PC Mythologies: The Great Generation.

[patrice]

I've been thinking about members of the "Great Generation" (GG) quite a bit lately. My Dad is one, but he is the opposite of those GGs I see when holding signs on a street corner with my friends. My Dad is a Populist of the classic Labor/Mid-western Bohemian, Conservative Catholic farm-turned-construction-worker family man variety.

Today a fat man, over 60 years old, and riding an expensive motorcycle, waited for the light and berated us, ending with "get out of America." I asked him several times, over his bitching, to Please Volunteer and go to Iraq to help our soldeirs there who need his support. I don't expect this to work, but I do it loudly enough, and politely enough, for everyone in a quarter block to hear. He went on about how he served in WWII. I ended with "So is everyone to sacrifice everything for your ego?"

I'm sorry he had to drive off then, because I'd really!!! really like an answer to this question: Why is is necessary for subsequent generations to proove to previous generations that they, the GGs for instance, did not sacrifice in vain? Why do they, GGs for instance, need others to establish the values of their own lives for them? Can't their actions stand on their own merit? If their actions can't stand on their own merit, then why are they engaging in such actions? How well would the GG have fared without all of the Government Subsidies they received at first for fighting WWII, but then later from Pork Barrel Politics? Don't you think the children of this country belong to themselves? Or are they to be somekind of reward you think you deserve for something that you assume any "decent" person would commit suicide for, without even asking them!!!! - nor encouraging options for anyone.

The very essence of the Oppressor, that's what Some of the Great Generation seems to be to me . Spoiled, crazy, fat, impotent old men and their old-barbie wives, who assume that all that is good is exactly like them.

[charlie]

1. The fat man

had to be at least 75ish to have fought in WWII. He was probably lying.

[patrice]

3. He could have been, he had a white beard and hair.

My Dad, 86, rode motorcycles well into his 60s.

Or it could have been he was simply a Veteran of Korea or Viet Nam. Traffic + we were talking over each other; I didn't hear it all.

My point is the same: why one generation, or cohort, assumes others, if they are good, are like them, and bad if they aren't.

[acmejack]

2. Even if he served when he was 16, he has to be...

75+ years old!

[RPM]

4. agreed

their good work stopped in 1945

[EC]

5. Well, he was on a macho machine wasn't he?

just another fat man with a small penis trying to convince himself he's a man....

[Another Bill C.]

6. I don't think he was a member of GG.

In order to have served in WWII, he'd have to be close to 80 years old. If he was around 60, his father might have served but that's as close as he could have come. If he was just past 70, it's possible that he could have served in Korea.

It's not to say you wouldn't find a member of GG who's that intolerant, but it seems to me they'd be too old to be on a motorcycle.

[onager]

7. That sounds fishy.

Even a 60-yr-old would have just been BORN in 1945. If he were 17 years old in 1945...the minimum enlistment age, with parental permission...he would have been born in 1928, making him around 77 years old today.

I guess that's not impossible, but it sure seems unlikely.

Maybe he served in the OSS, and they smuggled messages in his diapers?

[shraby]

8. My father fought in WWII and is 84 years old.

He was 21 at the time. He didn't get any GI benefits after he returned. His wife is an 80 year old great grandmother, far from a barbie wife. He went when asked, fought at the Battle of the Bulge, came home, picked up his life and never talked much about it until maybe 10 years ago and then sparingly. He just in the last couple of years took advantage of a V.A. hospital.
I'm 63 years old and was born in 1942, so 60 year olds are hardly the age to have served in WWII.

[bridgit]

9. the contribution of 'the greatest generation'...

which was the moniker of brokaw's book as i recall, cannot be discounted. still, in the end they are seen as people. though from kentucky my father never claimed a farm deferment, flew missions over dresden, suffered terrible nightmares & was treated with less respect by society at large than these who are basking in this limelight since the publication of the book. there's no way to say for certain, whether some are forms of true everyday heroes, or they who have nuanced or flat-out 'gamed the fame' they they presently say they deserve.

[CountAllVotes]

10. I've met all types

It is plain wrong to call all members of the "Greatest Generation" spoiled, crazy fat old men with their old-barbie wives.

My father (god rest his soul) was a fine man. He'd be 85 years old now if he was still alive. He was also a U.S. Marine Corps sargent and oh what a father he was. Strict? You bet your ass! Nice man, you bet you ass; a FINE man that I am glad is no longer alive to witness this disgusting state that America has fallen into! (((DAD))) :hug:

My mother (god rest her soul too) was a fine woman born in Louisiana and adopted out to a man with his wife. She was far from being a barbie-doll wife, believe me. ((((MOM))) :hug:

Her best friend is still alive and will be 84 years old soon. She is a very fine woman and she cannot stand what is happening to OUR country and she listens to Air America radio and is a strong supporter of peace activism and a member of Move-On; far from a barbie-doll wife as she has been widowed for over 20 years now. :( I speak with her a couple of times a month to check on her and to see what is up with her.

I've met the types you describe as well, spoiled, arrogant SOBs. There are plenty of these SOBs around. However, they come in all races and backgrounds. Please do not forget this FACT.

It is racist to clump any group of people into one category. It is disgusting IMO and makes YOU no better then them.

So just remember that and be assured, these old SOBs will rot in hell when judgment day (which is coming soon) arrives and if he is in his 60's he was and is not a member of "The Greatest Generation" that I have come to know and mostly love.

PEACE NOT WAR

CountAllVotes (a pessimist at best right now ...)

[sandnsea]

11. Uhm, WWII are not like Korean War Vets

The generation that is around 70, give or take, are the biggest bunch of assholes you'd ever want to know. The WWII generation tend to be quite different, more generous, more temperate, wiser, etc. I read a marketing study a few years ago and it even broke down the two generations. It also said the way to sell to the Korean War generation is to appeal to their egos. I think they've got a chip on their shoulders because they're not WWII vets, but they take credit for everything that generation accomplished. Frauds and they know it, thus the ego to cover it up.

[carpetbagger]

12. The Fat Man was a child of the McCarthy Era.

Those are the oldest of the spoiled brats that grew up in the 1950's.

[undergroundpanther]

13. We all try

But it is rare anyone truly makes it in this stratified culture
http://www.jmooneyham.com/your-true-chances-of-getting-rich-reference.html

[ThoughtCriminal]

14. He's not part of the GG

his parents were - and they should spank the spoiled brat.

[applegrove]

15. Yup - he heard the term "greatest generation" and thought it was

him. He doesn't know history. He just assumes he is all goodness and some others are all bad. He has been heroic in his daydreams..like the neocons..and assumes that makes him heroic in life.

He doesn't understand that not only did that generation go to war but when they came home they worked hard, expected their government to fight for people suffering everywhere. Because they had been to war and had suffered and seen suffering.

This man may even think he is suffering. Being a racist and an asshole causes suffering & unhappiness to yourself so much so that you have to dump in - with increasing frequency on someone. And if you are a real wimp - you choose people who are suffering to be the scapegoats for your anger.

Some of the nastiest & unchristian elements of the religious right are also feeling the most persecuted they have ever felt. Gaining power by being cruel turns people into monsters. That is why in the enlightenment everyone thought there was a better way. Because there was.