The Worst Generation

Don’t tell Tom Brokaw, but I think that if he could give the generation that won World War II credit for all of their accomplishments I should be able to blame them for their shortsightedness. In the late 1940’s the United States was literally on top of the world. The only industrialized economy not left in ruin, Americans were in an excellent position economically and politically. We still had a massive amount of natural resources along with a huge manufacturing infrastructure and the rest of the world wanted to buy. Over the next 25 years, the worst generation took this position, closed their eyes and started spending. We went from a nation of warriors to a nation of consumers in no time flat. And we fucked eachothers brains out.

Now, look today at what is left. Few jobs making something that can be exported with the exception of entertainment, weaponry and some high technology items. No oil for export – those now ‘classic’ cars didn’t fair to well in the mpg department. A network of unlivable communities based on the unrealistic expectation that we would all be flying around in nuclear powered spaceships by now. So we are left selling things made elsewhere to eachother and paying for it all with credit or what is left of our families spoils from the post-war period. So now, as we move into the post-plenty period of constant economic uncertainty, we are left with next to nothing to right the ship after the worst generation ran it into iceberg after iceberg.

We are also lucky enough to be stuck with the worst generation’s kids. They are the bunch that still hold on to the idea that they will get to live out their life even better than their parents. Only problem is there isn’t anything left to finance the life that Dennis Hopper is always on TV trying to sell them. Sure there are some shrewd investors that will surely come out ahead, but when the shit hits the fan, I don’t think I would want to be hanging out with them.

I realize that in this country it is only popular to mention responsibility when somebody did something good, but in this case, they all did something terribly wrong. After changing the world by ending Nazism and Japanese imperialism, they came home and went to sleep living their American dream. The only problem is that we all have to wake up now, and morning isn’t looking so good.

We are so utterly fucked, its hilarious.