Greatest Generation? It would just be a guess.
It would be a guess, because it cannot be measured.
Every generation can see only three or so generations ahead, and three behind. So this generation will point to something that we can touch. Something that we can compare our own generation against.
Lets be honest... WWII looked like a hardcore pain in the arse. Like hell. The depression? Same thing. I certainly wouldn't want to go through that. So hats off, and credit where credit is due.
Since "The Greatest Generation" is a uniquely American construct (Brokaw), and since we know that there existed alongside the "Greatest Generation" many people from the same generation who happened to live in other countries founded thousands of years before America with pretty impressive generations of their own, lets keep it to American generations.
So....
The Greatest Generation were raised through the depression, fought in WWII, and went back home to create a decent, productive society.
Here's where my crap knowledge comes in... and hopefully gets rescued by you:
Before the Greatest Generation went off to war, they were raised by hard working Americans, many of which were poor immigrants struggling to make a better life. They raised the Greatest Generation despite the Depression. I believe they got their socks darned, walked a mile to school in some crappy church through 10 feet of snow and got an orange in their stocking for Christmas. Something like that. But... they prevailed (survived) and raised the Greatest Generation.
The generation before them?
I dunno... They worked in coal mines or factories with zero labor laws so they breathed in charcoal dust in some big arsed brick buildings - babysitting their 10 year-old kids by making them work too. That kind of thing.
Before that generation?
Uhm.. They were heading West... being tugged by horses and dodging arrows and injuns. Setting up ranches in the harshest conditions. WWII looked like hard work? To me, so does this.
Before that generation?
Becoming a Nation. Fighting hard to become a nation. Fighting the nation you left behind, and fighting amongst yourselves to become the nation you now are.
Before that Generation?
Leaving your family, your friends, and life as you knew it behind. Setting sail across the Atlantic in some sketchy boat to God knows what lay ahead. Just because.
So really.... How do you compare them? I find the whole thing pompous. And I think it's just because we can relate to the Greatest Generation much more easily than we can the generations that went before and produced the so-called Greatest Generation.
What makes a Greatest Generation? Is hardship the only criteria? Is it because in our generation there hasn't been hardship that we don't qualify?
If I ask SOB, who lives in Oregon, the most elusive question, from my home in Alberta, he could produce the answer in under 3 minutes. Any question.
That's our generation. That's what we did. It's not hardship, and I have no idea where it ranks in terms of the Greatest Generation. But it's something.
And what it is, like the product of the Greatest Generation, is the fruits of the labor that came before us. The factories that built the arms that the Greatest Generation used were built by the generations before them. Our freedoms and technology were set in motion by the generations that came before us.
We can see them then. If they could see us now. I'm sure they'd say it was all worth the struggle. And I'm sure that if the term "Greatest Generation" were ever used in their presence, they would dart their eyes away - embarrased - and pretend like they didn't even hear it.
If our generation sucks, it's probably because we feel comfortable using terms like The Greatest Generation.
