In praise of the entrepreneurial spirit

Here's a marginally humorous joke that illustrates one of the biggest problems we face today, a lack of significant new innovation and a willingness to focus more attention on minimally exploiting existing technology rather than really reaching way out for the exciting and the new:

A self-important university graduate attending a recent England-Wales rugby match, took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next to him as to why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation.

"You grew up in a different, actually almost primitive, world," the grad said, loud enough for many around him to hear, "The young people of today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon, our spaceships have visited Mars... We even have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers with light-speed processing and..."

Pausing to take another sip from his beer, the senior took advantage of the break in the grad's litany, and said:

"You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were young... so we invented them. Now, you arrogant little shithead, what are you doing for the next generation?"

Yes, what are we doing for the next generation?

-- Jack Krupansky