Your third point may be more influential than you realize. I believe that for the last 20+ years the baby boomer generation, as it is approaching retirement and decreasing impact, has been searching for something equivalent to "saving the world" that the WWI and WWII generations did. They don't want to die knowing they really didn't ha…
Your third point may be more influential than you realize. I believe that for the last 20+ years the baby boomer generation, as it is approaching retirement and decreasing impact, has been searching for something equivalent to "saving the world" that the WWI and WWII generations did. They don't want to die knowing they really didn't have much of an impact, although maintaining a safe, prosperous, increasingly democratic world is just as significant in the historic context. But "maintaining and improving" status quo is not nearly as dramatic and does not inspire myths, legends, songs, and poetry. I've watched the boomers (I am at the tail end of it) chase and create crisis after crisis in hopes of cementing their legacy through rescuing the world. All they have done, instead, is severely damage what was passed on to them by the Greatest Generation. They cannot accept that "you don't call history, history calls you". History has called on the boomers to be stewards of their rich inheritance; they have squandered it instead.
Wow, that's brilliant. Never thought about it that way, but you are 100% right. I think part of it might be the result of secularization of the society - it's easier to accept "you don't call history, history calls you" if you have faith in intelligent design...
Your third point may be more influential than you realize. I believe that for the last 20+ years the baby boomer generation, as it is approaching retirement and decreasing impact, has been searching for something equivalent to "saving the world" that the WWI and WWII generations did. They don't want to die knowing they really didn't have much of an impact, although maintaining a safe, prosperous, increasingly democratic world is just as significant in the historic context. But "maintaining and improving" status quo is not nearly as dramatic and does not inspire myths, legends, songs, and poetry. I've watched the boomers (I am at the tail end of it) chase and create crisis after crisis in hopes of cementing their legacy through rescuing the world. All they have done, instead, is severely damage what was passed on to them by the Greatest Generation. They cannot accept that "you don't call history, history calls you". History has called on the boomers to be stewards of their rich inheritance; they have squandered it instead.
Like so many truths... that was painful! Well said.
Wow, that's brilliant. Never thought about it that way, but you are 100% right. I think part of it might be the result of secularization of the society - it's easier to accept "you don't call history, history calls you" if you have faith in intelligent design...