by Magus » Mon 20 Mar 2006, 01:44:12
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'I') would guess the median age here to be 32-33. There's some college kids and younger, and a few boomers, but how many really old people over say, late 60s? early 70s. I've seen some people look really old and worn out at 40. but for the most part, over 70 is old and part of the "greatest generation" as that asskisser Brokaw put it. I can sympathize with the young oldergenerationtrashers that I read here sometimes, I know the feeling. My general impression of that older WWII bunch is not good. But they had some great musicians. And they fought like hell.
Some harsh comments have been said here about the World War II generation, and some of their actions appears to us here today to be foolish.
We must rembember, that these people didn't have access to the internet, or CNN on the television to watch. In many cases, they didn't even have a good library to visit. The population of the early twentieth century, allthough in the process of changing, was still by-and-large a rural population; And to put it politely, these folks were just plain ignorant.
The idea of globalization and its effects on the domestic economy had just not registered yet. What use is it to know what's going on over on the other side of the globe, if you have to worry about taking care of animals and planting crops.
Now, granted, that doesn't fully clear them of blame. There was still plenty of oppurtunity for postive changes that were not taken, and there is no excuse for not knowing what is pertinant to your own country! The average American got into both world wars knowing very little about why they were actually fighting, except maybe "HITLER IS A BAD MAN!" or "WE MUST AVENGE THE LUSITANIA/PEARL HARBOR!"
I doubt that the deeper root causes of the conflicts, and their great ramifcations on the future cource of history, ever passed even remotely through their minds.