The Best Generation of last 100 years?

[Reaganfan]

Discuss.

[Sensei]

Well, the GI Generation contributed the most to defending our way of life from enemy forces, so them. Definitely not Gen X or Y.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Generation Y because I'm part of it. I'm that kewl.

[King]

6 year olds part of the new silent generation and 7 year olds GY? Is that year really that earth shattering?

[NDN]

Well, the GI Generation contributed the most to defending our way of life from enemy forces, so them. Definitely not Gen X or Y.

I agree. With that said, I have a much better overall opinion of the Xers than the Boomers.

[StateBoiler]

The (so-called) Silent Generation. They came out of a period of hedonism, went into a depression, and fought World War II, and we were a global power at the end of it all.

[NDN]

The (so-called) Silent Generation. They came out of a period of hedonism, went into a depression, and fought World War II, and we were a global power at the end of it all.

You just described the Greatest Generation, not the Silents. What people forget about the Silents though is that in addition to fighting two thankless wars a lot of them were really responsible for a lot of the major changes that happened in the 1960's. MLK, RFK, etc. were all Silents.

[Reaganfan]

Also interesting to note...as of 2007...the "Silent Generation" never had a President. Carter and Bush 41 were born in 1924, and Clinton and GWB were born in 1946.

[Gabu]

Also interesting to note...as of 2007...the "Silent Generation" never had a President. Carter and Bush 41 were born in 1924, and Clinton and GWB were born in 1946.

Well, they wouldn't be very silent if they had a spokesman as the president of the United States.

[SPC]

Generation Y, simply because I'm part of it.

[Jaggerjack]

Generation Y, simply because I'm part of it.

[Padfoot]

Generation Y, simply because I'm part of it.

I'm not a fan of the Gen Y label.  We might as well be silent if our only claim to fame is coming after Gen X.  I prefer either the Internet Generation or the iGeneration.  They're much more unique and they both speak of the rise of technology during our lifetime.

The Greatest Generation (labeled GI here) is obviously the best though.

[Reaganfan]

Brief Summary of these Generations from what I gathered:

G.I. Generation (1900-1925)
The generation which saw war at it's worst...many would fight not only WWI but some would go on to fight WWII. Also saw the worst of the Great Depression and grew up as the "we never had carrots when we were your age" types who made sure their children (The Silent Generation) grew up listening to their parents and not saying one word back.

Silent Generation (1925-1945)
This generation was always cautious, eager to go from early life to elderly life, mostly too young for war (except Korea in some cases) and too old for the hippie counter-culture. Raised in a time of war and depression, they look to FDR, Truman and JFK as their political heroes of the day. If their parents told them to do something they did it or got smacked for not listening. They did what they were told in dire times and never said boo about it...they were silent.

Baby Boomers (1945-1961)
Born after war during a time of peace and optimistic time in America, they were raised in the easy days of the 50's to parents who tried best to keep them away from the fear of war and depression they were raised during. Some ended up in Vietnam, some ended up at Woodstock. They waited much longer to have children and ended up having children atleast 10 years later than normal and in some cases over a few different marriages...which in some cases resulted in siblings up to 20 years older than one and other from the same parent. Reaching retirement age in the 2010's.

Generation X (1961-1981)
The most unlikely of all 20th Century Generations...the kids after the Baby Boomers but before the Baby Boomer's kids. They grew into adulthood in the late 80's, early 90's and reached college age around 1992-1995. Their children are being born into the "New Silent Generation".

Generation Y or "Internet Generation" (1981-2001)
The baby boomer's children who grew up during generally peaceful and uneventful times with technology at their fingertips. Reaching adulthood in the 2000's.

The New Silent Generation (2001-)
The generation growing up into a world post September 11th and post-internet technology. Being born into a world of futuristic techonology and war, they may remain just as silent as their great-grandparents did back 60 years before them. 

[KEmperor]

Brief Summary of these Generations from what I gathered:

The New Silent Generation (2001-)
The generation growing up into a world post September 11th and post-internet technology. Being born into a world of futuristic techonology and war, they may remain just as silent as their great-grandparents did back 60 years before them. 

I find it amusing that people are categorizing a group whose oldest members are 6 years old.

[Gabu]

Brief Summary of these Generations from what I gathered:

The New Silent Generation (2001-)
The generation growing up into a world post September 11th and post-internet technology. Being born into a world of futuristic techonology and war, they may remain just as silent as their great-grandparents did back 60 years before them. 

I find it amusing that people are categorizing a group whose oldest members are 6 years old.

Also, I have to ask: what generation wasn't born into a world of war.  Every single year span listed had a notable war occur during it.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I would say Generation G.I or the Silent Generation. I believe what Sensei said was right that the Silent Generation contributed most to protecting our way of life from the enemy.

[NDN]

Brief Summary of these Generations from what I gathered:

G.I. Generation (1900-1925)
The generation which saw war at it's worst...many would fight not only WWI but some would go on to fight WWII. Also saw the worst of the Great Depression and grew up as the "we never had carrots when we were your age" types who made sure their children (The Silent Generation) grew up listening to their parents and not saying one word back.

Silent Generation (1925-1945)
This generation was always cautious, eager to go from early life to elderly life, mostly too young for war (except Korea in some cases) and too old for the hippie counter-culture. Raised in a time of war and depression, they look to FDR, Truman and JFK as their political heroes of the day. If their parents told them to do something they did it or got smacked for not listening. They did what they were told in dire times and never said boo about it...they were silent.

Not really accurate. As I mentioned above, the Silents were eligible for both Korea and Vietnam, and a large segment of them wound up being the leaders of the major Social Movements of the mid-20th century. Martin Luther King Junior, Robert F. Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, Margarethe Cammermeyer were all Silents. They might have been comparatively quieter in their youth, but in adulthood many of them were anything but.

