What Can We Learn From The “Greatest Generation”?
The Greatest Generation is generally considered those who were born between 1914 and 1924. Basically it is the World World II generation and those who took part and lived through it. These are our parents and grandparents. This is the generation that is dying at a very rapid pace every single day.
As a kid I remember getting to meet and know many World War II veterans. Lately, I’ve been meeting Korean War veterans since those of the previous war are getting up in age and so many have already passed away.
This particular generation grew up during the Great Depression and understood what it meant to be without money, be poor, and not have anything to eat. Following the roaring 1920’s and a time of lavish spending and prosperity, the stock market took a turn for the worst and wiped out much of the wealth in this country. In just a few years we went to from an era of much to a period of almost nothing. The Greatest Generation had to endure years of slow growth and high unemployment.
With the onset of World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States entering this new world war brought new opportunity to the people of our country. Young men set off to the other side of the world to fight for freedom. Hundreds of thousands of young Americans never made it home, making the ultimate sacrifice for liberty. The Greatest Generation had become experts on what it meant to sacrifice not just to put food on the table, but also to give their lives for the freedom of our country and the world.
Many say that World War II is what pulled us out of the Great Depression. It definitely gave a boost to our economy and jumped started production and manufacturing. Everyone came on board to do whatever it took for the war effort. The Greatest Generation understood the meaning of hard work.
The 1950’s was a time of American prosperity. It was the decade that paved the way for the future. This decade gave birth to much of the Baby Boomer Generation (although many were born in the 1940’s post war era). My parents belong to this generation as do many of those who are reading this right now. They are a blessed group of people who have the honor of calling the Greatest Generation “mom and dad”. The hardships their parents had to endure helped open the door to a better life. They had suffered enough and wanted to make sure they could offer a much better life for their children. You could even say the Baby Boomer Generation was spoiled in a sense although many of them ended up making their own sacrifice in Vietnam.
The Greatest Generation was a group of movers and shakers that helped to rebuild America. They are the ones that worked hard to give their family a home, buy a car, create and build their own business, and work long and hard hours to give their families a better way of life. The Great Depression had become a thing of the past, but it had not been forgotten. Many people continued to not trust banks and would save and hide their hard earned money in many creative ways. I have been told of the story of how my grandfather would roll up bits of cash and hide them in odd places throughout his home. I am sure many other folks can relate whether it was cash hidden under the mattress or in an old shoebox or any other nook and cranny.
Many of those in the Baby Boomer generation grew up and got used to having an easier life. Their parents made the sacrifices to offer them that kind of comfort. Their parents helped build the American superpower that had grown out of a war that took the lives of so many. These children were now growing up being able to not only graduate from high school, but also continue to colleges and universities and graduate with job offers and new opportunities. They were on the path to success on the road that had been paved by their parents.
Once again, in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, America and the rest of the world was living the good times often times compared to the good times of the 1920’s. The stock market was up, home values were climbing, and credit was readily available. Then, all of a sudden, things started to decline. Maybe it was the terrorist attacks or the new wars we were now fighting in. Once again, the young generation was being called to duty to help defend their country. And all of a sudden the stock market started to decline, the housing bubble burst, and credit was no longer as readily available and easy to obtain as a few years prior. Unemployment saw an increase and the middle class took a massive blow.
As usual, people blamed the president and the Congress and the Senate and their spouses and their children and their best friends and the banks and anyone else they could point the finger at, but very rarely did they ever take the blame themselves. People were making money and times were good and people wanted the bigger car and the bigger house and were able to obtain it, but now came the reality of how too many overextended themselves and now were hurting. People were losing their jobs in large numbers. Good people who never deserved to get hurt got caught in the snowball effect of a great recession. Everyone began paying for the sins and debts of others.
My generation, the children of the baby boomers, went to colleges and universities just like their parents. Many of them took out large student loans in order to pay their way through school with the hope and dream of one day getting hired and be able to begin their own lives. Unfortunately, the reality was that these hard working students were able to take out their student loans and earn their degrees, but faced a new era of unemployment and slow growth much like the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Our generation, in several ways, has become the generation of our grandparents. We are struggling to pay for the mistakes of the generation before us.
I have heard many times and in many ways the following in not so many words: “The parents build up the fortune and the kids squander it all away.”
I believe this is what happened to us in this last decade. The Greatest Generation was smart. They only bought what they could afford. This is not to say that they too did not make mistakes, because I certainly know they did and nobody is perfect, but they did know what it meant to live within their means. They knew the value of a dollar and were not always so keen to just throw it around. To earn a living meant to work hard. To give a better life for your wife and kids meant to sacrifice. A wealthy man in the 1950’s and 1960’s drove a Lincoln or a Cadillac. A wealthy man by today’s standards must be seen driving a Mercedes, a BMW, or a Porsche to be considered as “having money”. I drove a Mercedes for a few years and finally decided to trade it in and buy a Dodge. Some people criticized me, because they said I was “stepping down”, but in reality I felt I was “stepping up”, because I had come to the realization that I don’t need to try and impress anyone and just be happy with what I have and buy with my hard earned dollar. My grandfather had this philosophy. He worked hard his entire life and at one time had “Mercedes money”, but decided to drive a Chevrolet Caprice Classic. He too understood that he did not have to try and impress anyone and just be happy with what he had. Don’t ever feel like you have to overextend yourself to impress others with material things. Only you pay your bills not anyone else.
The Greatest Generation understood hard work and sacrifice. The Baby Boomer generation let it get away. My generation is paying the price for their mistakes. When I think of it I wonder if we are or are becoming something like the Greatest Generation. Well, I shouldn’t say we are the new “Greatest Generation”, because that is a totally different league in which we can not remotely compare ourselves to, but we share some of the same characteristics. We are facing a hardship in many ways like they did and we have to fight and work hard and sacrifice to right those wrongs and become our own great generation and lead by example when we raise our children and help them to understand although we want to spoil them and give them a good life none of it comes cheap and everything comes at a cost.
The Greatest Generation, although it is quickly vanishing, teaches us many things, especially how to be better people. Our grandfathers loved our grandmothers and our families and whenever they begin a story with, “Back in my day…”, we should really pay attention and listen for they have the wisdom and advice to help us get through life. They faced unimaginable hardships, but never once missed a beat and kept on chugging along until they reached their goals and created their successes. They didn’t expect a handout because there were no handouts. They just did what had to be done and never complained.
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Guido Maniscalco's World 
Interesting point of view. I respect your comments but I have to wonder about my friends whose parents were of Philippine origin but born in this country and how they were held in camps for the “good of the country”. Or, for that matter, the Patriot Act that allows the government to put the Constitution aside to spy on law abiding Americans or the attack on civilians and children in Iraq and Afghanistan for the safety of Americans thousands of miles away. Same for other non-white Americans. My friends in Tampa who were born at the Clara Fry Hospital or at home because Americans in this country couldn’t see past the color of their skin. Something that didn’t happen in other countries during that time. Many in this country have been born into ignorance and privilege. Ignorance by the fact that we don’t realize that we have opportunity greater than others just because of the color of our skin; and the privileges that go with that perception. We are a young country; and founded on great principles but we have a long way to go. Blessed is the man who had folding money to hide throughout the house while many others were putting cardboard in their shoes because of the holes in the soles. Yes, the Land Of Opportunity; someday maybe for everyone but the distance between the “haves” and the “have nots” is growing every day in this country. A recent trip across the country reveals the disparity of life in this great land. Take the back roads and look around. You are a good man and I see in you a willingness to help others. Keep the blogs coming. I respond because I respect you.