The spirit of the Greatest Generation was not limited geographically in the US. It was also a global awesomeness, as Lisa cited in her wonderful story about her English relatives.
My grandparents on both my father and mother side survived the horrors of WWII back in the Islands. My grandfather – dad side - almost lost his head (literally) in the hands of the Japanese invaders a couple of times. He was a supporter of the guerilla movement, and when he was arrested as a suspect, he always manage to BS his way out. This “BS skill” was used again several decades later here in America, when somebody tried to mug him in downtown LA. You know what he did? Grandpa, who was then in his 80’s, refused to give his wallet to the mugger. He instead handed over his colostomy bag. He survived the war, and he wasn’t gonna let some punk walk all over him.
And my grandma, who is still alive and living in Los Angeles (we actually celebrated her 100th birthday last May), used to make soap out of animal fats during the war. She did other ‘handmade’ things to support her family. Her brother who passed away in 1977 participated in the infamous Bataan Death March.
I can go on and on about the Greatest Generation on the other side of the Pacific. But I will say that the values my grandparents had were clearly passed on to my mom and dad. Growing up I did not understand why my parents did what they did, and why they were how they were. But as I got older and became a parent myself, I began to understand and I began to truly appreciate the great contributions of the Greatest Generation.
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01-22-2013, 05:33 AM #31This above all..
To thine ownself be true..
And it must follow, as the night the day..
Thou can'st not then be false to any man..
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Bros, my Weightlifters and Powerlifters are my credentials.
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01-22-2013, 06:38 AM #32
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01-22-2013, 06:43 AM #33
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01-22-2013, 07:03 AM #34
It's odd. I instinctively - *and* by choice - respect my elders (except where given a strong reason not to) as I always have, and I get the gist of what some of you have posted about a generation or two back, but...
I'm not sure I agree, all things considered. What I see is each generation since the dawn of time attempting to cope as best they may, with the circumstances they are born into and raised within.
Nonetheless, I also respect the view put forward. Not sure I have anything else substantial to argue against it with, and besides, pretty sure I wouldn't really want to... mind you, when it comes to overly negative perspectives on Gen X, Y, other - I might feel compelled to defend us/them, at times. Well, maybe.
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01-22-2013, 07:10 AM #35
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01-22-2013, 09:05 AM #36
Every generation thinks they are the best...nothing new..80s are the best.So many things were just beginning then...so much greatness from music,movies,tv,and Ronald Reagan.Even my 70 year old mom agrees with me...70s were incredible for music..90s good for reality tv,some music,and the internet big bang.New millennium is great for tech and scaring us with zombies..and so far thats it...
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01-22-2013, 09:38 AM #37
This isn't true at all. I am 35 and there is no way I would compare my generation to those from the 1920's or 1940's. My generation has not contributed to the overall well being of this country except for paying for the health care of the baby boomers who didn't do **** for themselves. Although it does seem that my generation is more about the family and parents my age have learned from the self absorbed lifestyle of the generation before them. But contributing art to society doesn't make it better.
The Unexamined Life is not worth living
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01-22-2013, 10:40 AM #38
I agree with you. Anyone referring to our generation as the greatest generation needs to have their head examined..lol..
We are the greatest consumer generation, no doubt. We consume too much food, too many frivolous items, and spend way too much time rewarding ourselves for the work we do..
My hope is we've learned something.. Like I have learned, I hope others in my generation have realized the end result of over consumption and we see a reversal in the trend... I'm just not sure though.. As someone else said, it's never too late and I hope we get this fixed..The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
-Nietzsche
You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.
-Yogi Berra
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01-22-2013, 06:08 PM #39
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I told my grandparents that many times, my grandpa would make weird little jokes about cutting me out of his will and I would respond with 'spend everything on yourselves, i don't need or want your money". They were retired for quite a few yrs and for reason my sister thought they were sitting on a goldmine and was always kissing their asses. Well turns out when they died there was enough to bury them and that was about it.
Regarding the greatest generation, definitely the folks from the 40's. If todays people were asked to do what those people did regarding the war there would be major bitching."You know that little thing in your head that keeps you from saying things you shouldn't? Yeah, well, I don't have one of those."
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01-22-2013, 08:07 PM #40
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That's the same thing my siblings and I tell our parents but they still continue to scrimp on themselves.
They have worked so long and so hard and gone without so much that they really don't know how to have a good time. My old man would sooner spend a weekend driving a truck or changing out a gearbox than playing golf or holidaying. At 79 he will have to give up truck driving next year (in Australia, you lose your heavy vehicle license at 80)
Thankfully the grandchildren (mine) are putting some spring in their step these days.Brick by brick
"Never let the weeds get higher than the garden, always keep a diamond in your mind"
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01-23-2013, 12:57 AM #41
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01-23-2013, 04:26 AM #42
My mother says she and her father talked about that for years.. The last few years of his life he made my mom the financial guardian of his assets. One day she told him that he had more than enough to every worry about spending and he should do something he always wanted to do. Even if it was donating a large sum to his church or what have you.. He explained that when you get to his age, leaving behind a legacy for your kids IS what he wanted to do most..
Perhaps it takes getting to that age to fully understand why they insist on keeping it in the family.The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
-Nietzsche
You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.
-Yogi Berra
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01-23-2013, 10:50 AM #43
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01-23-2013, 02:32 PM #44
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01-23-2013, 02:52 PM #45
That is true to a certain extent I believe. But technology really didn't seem to change social conditions until the intraweb in the 90's. It is very strange to hear him say some of these things so long ago. I can't wait to finish watching it. Sadly people use technology to create human interaction because they crave it so much and have given up their freedom and to do so, but the transparency of those people really only leads to creating more of a facade for the world to see.
