The New Generation

[GardoneVT]

American dead in WWII: 400,000
American dead in Iraq and Afghanistan as of 2014: 6,802

I'm not trying to minimize their contribution, but the math doesn't support Millenial collective combat experience as the yardstick of severity you're claiming. For every Millenial "pipe hitter" there's a few hundred emo dudes surfing the free wifi and eating a bran muffin at Starbucks.

Evaluating the worth of a generation by its wartime actions would seem to be a flawed metric. Many folks in the Vietnam generation, as today, never saw frontline combat either.

Further, many post 2000 grads are serving in big city PDs where thugs shoot at them frequently-and unlike their parents who could swing a nightstick or two when it was needed, must do their jobs knowing any use of force can and will be used against them in the media of public opinion. That's as much of a combat zone as any traditional war.

[UNK]

You need a blog

Durned kids.

I should offer fair disclaimer, I'm one of those white, anglo, upper middle class kids he's talking about. I even have an Instagram for chrissakes! Next thing you know, I'll be drinking pumpkin lattes and getting frosted tips and manicures!

Or maybe not. Maybe it's just because I have two brothers, and three sisters. Maybe it's because my dad told me right off the bat he couldn't pay for school, or maybe it's because I never asked him to because I have a younger brother who should have an education and I'd feel bad taking money that could be spent on him when I have enough money socked away from every job I worked since I was in high school. I started working in McDonalds, then I went to Target, then I paid for a Nursing Aide class, then got a job in supportive living, and now I work on a Cardiac Nursing floor.

That's all neither here nor there however. Here's how I manage being a rich, privileged white kid:

I work every weekend or more (I logged in 52 hours this week), and when I'm not doing that, I go to school and study my ass to a nub (because I'm doing 17 credit hours) to get the best grade I can (because nursing school profs actively try to fail students to separate the wheat from the chaff) and I routinely score in the upper 10% of my class. I then go to clinical and learn how to be an awesome nurse, and then I go to the Student Nurse's Club meetings and do my thing as the head honcho over there. I meet with professors and upper level faculty and talk about what's best for the entire nursing program and I generally try to not come across as an asshole to all my friends (all three of them who still talk to me and none who see me) and family who never sees me. I come home only to sleep and even though I live with my parents, I see them less frequently than my little brother...who lives in Minnesota or my older sister who lives in Michigan, sees them.

So perhaps I have a little difficulty seeing that America is collapsing because of the insouciant, lazy and overly privileged middle class youth, because I know for a fact that I'm not the only person who burns the candle in such a manner. But by all means, the guys who burned their draft cards were some courageous motherfuckers and I could never do what they did. Because Facebook. And the Kardashians. Because that's what it means to be a millennial right?

Sure, I realize that it was just a generalization, but I could make a few generalizations about baby boomers if I felt so inclined, and they would paint Mr. Ellis and his generation in a far more unfavorable light than he could have ever painted me.

But I won't.

Those are all just talking points, and not worthy of discussion, because when it boils down to it, generations are not defined by a single, common attitude. It just makes it too easy for some Millenial to say the Baby Boomers screwed up the world or vice versa. It is an attempt to dodge responsibility and an unwillingness to move past the "Why is it such a mess right now" and get down to the "So What are we going to do about it?"

So with that said, I think a guy who writes fiction for a living needs to get back into his lane and leave the discussion of the real world to people who live in it.

[Tamara]

So with that said, I think a guy who writes fiction for a living needs to get back into his lane and leave the discussion of the real world to people who live in it.

I think this is an appropriate place to start the slow clap.

[UNK]

I'll second that

I think this is an appropriate place to start the slow clap.

[BaiHu]

Y'all beat me to it. Slow clap it is.

[LittleLebowski]

American dead in WWII: 400,000
American dead in Iraq and Afghanistan as of 2014: 6,802

I'm not trying to minimize their contribution, but the math doesn't support Millenial collective combat experience as the yardstick of severity you're claiming. For every Millenial "pipe hitter" there's a few hundred emo dudes surfing the free wifi and eating a bran muffin at Starbucks.

