“And frankly, if we are all going to take on generational identities, the Greatest Generation has a lot to answer for. They introduced socialism on a massive scale, ruined the school systems, apparently raised a bunch of dope heads, and ran up an enormous national debt”
What Brokaw called the “Greatest Generation” is what I call the “Suburban Generation”. Much of what defines suburbia- supermarkets, fast food, backyards, television, traffic gridlock, subdivisions- became ingrained in our culture after WWII by the young people who had been on the front lines. The Presidents from Kennedy to Bush Sr belong to this group.
I reject the notion that the WWII generation is the “greatest generation”. They did a lot to be proud of & have a lot to answer for - just like any other generation.
They seemed to focus on handing down material gains as the civilization was withering on the vine.