Greatest generation paradox...

You know, I have been ruminating on something for a while now. Being 41 and soon to be 42, I'm on the far end of the war babies boom.

There have been countless books published, news specials, Tom Brokaw spouting blah blah blah, but the one thing they never seem to point out is: Most of the people in power now, are baby boomer's and are the product of the greatest generation. We have liars, cheats, CEO's bilking their employees, owners cooking books, politician's screwing us, rightwing extremist nuts, and the list goes on.

So my point is: if that generation was just so damn great, how come they weren't able to teach us baby boomer's the basics of right from wrong?

My parents grew up in Brooklyn NY during the depression, taught my brother and two sisters and I, how to save, never lie and respect other people, what the hell happened to our elected officials???

A legacy is just that, something to be proud to pass on. Have we also forgotten that the people that took us to Viet Nam were also a part of the greatest generation. richard nixon was part of that generation. So was morons* dad. So was death squad ron reagan.

If you define the greatest generation by living through the depression, which they brought upon themselves by buying outrageous amounts of stock on margin, that doesn't work for me.

If you define the greatest generation by defeating Germany and Japan, I will give you that one, but at the same time they also dropped two atomic bombs, thus starting the cold war. Causing us to live under the threat of a nuclear attack for close to 50 years.

Remember, this generation was a global thing, not just here in the states.

So, call me crazy, but frankly, I don't see them as the "greatest" generation at all.

You may all flame away now.

I tend to think of the years 1930-55 as representing a generation rather than the common perception. People born in those years were too young to fight in the War and generally have limited, if any, memory of the Great Depression. This is the same group that was involved in the Sexual Revolution, Civil Rights Marches, Viet Nam protests, and who later became "Reagan Democrats" or worse.

I've always felt that the major motivation for this group was a feeling of inadequacy when they compared themselves to their parents or older siblings, coupled with resentment which resulted in some of the movements listed above.

But you know what? Good marketing ("greatest generation") trumps all of your good points.

Cha-ching!

....they were told, time and again, that because of their rapacious hoarding of this finite earth's resources the earth itself would, for the first time ever, be severely harmed. And that the way they used up everything caused untold pollution, yet they continued on as if nothing friggin' mattered.

If they are the greatest, then it is that they were the greatest destroyers ever.

...us young'uns haven't done much to turn the tide, either.

...were taught to live this way, hell, we were brought up living this way by those who knew better but they said "to hell with doin' the right thing... grab it all up!"

We are the product of our parents, and some of us have tried to change things and we had great successes until Reagan was elected, then it all went downhill with the greatest destroyers blessings.

from their offspring. The Bonus Army of 1932, which eventually gave us the GI Bill, and E V Debs' campaign of 1912 platform, which ended up giving us so much of our labor laws...they never get mention in history books or TV.

BTW, the "Plot to Overthrow FDR" ( www.ihffilm.com/r547.html ) never makes it to the Big Screen. If it did you'd have Oscars like Warren Beatty's 'Reds' did, only these guys were working to save capitalism, not replace it with something else...just make it user friendly. FDR saved capitalism and now the lesson hasn't been learned apparently by the prodigals.

during WWII. The generation that actually "ran" the war, the politicians and generals, were an older generation. The greatest generation were raised to be very agreeable and biddable and to "cause no trouble." They were the ones that went gladly from army to corporate life. They seemed not to question much. They were sandwiched between two generations with stronger personalities, their parents generation, and their kids' generation (the "baby boomers"). They tended to take their cues from these generations, rather than developing their own. I got this framework for "typecasting" the generations from "Generations-a History of America's Future," by William Strauss and Neil Howe. A great book--explains a great deal about various generations and their effects on American history. But, as to why we're in such a sleazy era, with all the stealing and cheating going on, I don't know!Maybe baby boomers were raised to be spoiled? I think there's more than generational stuff going on, but you raise a good question. BTW, I'm a baby boomer, and can't figure out myself why so many of us went so bad! I've always had trouble reconciling the "hippie-turned-stockbroker" stereotype--seems to me that people who were hippies and anti-war then are still pretty mellow now. The thieves and bad pols, I'm convinced, were the squares back then, and this is their revenge!

I speak from the perspective of my parents being a part of it.
Both my parents grew up poor (depression). My father reaped the benefits of the GI Bill, went to school and had a union to protect his job. My mother also worked to provide clothes for my sister and me. They worked hard and sacrificed for us.
Most didn't have the luxury buying stock. My parents got stock as a benefit of the companies they worked for. The dividends from that stock now pays for my mother's food bill every month.
My family was working class as were most Americans.
When greed became set into the American psyche, that is when things changed. They set an example for their kids who drove capitalism to it's worst end and forgot about the majority of Americans who work for a living.
My upbringing resembles yours.
Blame it on a few elites who keep appearing in government. Remember Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz have been working for the government since Nixon. Also remember Nixon was an unstable man with an axe to grind.

Nixon into office in 1968 as a reaction against their children, and Reagan in 1980 and 1984 as a reaction against the remnants of the Great Society. In other words, they'd derived full benefits from the New Deal, but presided over the dismantling of it so that their children wouldn't have the benefits they had enjoyed.

Let's face it, they enjoyed the best deal that working Americans have ever had in this country. Once they'd been through Depression as children and war as young adults, they were pretty much set up for success, no matter what they did. I know a Boston garbageman who managed to put 8 kids through college on his salary. Try doing that today, and you'll see what I mean.

That generation is a reactionary one, I'm afraid, a mixed bag of war success and governmental failure.

There is no need to lionize them or demonize them. Just recognize what sort of hand they were dealt and judge them accordingly as ordinary human beings.

or because Johnson pissed off the south because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? When he signed it, he said, "I've lost the south".

The demos were peaceful until a bunch of Greatest Generation hard hatted construction workers went down to beat the hell out of those college boy peaceniks. They were aided by the Chicago cops, who overreacted to the whole thing, and Mr. and Mrs. Middle America saw scruffy kids yelling and being beaten on TV and were never told who started the ruckus.

Faces and assholes puckered throughout suburbia, and Nixon's "silent majority" spoke loud and clear at the polls.

Yes, Johnson's bravery had destroyed the Democratic Party's hold on Dixie, but it was a reaction against the riots outside the DNC that tipped the scales in his favor throughout the rest of the country.

Thanks for the kick in the head Warpy.