The question of our generation's character has been much on my mind in the past few weeks, as bad news turns to worse in the markets, and serious questions about our nation's ability to maintain such an extravagantly high standard of living remain. The historical precedent of the Great Depression has been dragged out in editorial after editorial as evidence of Americans' get-'er-done melting pot ingenuity in the face of crisis. While certainly a hopeful thought to hang above the fireplace with care this holiday season, the similarities aren't all they're cracked up to be.
For starters, while we face some of the same problems (unemployment, lack of credit, etc.), we do so against a drastically changed historical backdrop. Unlike their Depression-scarred grandparents, Millennials didn't overcome widespread familial poverty through thrift and hard work; we were brought up with Super Nintendos and summer camps (well, I didn't have a Super Nintendo, but all my friends did...). Consumption has been part of our DNA for so long that cutbacks on luxury items like consumer electronics and designer clothing feel like unspeakable privation. If this recession gets worse, it's the children in grade school now who will truly internalize it into their worldview; it's far too late for us.
We also lack the shared experience of the World War that followed and ended the first Depression, a war that brought millions of Americans into the middle class through manufacturing jobs and G.I. Bill education. If the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have had any profound social effect, it's been in increasing the underclass of wounded and psychologically scarred soldiers with insufficient benefits, and shattering families in predominantly lower-income neighborhoods every time another body comes home.
Nevertheless, the parallels remain between us and those intrepid stormers of Normandy and organization men (and women, in the first truly widespread instance of American women working outside the home). We seem to be, like our grandparents before us, a pragmatic generation, more focused on getting things done than on the deep ideological struggles of the Boomer cohort. Both conservative and liberal Millennials tend to oppose President Bush's policies, (unlike in the 60s, when Young Republicans like Karl Rove counted on widespread support among mainstream youth) and the 2008 presidential election results among our demographic (66% Obama to 32% McCain) should be downright embarrassing to the Republicans.
But those who see Obama's electoral mandate and the Democrats' control of both houses of Congress as an excuse to push through a broadly progressive agenda (which I tend to support) should take note of another precedent set by the Greatest Generation. The buried resentments of the post-war "consensus years," during which coastal elites dictated a technocratic policy slate supposedly "beyond ideology," surfaced in the modern conservative movement, first in Barry Goldwater's failed presidential bid, later in Richard Nixon's political comeback, as decisions about race, government aid, and foreign policy that once seemed self-evident frayed and ultimately exploded in the protests and counter-protests of the 60s.
I, for one, intend to keep a close eye on the young followers of libertarian hero Ron Paul, defined by their fervent support for limited government, reinstating the gold standard, and isolationist foreign policy. Like Goldwater's conservatives, they have been alienated by both major parties. While their numbers have yet to impact national politics, the collapse of the global financial system could prove an unexpected boon to their cause.
We have been blessed, or cursed, to live in interesting times; the way we react to what may be the defining economic shift of our lifetime will prove whether we deserve to be the Greatest, Second Greatest, Worst, or "_____" Generation.
-- Will Payne
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