I don't even think "many" are, at least not the ones I tend to see at work or on the trails while biking. Maybe NoVA is too A-type...
Chris
No, unfortunately, many. You're not as likely to run into such folks at a professional place of business or on trails, but they are around. I suspect every generation throughout history has had them. I have no idea what the statistical breakdown would be, however.
We all like to point to our young military people as something to place our hopes in. Okay. But what percentage of our young people are serving or have served? It's small. We need to be realistic. I'm basing my remarks on conversations I've had with under-30s.
I served with one of the few remaining soldiers to be drafted into the US Army. He commented, more than once, that today's military would have curb stomped the US Army of his day, even with equal weapons and equipment. Today's soldiers are a lot better educated, trained, professional, etc. From what he heard from his old-timers... What today's Army would have done to the US Army of WWII, again with equal weapons and equipment, would be described as unseemly in any polite discussion.
Obviously, I don't cotton to veterans being superior moral types. Knew plenty of scumbags to wear the uniform, including a handful that were enlisted. But, I'd always give a veteran a heck of a lot more consideration if I had to make a judgment blind.
Plenty of good kids out there, in or out of uniform. Plenty more that would be excellent if given the circumstances that allowed them to be.
It was not my intention to promote inter-generational warfare. I'm well aware that whatever deficiencies I see in the under-30 crowd are largely the result of deficiencies in the over-30 crowd. I've put it this way in the past: When Americans stopped believing in God, they began worshipping their children. We live in romantic times; we've been living there since the '60s. No general population has ever had the great run the Baby Boomers have had; America in the last 60 years has been the best place to live for the average person ever in human history. Too bad more of us didn't reflect on the uniqueness of that and what it was really based on.
*shrug* You may be right. I know plenty of folks that don't worship the Christian, Jewish and Islamic deity. Some were more moral than folks that very visibly fly the religious flag, some less.
Personally, my opinion is that religion isn't as important as another factor. Folks had it too easy for too long. Made 'em stupid and lazy, when it came to long term planning.
I came to this theory after talking to a senior executive of a place known for their mushroom, canned food, etc production. At the time, I was working for a company that sold single aircraft for up to a hundred million a pop. I was explaining various manufacturing process stupidity to him, and he shook his head, then said "Yep. High profit margins make ya stupid. You have a lot less incentive to make lots of little improvements, and they add up. Lean margins make ya hungry, and ya either smarten up or you're toast." It made a lot of sense. Obviously, I have no data to back it up, it's just a thought.
When life is good and prosperous, you're not planning 30 years down the pike or fighting tooth and nail to improve. You get mentally soft and indulgent. Great individuals, like great nations, are not founded on the soft, comfy pillow of prosperity. They are hammered into shape on the forge of adversity.
Everyone calls the WWII generation the "Greatest Generation." Their exploits in saving the world from fascist totalitarianism and state-sponsored religious zealotry certainly deserve recognition, though they did financially enslave their subsequent generation to do so.
However, that subsequent generation birthed by the "Boom" has definitely earned the moniker of the "Worst Generation." This country went 170 years with an honorable intergenerational respect for our founding purposes. And then it was thrown out the window by the combination of FDR and LBJ bleeding-heart programs that enabled leeches like Jack Kerouac and his ilk to manufacture an entire generation of morally inept hippies, and Saul Alinsky to arm them with tools for political warfare to preserve and institutionalize that moral relativity.
We (the under-30's that are awake) are trying to find an anchor. Sometimes we're successful. Sometimes we're not.
There IS an intergenerational battle going on right now. It happens in my house when we get together as a family and wind up talking current events. It happens in tens of thousands of other homes similar to mine.
Aye. Very astute, in my opinion. There really is an inter-generational battle going on. The bill of 70 years is coming due soon. With interest. No one group can be "blamed", it was a wide reaching effort on the behalf of many to get to today's situation.
AZRedhawk is correct. The under-30 crowd is searching for an anchor. That's basically how Obama got elected. He promised, in very clear language, that we needed to change our direction. Granted, he turned out to be Bush's third term instead of delivering on virtually any of his promises, but that's besides the fact. Every kid, awake or not, is aware we're getting handed an ugly situation that needs to change or we'll be smashed on the rocks.
Granted, not as many are bright and studious enough to do their homework when it comes to a cheap Chicago political hack, but a surprising amount are. The number of youth in the Tea Party are another perfect example. It's the unspoken expression that things are deeply, deeply wrong and need to be changed. How and what path to take is a bit more fuzzy, but that's always the case.
If we under 30's'ers (heh) do find our anchor, we WILL deeply change the United States. With respect, the status quo folks driving us off the cliff are soft and complacent. That's why we're in this situation. I have no idea what direction we will go, but again, if that anchor is found... Hell, it'll make an impression. I'd say just as much as nuking cities did on General Hideki Tojo.
