The Greatest Generation????????

[NFS4]

A couple months back, my GF's dad and her mom were having a rather heated discussion about "The Greatest Generation" as it was part of the topic of discussion for the church service we went to.

Her mom was proclaiming how she was happy that her father was apart of the "Greatest Generation" and that he gladly served in WWII. And she said that there would probably never be another generation to come along that exemplified what they stood for.

Her dad contended that they just faced the trouble of their day and did what the had to do. No more, no less than what today's generation goes through be it in everyday life or troops serving in Iraq. He went on to say that calling the WWII vets the "Greatest Generation" is rather short-cited seeing as we don't know what challenges are coming ahead for today's generation.


So I ask, what makes people of that era the "Greatest Generation" or should I be knocking down Tom Brokaw's door to ask him personally?

 

[BatmanNate]

It sure as Hell isn't mine.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
It sure as Hell isn't mine.

Reading these forums is absolute proof.

 

[pyonir]

I'd ask Brokaw. His second book on the topic is very good, "The Greatest Generation Speaks". Those that read the first book wrote letters in and Brokaw compiled them and put them in a book.

 

[Descartes]

I'd say they're the greatest generation with extant members, but an overall proclimation of being the greatest ever seems extreme.

 

[Amused]

They endured and brought us out of the depression. They fought in WWII without protesting or draft dodging. They helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the war, and they built the world economic superpower you see today in just over two decades.

And the most important part, they, for the most part, did all this without whining.

Up to now, they are the US's greatest generation. Could they be surpassed in the future? Sure. But as it stands, they are/were the greatest.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: SoylentGreen

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
It sure as Hell isn't mine.

Reading these forums is absolute proof.

That makes it equally proof that it isn't yours either, assume yours isn't the same as mine in the first place.

 

[amish]

the biggest thing about WWII was that it was a totally different war that what is fought today. if you look at how many soldiers went to war between now and then there is a huge difference. if i can find my book on this subject later i can show you. anyways what i do remember from it is that most men that could fight went leaving a vaccum in the workforce. that workforce was replaced by women. these days, women pretty much do the same things as men except not standing to go to the bathroom. because of this there will never be a workforce vaccum that made that generation into the "greatest generation" i'm guessing ever again. if the men and women of today fought evil space mutants and won they would be considered the "greatest" just because they had done something that had never been done before.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

The greatest generation in centuries has been the WWI/WWII generation.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: SoylentGreen

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
It sure as Hell isn't mine.

Reading these forums is absolute proof.

That makes it equally proof that it isn't yours either, assume yours isn't the same as mine in the first place.

Wow, my brain just exploded reading that reply

 

[cw42]

i think today's generation is one of the laziest, fatest generations of all. u ever see those day time talk shows with those 80lbs babies? WTF!

 

[Cattlegod]

any generation that contains a world war i do not see as great. there is nothing great about war, especially a world war. millions of people dead everywhere, that is not great. isn't that the same generation that invented nuclear weapons?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Cattlegod
any generation that contains a world war i do not see as great. there is nothing great about war, especially a world war. millions of people dead everywhere, that is not great. isn't that the same generation that invented nuclear weapons?

WTF are you smoking? The US did nothing to start that war.

This is about the greatest generation in the US.

And yes, they did invent nuclear weapons. Better we did it first than someone else.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Amused
They endured and brought us out of the depression. They fought in WWII without protesting or draft dodging. They helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the war, and they built the world economic superpower you see today in just over two decades.

And the most important part, they, for the most part, did all this without whining.

Up to now, they are the US's greatest generation. Could they be surpassed in the future? Sure. But as it stands, they are/were the greatest.

Exactly...they are/were The Greatest Generation thus far.

 

[Bootprint]

Why does it seem that the "Greatest Generation" argument only includes the last 100 years? It seems no one includes someone from the mid 1800's or even before?

 

[imported_Strang]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
Why does it seem that the "Greatest Generation" argument only includes the last 100 years? It seems no one includes someone from the mid 1800's or even before?

Temporal bias.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
Why does it seem that the "Greatest Generation" argument only includes the last 100 years? It seems no one includes someone from the mid 1800's or even before?

Yeah, I was thinking that too...

Founding fathers???
The generation that got us through the industrial revolution???

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Strang

Originally posted by: Bootprint
Why does it seem that the "Greatest Generation" argument only includes the last 100 years? It seems no one includes someone from the mid 1800's or even before?

Temporal bias.

IMO, precisely what I said in my post above: We still have extant members of that generation. Dead generations tell no tales. It's much easier to say they're the greatest when they have had an obvious direct influence on us all.

That said, my grandfather is of this "Greatest Generation", and he's the greatest man I've ever known.

 

[eddie]

Originally posted by: Amused
They endured and brought us out of the depression. They fought in WWII without protesting or draft dodging. They helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the war, and they built the world economic superpower you see today in just over two decades.

And the most important part, they, for the most part, did all this without whining.

Up to now, they are the US's greatest generation. Could they be surpassed in the future? Sure. But as it stands, they are/were the greatest.

 

[Bootprint]

I wonder those saying the WW2 generation also include those on the axis?

 

[imported_Strang]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Bootprint
Why does it seem that the "Greatest Generation" argument only includes the last 100 years? It seems no one includes someone from the mid 1800's or even before?

Yeah, I was thinking that too...

Founding fathers???
The generation that got us through the industrial revolution???

Descartes' point was dead-on -- those generations don't have anyone to speak for them and to tell stories that would have a bit of bias. People can point to the Revolutionary War-era generation and say that they were slave owners and so forth while ignoring what they accomplished (which was unprecedented).

The WWII generation is romanticized pretty heavily and seeing some of these posts drives it home -- there were draft dodgers and isolationism was rampant before Pearl Harbor. I'm not trying to downplay their accomplishments either, I just think that they're allowed more slack than other generations would be.

 

[fs5]

ST:TNG is the best generation. <rimshot>

 

[lokiju]

Its just Tom Brokaw's catch phrase to get people all emotional and make him money on selling his book.

nothing more, nothing less IMO.

 

[amcdonald]

The best generation prize goes to whichever one invented that bicycle with one enormous wheel.
Plus they had burly strongmen... and handlebar mustaches... and monocles. Best generation ever.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Amused
They endured and brought us out of the depression. They fought in WWII without protesting or draft dodging. They helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the war, and they built the world economic superpower you see today in just over two decades.

And the most important part, they, for the most part, did all this without whining.

Yes...if you were a white male, preferably Protestant. The civil atrocities committed against other races and even against women well into the second half of the century disprove such a broad generalization that it was 'the greatest generation'