There is one small conflict that people forget about, that is the constant arguments between the "greatest" generation, the baby boomers, generation x and the millennials. I belong to the millenial generation. Since I just became 21 years old a day ago, I think it's fitting for me to share my thoughts on this topic.
1.) All generations have pros and cons
There are people in each generation that likes to think they are the best generation. They assume they are flawless and always shame the other generations. However, each generation has something positive.
"When I was your age, we didn't have Internet"-Greatest generation, Baby boomer generation
2.) Greatest generation cons
Even though it's called the greatest generation, it was not perfect. It had flaws like bigotry. A lot of the bigotry was directed towards Japanese-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, African Americans, German-Americans and Irish-Americans.
3.) Pros of the Greatest generation
They lived through hard times which turned them into strong willed people. Even those that faced bigotry such as Japanese-Americans, German Americans and Hispanic Americans all joined the US armed forces and fought against tyranny in foreign countries. After the war, the hard work of the veterans paved the way for the baby boomers with a rejuvenated economy.
4.) How the greatest generation views the newer generations
Of course not all of them have the same thing to say but a lot of them view the baby boomers as their successors. In other words they "passed the torch" to the baby boomers. They view generation X and the millennials as something they couldn't have possibly imagined both in good ways and bad ways. They know that there are bad apples in the millennials but they know that there a lot of decent millennials.
5.) Cons of Baby boomers
People often consider them to be very fortunate. Baby boomers are often stereotyped as feeling repugnance for millenials. Baby boomers consider themselves to be morally superior to the newer generations.
6.) Pros of baby boomers
They were hard workers and experienced the dawn of a new era, the 1960s. The 1960s brought new music styles, new fashions and civil rights. While it can be argued that civil rights for Asian-Americans started in the 1950s(Hawaii democratic revolution of 1954) it focused mostly in Hawaii, while the civil rights of 1960 was nation wide. The baby boomers lived through this historic moment and learned a lot.
7.) How baby boomers view other generations
While they do have respect for the greatest generation, some of them look down on the newer generations. Some of them stereotype the newer generations as too lazy and privileged. However, eventually the baby boomers will have to accept that the millenials are their successors. Eventually the baby boomers have to pass the torch to the millenials. My parents are both baby boomers, while my father does accept millenials, my mother still needs to accept millenials.
8.) Cons of Generation X
It's a generation that isn't talked about is the X generation. They are technically the succesors of the baby boomers. They are often stereotyped as "cynical".
9.) Pros of Generation X
This generation adapted easier to the new era. Most embraced new ideas but they still kept some of the good traditional ideas. They had access to the new technology(Color TVs, higher quality radios etc) of the new era.
10.) How generation X views other generations
They don't have that much of a problem with the older generations but they are known for looking down on millenials. Hence why some millennials show rebellion in return. A lot of the Millenials have generation x parents, so there is still some respect between both generations.
11.) Cons of millennials
I might be a millennial but I'll admit that there are some bad apples in our midst. There are some millenials that are lazy and live a pitiful lifestyle(high school drop outs, not working or going to college etc). Another issue is that a lot of them are super sensitive, which causes them to become SJWs. It's not entirely their fault but it's a issue that's needs to be fixed.
12.) Pros of Millennials
Not all of us are bad. Many of us strive to live good lives and be productive. Many of us are currently in college to get careers. Many of us are civilized and have morals. If we don't agree with something, we find civilized ways to address the issue, no screeching, whining or saying "no fair!". One minor positive detail we still have is class when it comes to fashion.
Overall, I think every generation has something to learn from other generations. I think that one of the reasons why older generations might appear to despise newer generations is because of "envy". Each new generation has access to things that the previous generations may not have even thought were possible. Specifically in technology, society and fashion.
The greatest generation didn't have access to the Internet, smartphones, easy access to entertainment, advanced medicine etc. The baby boomers barely started having colored TVs. Generation X started to have some of the modern technology. Us millienials, we have state of the art technology such as smartphones, Internet, video games, unlimited movies from Netflix, advanced medicine. When it comes to society, we thankfully don't have to worry about bigotry.
I think people tend to be pessimistic when it comes a lot of things, people need to be optimistic more often. Focus on the good things about each generation.
I'm sure that future generations will have access to newer technology that we currently don't have. Who knows what kind of technology, maybe regeneratable organs and limbs. They might even have the ability to stop people from aging, cures for more diseases, new fabrics and metals. They might even know how to create water and oxygen.
So, I think this conflict amongst the generations needs to just stop, there is no point in trying to prove one generation to be better than another. The sad truth is that none of us are getting younger, which means that the previous generations won't be around anymore one day. We all have family from the previous generations, be sure to value and savor each day you spend with them. Eventually it'll be completely up to us millennials to pave the way for our offspring.
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