The Unexamined Life is not worth living
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01-23-2013, 03:01 PM #46
My parents--both gone now--came from an era where you had to work hard and one was grateful to find a job. My late father was born in 1914, grew up during the Great Depression, never finished high school, witnessed some really terrible things, went off to war and saw worse, then came back to TO, founded his businesses and worked 18-hour days on occasion. Most of the other men in his line of work did. He never talked about it in detail, just said it was "hard work". He did what he set out to do, didn't take any loans for his business, didn't lie, cheat, or rag on others.
My mother also came from a very poor family and grew up in New York in a tenement like many others. Where she differed from my father was in terms of education. She graduated from a very fine college, and taught me much about languages, culture, literature, and more. I'd like to think I learned from both my folks.
What both of them shared--and what both of them taught me besides having good morals--was that one had to work hard for what one got. These days, it seems like everyone has a sense of entitlement. I'm not blaming Obamarama for this; this kind of mindset started long ago, a kind of creeping, paralytic thought process that some people developed and/or were educated in. The kind of mindset that says "others should do for me", the kind of thinking that says "why work--let others do it". I was not raised that way. My parents could never understand that kind of thinking and I can't, either."Don't call me Miss Kitty. Just...don't."--Catnip. Check out the Catnip Trilogy on Amazon.com
"Chivalry isn't dead. It just wears a skirt."--Twisted, the YA gender bender deal of the century!
Check out my links to Mr. Taxi, Star Maps, and other fine YA Action/Romance novels at http://www.amazon.com/J.S.-Frankel/e/B004XUUTB8/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
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01-23-2013, 03:02 PM #47
What I loved, when he said "through technological drugs and propaganda society would get to the point that they would "Love their slavery".
The illusion of choice is the greatest hoax on this generation. And that people believe they are free when in reality they goosestep to the oligarchs bidding.
Until this generation can truly unplug their minds and truly consider what our forefathers were guiding us through, we will then be nothing more then a twisted generation.
2 Tim 3: 1-5http://www.hollandreflexology.com/
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01-23-2013, 04:12 PM #48
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01-23-2013, 04:23 PM #49
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01-23-2013, 04:45 PM #50
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01-23-2013, 05:03 PM #51
Cliffs: Remember, this video is from the late 50's
13:30 -Explanation of modern political leader. Corporations choose and pay for a slick face that is groomed for sales. Coached to be sincere. Once that candidate is chosen, placed to the American footstool as one of two choices.
21:30 - Individualism is drowned out in place of group morality. Group morality ends free thinking.
22:50 Decentralization gives power back to the individual.
Good points mslmanhttp://www.hollandreflexology.com/
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01-23-2013, 05:13 PM #52
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01-23-2013, 05:15 PM #53
What are the jobs most kids want today? Tech right?
Who trains their kids to want to be roofers, carpenters, or plumbers? The entitlement comes from the propaganda that everyone must go to college for success.
Whereas, our parents where happy just providing for and loving their kids. Men were content with basic labor. You knew eventually you would work your way up to foreman. Then owner.
With modern regulation that highly favors major corporations and heavy propaganda on college, kids today believe their entitled to six figure jobs if they follow the road map.http://www.hollandreflexology.com/
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01-23-2013, 05:25 PM #54
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Something which hits on this two-fold occurred during the last Presidential debates.
College kid asks BHO what BHO can do to "assure" college kid that college kid will be able to support himself after graduation from college.
Seriously? Entitlement-based beliefs at work. Maybe I'm too much of a libertarian, but I don't regard it as government's role to ensure that I am able to support myself. Perhaps it was missed by this college kid, but being relying on assurances from the government to "support himself" is contrary to the concept of...wait for it...supporting one's self.
BHO then tells college kid that after going to college, incurring college debt, graduating from college, there will be jobs in manufacturing awaiting him. Yeah, sounds about right, right? Right.
/sidebar
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01-23-2013, 05:36 PM #55
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01-23-2013, 05:39 PM #56
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01-23-2013, 06:07 PM #57
We have run into this in the oil field while in Pennsylvania. The women want to work and over half the men were on unemployment, and when they came around looking for a job they made demands like it was a labor union job. So they hired people from Louisiana and Texas to go up there and work. It was unbelievable. My grandfather had to quit school in the 7th grade because his dad died and he was the oldest son so he had to run the farm. Now boys don't become men until they are 30. DH I loved that video. I watched it again while on the treadmill. People should have heeded that warning back then.
The Unexamined Life is not worth living
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01-24-2013, 03:46 PM #58
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01-24-2013, 05:31 PM #59
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I am quite proud of my ancestors generation. My great grandfather, Levi English came to Texas from Arkansas when he was 14 years old. He married Matilda Burleson, the daughter of Col. Burleson who served under General Sam Houston, and he later served as Postmaster General. My great grandfather English later founded the town of Carrizo Spings, Texas and served as a Captain and scout for the Texas Rangers. I would have really loved to live in the 1800's. I think I was born in the wrong time. .
I like to ride my horses and shoot my guns
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01-24-2013, 07:21 PM #60
My father was a WWII vet. He was in the 1st wave going into Italy. He made it and rarely talked about the devistation and death that he saw that day.
He passed in 1993, When going through his things there was a silver ring with Italy and the year. I wear that ring every time I am riding the motorcycle just to take a memory of him with me.
Yes, I think of the greatest generation exactly as the greatest generation. That being of the WWII folks and the sacrafices they made and how they grew our country. We could learn a lession from them. My dad loved his Caddies and Harleys, Wife, kids and the small house we all grew up in.
Thanks for reading!
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