When making generalizations regarding the current generation of young adults, do remember that one is pretty much talking about teenagers, or those pretty close to it. And as a rule, teenagers tend to be callow, rebellious, sophomoric, inexperienced, and often more focused on immediate gratification over long term gain. This has been pretty true of teens ever since the time of Groog Ogg's son.
Of course, you have exceptions, with stories of hard working, conscientious, polite and respectful teenagers... until you talk to your aunt and find out how your family REALLY acted at that age.
WWII was a meat grinder and while all wars cause needless deaths I'm certain if we really broke it down to the nitty gritty we'd be able to calculate that a lot of the sainted dead from that war ended up as such due to needless or even stupid decisions. I think most don't look too deep into it because doing so would be scary.
WWII was a universal effort. Everybody's life was touched by it in some way...and so everyone felt a part of it. FDR, scumbag though he was, fostered a sense of community by exploiting new technology. People gathered around their radio sets to listen to the President tell them what was happening with their sons, brothers, fathers, neighbors, and friends who had gone off to war. Nobody was really politicking on it, not to the extent we now accept as normal. It was war, it had to be done, and so it was going to get done.
We don't have that today. We don't throw masses of infantry into a meat grinder in the hopes that German machine gunners can only reload so fast and if we throw enough bodies at them sooner or later they'll get overwhelmed. We also don't have combat efforts that touch everyone's life anymore. We're "at war" and have been for however long you want to look at it, and yet it hasn't touched the lives of most.
In WWII it was a truly national effort, and people had faith. Faith in the leadership, faith in the institutions, faith in the cause. Today warfare is a deliberately compartmentalized phenomenon that doesn't touch the lives of most. And we have no faith. No faith in the leadership, no faith in the institutions, not even much faith in the cause. It's rather amusing to watch people from the Boomer generation who rejected long established social and cultural institutions focusing on individual freedom now bitching and moaning about the possibility of the upcoming generations not taking care of them.
They didn't, in fact, die before they get old...and now they're worried about the unspoken agreement between generations. The one the complainers made a lot of noise about breaking when they thought they were immortal.
Last edited by TCinVA; 09-29-2014 at 08:40 AM.
3/15/2016
Part of the loss of faith so described comes from justified skepticism regarding anything coming out of Washington DC.In 1942 there was no Al Jazzera or YouTube. With people such as Eric Holder in office, only fools would exhibit blind faith in such people.
That, however, isn't the point. Bottom line is most of the people in any group or given society are lazy. Age, gender, occupation, or generation has minimal influence. There are lazy and entitled veterans, and there are hardworking 18 year old CEOs with million dollar businesses.
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.
I almost got punched in the face by a Vietnam vet in a bar after I asked him what he did in Vietnam. I only asked that when he commented the Iraq and Afghan wars were "cake walks" compared to Vietnam. (I was on leave after my second deployment and hanging out with a fellow marine and he had overheard us). The punch almost happened after I laughed when he said he was supply and didn't even get issued a m16... Not everyone fights and I am a lot less inclined to go "high five" every veteran after that experience. While I respect all who serve or have served, I only seek to go talk to actual combat veterans now (my favorite being Marine Corps and Army infantry who fought in Korea.)