That begs the question; how many of those in WWII were drafted? Also, WWII was on how many fronts? Comparing WWII casualties to Afghanistan/Iraq doesn't work at all.

[JHC]

durned kids.

I should offer fair disclaimer, i'm one of those white, anglo, upper middle class kids he's talking about. I even have an instagram for chrissakes! Next thing you know, i'll be drinking pumpkin lattes and getting frosted tips and manicures!

Or maybe not. Maybe it's just because i have two brothers, and three sisters. Maybe it's because my dad told me right off the bat he couldn't pay for school, or maybe it's because i never asked him to because i have a younger brother who should have an education and i'd feel bad taking money that could be spent on him when i have enough money socked away from every job i worked since i was in high school. I started working in mcdonalds, then i went to target, then i paid for a nursing aide class, then got a job in supportive living, and now i work on a cardiac nursing floor.

That's all neither here nor there however. Here's how i manage being a rich, privileged white kid:

I work every weekend or more (i logged in 52 hours this week), and when i'm not doing that, i go to school and study my ass to a nub (because i'm doing 17 credit hours) to get the best grade i can (because nursing school profs actively try to fail students to separate the wheat from the chaff) and i routinely score in the upper 10% of my class. I then go to clinical and learn how to be an awesome nurse, and then i go to the student nurse's club meetings and do my thing as the head honcho over there. I meet with professors and upper level faculty and talk about what's best for the entire nursing program and i generally try to not come across as an asshole to all my friends (all three of them who still talk to me and none who see me) and family who never sees me. I come home only to sleep and even though i live with my parents, i see them less frequently than my little brother...who lives in minnesota or my older sister who lives in michigan, sees them.

So perhaps i have a little difficulty seeing that america is collapsing because of the insouciant, lazy and overly privileged middle class youth, because i know for a fact that i'm not the only person who burns the candle in such a manner. But by all means, the guys who burned their draft cards were some courageous motherfuckers and i could never do what they did. Because facebook. And the kardashians. Because that's what it means to be a millennial right?

Sure, i realize that it was just a generalization, but i could make a few generalizations about baby boomers if i felt so inclined, and they would paint mr. Ellis and his generation in a far more unfavorable light than he could have ever painted me.

But i won't.

Those are all just talking points, and not worthy of discussion, because when it boils down to it, generations are not defined by a single, common attitude. It just makes it too easy for some millenial to say the baby boomers screwed up the world or vice versa. It is an attempt to dodge responsibility and an unwillingness to move past the "why is it such a mess right now" and get down to the "so what are we going to do about it?"

so with that said, i think a guy who writes fiction for a living needs to get back into his lane and leave the discussion of the real world to people who live in it.

epic post!!!! So much win!

[rob_s]

Every older generation thinks the younger generation is a bunch of lazy ingrates.

Every younger generation thinks the older generation handed them a shit-sandwich.

Both are right.

[JHC]

That begs the question; how many of those in WWII were drafted? Also, WWII was on how many fronts? Comparing WWII casualties to Afghanistan/Iraq doesn't work at all.

WW II - 70% drafted.

Greatest Generation 2.0 - 100% volunteers.

The weird thing about American wars and casualties to me is how we now seem to spend so much time looking in our rearview mirror. There are Marine historians and Max Boot who argue now that Iwo Jima was pretty much a mistaken battle that didn't need to be fought for the greater war effort against the Japanese. Peleliu even more so as well as some of the other islands where infighting between generals and admirals or this general and that general led to taking islands that were pointless. Far more killed there alone than in the GWOT.

Apples and oranges though they may be, nobody was impeaching FDR or stuck looking backwards. IDK.

[LittleLebowski]

Every older generation thinks the younger generation is a bunch of lazy ingrates.

Every younger generation thinks the older generation handed them a shit-sandwich.

Both are right.

One thing that I chuckled about when reading American Rifle: A Biography (a bit of a dense tome but really well researched and has juicy tidbits like exactly how the test was rigged against the FAL in favor of the M14 and John Garand's ice skating rink at home) is in the 1950's, guys were writing the American Rifleman magazine lamenting about how messed up and weak this new generation has it.