The Effects Of A Warp Speed Life?

Op-ed page stuff again...this time from William McKenzie in yesterday's Dallas Morning News.

The article was about how there's no real evidence of a desire among younger Americans to carve a place in society...you know...to lead our nation with vision.

The usual suspects were paraded about. Video games. Computers. TV.

But here's a couple of little nuggets I thought might get some discussion going:

"Here's another troubling trend: the culture of achievement among the middle- and upper-middle-class students, many of whom spring from our suburbs. Their high schools produce super-achievers by the bushel. And many of them want to matter in a specific way, as in immproving the environment.

But often it seems those students filling out Harvard, Princeton and Stanford applications are merely looking for one more achievement to check off their list. A vision for themselves, or their country? I'm not so sure."

Not enough to get you to comment. How about this one from the author's solution on where to find these visionaries...and one place to look was in our religious communities. Try this:

"Third, religious communities, particularly the evangelical church. While mega-churches cna provide an insular haven for kids, they also provide a moral framework to deal with the world of computer smut, indulgent affluence and the thrusting of adulthood down into our elementary schools. For all of its narrowness, the evangelical church--and other houses of faith--may preserve kids' ability to dream and explore their world."

So, here's what I'm thinking...

...are our high schools producing super-achievers rather than visionaries?
...are our evangelical churches indeed "insular havens" and "narrow?"
...is the world really thrusting adulthood down?
...can the evangelical church truly "preserve kids' ability to dream" or does it tend to value homogeniety over expression?

Ready?

Discuss...