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I think it’s totally different. We are much more laid back than they were back then.
That’s interesting. I wonder how that is defined today.
There no longer is a commitment to honesty or a sense of personal responsibility being taught (except in rare cases) now it is all about learning the skill of spinning the truth for personal gain and creating excuses and blaming others for a failure to have personal responsibility.
That’s a pretty sad state of affairs.
Wow, I’ll have to check out his book…seems interesting!
If you like personal histories, it is.
I find it to be the truth on the whole for the older generation, that they were more committed to honesty and personal responsibility. But there’s the flip side of that generation, too, which spawned a fair share of horrible human beings doing horrible things to their children behind closed doors, then stepping out into the light, the public eye, and pretending to be something else.
And, on the whole, I agree generations since are lacking in several areas… but they tend to be more transparent, I think. Or just not able to hide their transgressions as well.
Do you mean this current generation? Or ours? Or theirs? Interesting.
I think it’s a very thin line we walk. Although society as a whole seems to have been more moral and honorable, I also think that some minds and hearts were stifled by the expectation. Like with most things, when the pendulum swings to far to one side or the other, we’re not at our best. I think we need a little more of the way things were, but also some of the way things are.
I can honestly say that my children, young adults, fit Tom’s quote exactly.
Many other young people do not. I’m not sure what that means. Perhaps because I was a kick-ass, take no hostages mother and it was my way or the highway. It may not be popular, but there it is. It was always done with love and support, but I held them accountable to standards and they rose to the occaison.
Several years ago, when my four kids were entering adulthood, I read a book about GenX. That book predicted GenXers as having much in common with The Greatest Generation. As the “kids” are now entering their 40s, I see the prediction was spot on. Gene are responsible on a global scale. They look for ways to better the community and the world at large. They teach their children to volunteer and work together for the good of the community. Thanks to so much connectedness, they think about their community beyond borders and beyond continents. Parents volunteer at food pantries and raise money for tornado victims. The schools too, teach global scholarship, tolerance, and responsibility.
Where my own generation is known as the Me Generation, I see my children’s generation as the We Generation.
The older I get, I understand the effort it took my parents to progress beyond their experience: The aftermath of WWI, The flu epidemic, The Great Depression, and WWII. I now understand why they shook their heads, incredulous about draft card and bra burning young people.
I am learning a lot from the next generation, and from the one that my grandchildren are forming. Honesty might not be the rule, but transparency is, and you can only hide a lie so long in that climate.
Great post, Carol. So thought-provoking.
I love your comment, Adela, thank you.
Every generation has it’s greatness and it’s not-so-greatness woven into the fabric of that time. While the 40s and 50s are heralded for many reasons, the truth is the only people who truly benefited from this period of history were white, middle class males. I think if you were to ask women (not all of course), people of color, gays, poor people etc., they probably wouldn’t paint such a rosy picture of things — hell if I had been born in the 50s I would have been hog-tied and dragged behind someone’s car for either being a dyke or a ni**er lover. If people during those eras were so committed to honesty and personal responsibility, where was that being translated into society as a whole? Sure, its great to take care of yourself, your own family and your neighbors, but what about responsibility to people who don’t look or think like you? I truly believe our current generation will be the generation that gets what it means to be responsible and committed to humanity as a whole, and act on that responsibility.
Amy, those are good points.
This is very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Values and attitudes seem to shift with time. Time adds a glaze of “the grass was greener then.” I look at our present times–at the nastiness of politicians, of their outright lies about issues–and I think, times were better in the past. But were they? I just read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Bully Pulpit and Teddy Roosevelt certainly came to power when lies, avarice and greed were prevalent. During Franklin Roosevelt’s time, there were plenty of attempts to unseat him and his policies with Big Lies. Was the generation that fought World War II the greatest? They truly accepted responsibility. But we now know that a lot of what they went through in the war and the stresses they came home with were hidden or just not discussed. We’re more transparent now. Does that mean we’re not as stoic [in the best sense of that word] or responsible? It’s a tricky question. Maybe our grandchildren’s generation will look back at us and think we were so flexible, so transparent, so innovative. Who knows?
Yes, that glaze really does show up, doesn’t it? Wait till you see my post on Mormon mom blogs.. LOL
While some may idealize a particular time or place, others may not see it quite the same way.
I’ve heard tales of dark and violent things going on behind the closed doors of the Greatest Generation in my family, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
Memory is a funny thing; it can be pretty selective and subjective, depending on who is sharing it and how they choose to perceive their experience.
One of my students is studying memoir right now, so we actually had this conversation today. Our lives, our personal history and the history of all mankind takes on the characteristics of story more than we like to think.
Yes …there is a certain fairy tale history to much of it.
I just came across this quote on Twitter this morning, and thought of your post. A little late, but I thought I’d share:
“Memory is a poet, not a historian.” — Maria Howe b. 1950 / Paul Geraldy b. 1885
That is a great quote. I especially love the part at the end…Honesty was assumed to be the rule, not the exception. If we had more honesty today I don’t think we would have as many issues.
A good point, Sydney. Such a good point.
Hi Carol – quite thought provoking isn’t it. I’d like to think that it hasn’t died out with that generation. We value these qualities too and did our utmost to instill those same values in our children and so far they seem to be living them out. Hopefully honesty and responsibility will still be in our world for a while longer!
Thought provoking post. Nostalgia often colors the past into a sweet simple rosy existence. The “good ole days” weren’t t really that great. The assassinations of JFK , Bobby, and MLK and the Vietnam war all affected my generation. But so did the Beatles and the Twist. Each generation has its highs and lows and different challenges to overcome. I remember my parents thinking we were “going to hell in a hand basket” and we worry about our kids and theirs. I have faith they’ll be just fine handling whatever they need to do, maybe different than we would though and that’s not all bad.
Technology has dramatically changed our generation. I don’t even think you can benchmark the two because of it. Even folks like my hubby, who is 10 years older than me is changed by it. I don’t wish for the “good old days” though that’s for sure. I hope when I get to come back technology is physically integrated into the human form. I know that might sound nuts, but it’s I believe it’s the only way we, as humans, will be able to truly achieve cosmic consciousness.
I think with the internet that people of all ages are lacking in being responsible. People can share the horrible things they want to say hidden behind a computer screen.
History has so much to teach us. There is always a generation gap.. and technology plays a very important role in changing people.
This generation is way too distracted – and it’s hard to blame them for that.