Challenges they faced define generations
By John Griffin
Great challenges make great generations, if they rise to the struggle, according to TV journalist and author Tom Brokaw.
Brokaw said that in his best-seller, "The Greatest Generation," which hails the men and women who struggled through the Great Depression of the 1930s, fought World War II and built much of the modern America we know.
Hawai'i had its own version of this so-called "G.I. Generation" in those who grew up poor on plantations in near-feudal conditions, fought both World War II and racial discrimination and went on in the 1950s to launch our version of the Mainland's 1930s Roosevelt New Deal.
Now it's time to ask what will be the nation's and Hawai'i's next great generation? I have mixed feelings and hopes.
By various estimates, we have at least five generations in society today — the G.I. or Greatest (people born from 1901 through 1924), The Silent Generation (born 1925 to 1942), the famed and giant Baby Boom Generation (born 1943 to 1960), the often misunderstood Generation X (born 1961 to 1981) and the just-rising Millennial Generation (born 1983 until now).
The mostly-fading G.I.s and Silents are discussed more in an adjoining article touching on characteristics of the five generations. But in looking for hints or hopes of future greatness now, I focus here more on those last three generations listed:
To start with, you have to wonder if time is running out for the Baby Boomers in terms of greatness.
True, this is our largest and potentially most influential age cohort. Its 1960s-era exploits included both fighting and opposing the Vietnam War and carrying on the protest that rightfully drove President Richard Nixon from office. They set new standards on openness and radicalized some old social norms, altering the national culture.
And yet the knock on the Boomers is that in large part, they failed to live up to the high standards and expectations they set in those early years. They have too often gone from revolutionary promise to complacent yuppiedom, maybe still using some of the 1960s words but losing the spirit of the old music.
New polls show many remained or became more conservative, which is more surprising than a character flaw. Distrust of government is said to be a common characteristic, in contrast to G.I.s and Silents who have more positive feeling about what has been accomplished with government action.
Critics knock the Boomers as self-centered. Just last week, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, a Boomer himself, predicted they will be scorned as the "Greediest Generation" for focusing too much on their own aging interests and not enough on the nation's disturbing number of children in poverty.
Yes, there are many notable and admirable figures in this massive and often-schizophrenic generation which is largely running the country and Hawai'i today. We all have family and good friends who are such admirable Boomers.
But the main point now is that this is a generation that is far from over the hill at a time when longevity and economic necessity are changing the rules on retirement. A recent New York Times article told how the old "golden years" attitudes of leisure and endless vacations are changing. They are giving way in the face of both sobering new economics (as dramatized by Social Security and Medicare problems) and by a desire to have more in later life than just relaxation and golf.
As a member of the Silent Generation, I used to see myself as a pioneer on how full retirement should be for younger friends and relatives.
Now I see the Boomers as the ones poised to rewrite the rules on aging and retirement while I enjoy guilt-free golden years the old-fashioned way.
Whether that will make the Boomers great, I don't know. But it can be a great service in our changing society.
Which brings us to Generation X.
Xers grew up in the huge shadow of the Boomers, who are sometimes their parents, just as we Silents grew up overshadowed by the G.I. or Greatest Generation.
But in contrast to the early "slacker" nickname and "aimless" label they acquired, the Xers may turn out to be high achievers in economic, technology and social fields.
While they seem less into politics than older groups, these men and women, mostly in their late 20s into early 40s, are often heavy into volunteer activities aimed at dealing with society's problems and challenges. Some say that is because this is the first generation to experience service learning or volunteer activities in our public and private schools.
In any event, some of the most exciting new volunteer programs I've heard about in Hawai'i are being launched by young professionals combining service and entrepreneurship in creative ways.
Whether that someday gets translated into a "new" kind of political activity seems like a good question.
But in the meantime it may be that Generation X is showing us new kinds of social innovation. Watch for announcements soon.
The Millennial Generation's oldest members are 22 years old and often still in school. But again, they are being called different from their parent Boomers or big sisters and brothers in Generation X.
Social researchers William Strauss and Neil Howe, who have written several books on America's generations, are bullish about the Millennials as "The Next Great Generation."
Indeed, Strauss and Howe wrote of a recent teen survey in "USA Weekend" last month. It said in part:
"Today's young people are smart, teaming up, doing well — and volunteering at a level not seen since the 1940s ... Experts note a cultural shift from 'I' to 'We' with this generation of community-minded young people ... Millennials are destined to be a political powerhouse of a generation in our not-too-distant future."
I don't know about a powerhouse prophecy yet, but when you combine some of the basics laid down by the G.I.s and Silents last century with the new pioneering on aging by the Boomers and the social involvement and concern being show by the Xers and Millennials — then you get at least the basis for feeling better about tough times ahead.
John Griffin, a frequent contributor, is a former Advertiser editorial page editor. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