Generation X (1961-1981)
The most unlikely of all 20th Century Generations...the kids after the Baby Boomers but before the Baby Boomer's kids. They grew into adulthood in the late 80's, early 90's and reached college age around 1992-1995. Their children are being born into the "New Silent Generation".

You neglect to mention that Generation X wound up being raised in a fairly unpredictable time, and in many cases to fend for themselves. The escalation and end of the Cold War, drug use exploding (and the subsequent War on Drugs), urban decay, AIDs, Latch Key Kids, etc. No wonder they're seen as so cynical.

Generation Y or "Internet Generation" (1981-2001)
The baby boomer's children who grew up during generally peaceful and uneventful times with technology at their fingertips. Reaching adulthood in the 2000's.

Generation Y compared to previous generations is actually far more micro-managed. From childhood, many of us have been made to participate in an almost endless list of in school and after school activities, medicated, protected through various safety regulations and prevention programs, curfew laws and stiff penalties. Arguably it is Generation Y that is the New Silent generation, perhaps even the one true Silent Generation.

The New Silent Generation (2001-)
The generation growing up into a world post September 11th and post-internet technology. Being born into a world of futuristic techonology and war, they may remain just as silent as their great-grandparents did back 60 years before them. 

I could see the "New Silents" winding up rebelling against the increasingly intrusive and authoritarian structures of the West.

[opebo]

I won't say one generation is 'better' than another - certainly I like and dislike each of these for different reasons.  But I think the interesting point is to contrast the relative well-being of the first two generations with the stagnation or decline in living standards of those subsequent.

Just imagine the improvement in every aspect of life that Keyensian redistribution brought within the lifetimes of the GI's and Silent Generations!  We cannot even conceive of such rapid progress today - we're all pretty much used to stasis. 

[NDN]

I won't say one generation is 'better' than another - certainly I like and dislike each of these for different reasons.  But I think the interesting point is to contrast the relative well-being of the first two generations with the stagnation or decline in living standards of those subsequent.

Just imagine the improvement in every aspect of life that Keyensian redistribution brought within the lifetimes of the GI's and Silent Generations!  We cannot even conceive of such rapid progress today - we're all pretty much used to stasis. 

It has less to do with the decline of Keynesian economics than it does the devaluing of the Dollar. Simply put, Inflation has caused Real Wages to progressively decline as a whole the past 30 years. This is largely the fault of the government for engaging in inflation-inducing deficit spending and adopting a "free float" fiat currency (under the control of a private corporation). We could end this overnight by passing a Balanced Budget amendment and abolishing the Federal Reserve as we know it. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons the establishment is not going to ever let this happen barring some kind of economic meltdown and/or revolution.

[senor]

I have always noticed that each generation had a war except for My Generation (which is called Generation X, a term that makes me ill, let's call it GX.

GI generation went to WWII. If you were a male born between about 1910 and 1925 and healthy, more than likely you were in a uniform eligible for battle service. They are more than likely the greatest generation because WWII was a war that had to be fought, there was little other choice, and these men and women won the war!

Silent Generation people were kids during the Depression and WWII, but the draft was still in effect, and many were drafted into service into the Korean War. Even during peacetime, Compulsory Military Service was the law until 1973, and people from all walks of life served during this time.

I will say that many silent generation people more or less lived in the peacetime of the 1950s, except for career officers who went on to fight in Vietnam.

Baby Boomers of course had the Vietnam War as a cloud. I couldn't imagine living at that time and the fear of possibly being forced by my government to fight a strange group of people halfway around the Earth.

GX My generation did not have any major wars or sustained conflicts. This isn't to say that service people from my generation were not killed 231 Marines were killed in Lebanon. Some military personal were killed in the invasion of Grenada in 1983. Then you have the younger GXers who were in Desert Storm, with causualties. However, during this time, there was no outstanding conflicts or major enemies that required the services of anyone who did not want to join the military service.


Generation Y These kids needs to worry. The military services are in dire need of people for the war in Iraq and possible war in Iran and other military operations. The 21st Century has totally gotten off on the wrong foot, with a faltering economy, changing demographics, and the drumbeat of war...........same old story.

Senor

[Reaganfan]

It makes me a little upset to see so many people act so scared when it comes to war. No doubt war is a painful thing, but I don't count those who fought in Vietnam "kids getting sent to Vietnam to fight against a strange enemy"...I count them as "heroes who went to Vietnam to fight for their country."

By the way...the wimps won by not letting us win in Vietnam. We can't let the wimps with no guts make us lose in Iraq. I'll take Rambo over Easy Rider anyday.

[YRABNNRM]

I don't count those who fought in Vietnam "kids getting sent to Vietnam to fight against a strange enemy"...I count them as "heroes who went to Vietnam to fight for their country."

And what exactly were they fighting for in the name of their country?

[Reaganfan]

I don't count those who fought in Vietnam "kids getting sent to Vietnam to fight against a strange enemy"...I count them as "heroes who went to Vietnam to fight for their country."

And what exactly were they fighting for in the name of their country?

Peace.

[YRABNNRM]

I don't count those who fought in Vietnam "kids getting sent to Vietnam to fight against a strange enemy"...I count them as "heroes who went to Vietnam to fight for their country."

And what exactly were they fighting for in the name of their country?

Peace.

In what way?

[Gabu]

I don't count those who fought in Vietnam "kids getting sent to Vietnam to fight against a strange enemy"...I count them as "heroes who went to Vietnam to fight for their country."

And what exactly were they fighting for in the name of their country?

Peace.

In what way?

If you kill enough people, you get world peace.