1. Your grandmothers did the same.
2. You are right: the world as you know it is rapidly going downhill. But the world as you don’t know it may be much better than you can imagine. Of course, it may also be worse. In any case, your grandchildren will not see it with your eyes but with their eyes.
3. One can be happy in a terrible world.
4. You really envy them. You don’t want to face that they are young and you are old.
Eric Koch’s book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
