something has gone astray. They complain, demand, protest. In our time, we just got on with it.
We built the country with our own hands
My generation lived through the post-war years, a time of major construction. We didn’t sit in offices, writing complaints or insisting on compensation. We lifted the country from wreckage, crafting it as best we could, because we believed – we were doing it not for someone else, but for ourselves and our children.
We laid roads, built tunnels and bridges. We established businesses, worked in fields, and developed reservoir systems that sustained agriculture. And we didn’t just build – we maintained it all.
I grew up in a village by the river. We knew that if we didn’t monitor the riverbed, spring floods could overrun the banks and inundate homes.
But no one waited for “experts” to come.
In spring and autumn, the whole village got together. We cleared the riverbed, removed blockages, and cut down old trees that might obstruct the water flow.
No one asked for money. No one waited for orders “from above.”
And after work – we spread blankets on the grass, shared snacks from our bags, and enjoyed each other’s company. In the evening, someone would bring out an accordion, and the whole village would sing.
We were like one family.
Today, people have changed
Nowadays, no one wants to take responsibility for their own lives.
I see young, strong men complaining on social networks that a bridge has collapsed outside their window or a pipe has burst, that they write to the council and receive no reply.
And I feel like asking:
“What have you done yourself?”
Why haven’t you gathered the neighbors, gone out, cleaned up, reinforced, repaired? Why are you waiting for someone else to come and solve your problems?
I’m not excusing those in power. They’ve got plenty of faults – they’ve forgotten that their job isn’t just to sit in offices and make promises.
But people have changed too.
Nowadays, it’s every person for themselves.
Some make money off everything imaginable, selling the land that fed generations, draining water from reservoirs for their own gain.
And when disaster strikes, they shrug: “What could we do?”
I’m proud of my generation
I know we’re called “old.” That our habits and resilience are laughed at.
But you know what?
I’m proud of how we lived.
Proud that we knew what hard work was.
That we didn’t hide behind others, but tackled problems ourselves.
We didn’t wait for help from the state – we built our lives with our own hands.
We were united. Genuine.
Honest.
Humane.
We lived, not merely existed.
And we were happy.
