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Each great in its own way. Leonard Steinhorn has this idea that his generation, the baby boomers, shouldn't be taking this "Greatest Generation" nonsense from his parents any more. He wants to claim that moniker for himself and his peers now, making his argument in a Washington Post article. Steinhorn does a wonderful job of presenting the many ways Boomers have helped improve the American way of life - bringing us much greater equality of the sexes and concern for the environment, just to give a couple of his examples. Steinhorn is showing how his generation's achievements are in the realm of improving society's values, whereas the Greatest Generation achieved so much in the way of building institutions - but perhaps became a bit conformist and stilted, unfair even in its moral outlook. In the Strauss and Howe model of the generations, the two belong to different archetypes. So it's not that one is greater than the other, but rather that they are like opposites - or shadows - of each other - each great in its particular sphere of influence. And each has made great contributions, of which it can be very proud, to the history of its nation. Posted by Steve at 5:24 PM
The man who would be 4T. As I watch the President give his State of the Union speech, with his grand vision of ending tyranny world wide, and his confident assertion that we are a strong nation growing stronger, and then see Congress rise and applaud his statements, it feels like we've crossed over into a new era of nationalistic pride and determination. Then I realize I'm tuned into Fox, and the camera is only covering one half of the chamber, but when it pans back I see the partisan split revealed as the one side rises time and time again while the other remains stubbornly seated, like a two-cylinder engine with a spark plug that isn't firing. Then Bush starts rambling about the healthcare crisis and the entitlement crisis and the dependency on foreign oil crisis and really disconnects from the low-taxes, free labor market message that earns him his loyalist support. So it's back to a nation burdened with social problems it doesn't want to face, whose strength is more bravado as its weak leader makes lame attempts at finding common ground with other members of his disagreeable generation. But the speech is going over an hour now and the DVR is alerting me that The Shield is starting on FX, another Fox channel, so I'd might as well switch over. Good old Rupert Murdoch, he always delivers. Posted by Steve at 6:10 PM |
| Lost | 106+ |
| G.I. | 82-106 |
| Silent | 64-82 |
| Boomer | 46-64 |
| Gen-X | 25-46 |
| Millennial | ?-25 |
| Homeland | ? |
| High | 1946-1964 |
| Awakening | 1964-1984 |
| Unraveling | 1984-? |
| Crisis | ?- |
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Where noted, background information on generations theory is copyright 1996 Broadway Books. All other content on this web site is copyright 2002-2007 Generation Watch and Steve Barrera. All rights reserved. |