Amnesia of the Greatest Generation

[SoCalDem]

I know that not ALL of them are Republicans, but more and more, I am hearing the Republican mantra from the "older" generation's lips.. This baffles me.. The Democratic policies that ensured them a prosperous middle age,gave their children a head-start, and bestowed upon them (most of them) a healthy and comfortable retirement, are somehow now "terrible"..

For all the literary ballyhoo about their generation, a lot of them have forgotten what their lives would have been like if not for a Democratic policy..

Before Roosevelt, most youngsters were likely to live in their family home even after marriage....they would have probably done the same work as their parents.... They would have worked long hours for little wages.. The women would have had many children, and probably would not have had "their own household" until their own parents and elderly relatives (who probably lived with them) had passed away..

Most would have had an 8th grade (or less) education.. Most would have never owned their own home or business..

The ones who came of age during the Roosevelt years did have to fight a war, but that war would have probably been fought, regardless of the party of the president.. What was different was that after the war, the young men who went, were rewarded, and they are reaping the benefits today..

If you entered the workforce in the late 40's to mid 60's, your chances of having a union job with full benefits were pretty likely.. Home ownership for former warriors was easy.. For a Dollar down, a young man could have his own home..

Wages kept pace with the overall economy and these families with ONE breadwinner were able to college-educate THEIR children..

Companies treated their employees well, and most had decent pension plans (there were regulations back then, so the money was actually there when you retired)..

There are a lot of oldsters who are doing quite well.. We hear about the ones who are not, but there are many who have multiple pensions , in addition to Social Security, and they vote republican, without even giving a thought as to WHY they have what they do now..

Democrats encouraged regulation .. to protect the worker's retirement funds

Democrats pushed for Social Security so that oldsters could live with some dignity in their old age..

Democrats regulated banking so that another crash would not happen

Democrats pushed for standardized public schooling, so that ALL kids would be educated, instead of just the rich ones..

Democrats pushed for unions, so that wages would keep pace with cost of living..

Democrats pushed for safety regulations so that a young worker would not be disabled by his work, and leave a family destitute..

Democrats pushed for a safety net, so that people would not have to beg for food in the streets, like they did during the depression..


The people who BROUGHT stability and security to our country were Democrats..

The older republicans of today, OWE their security to the foundations laid by Democrats, yet they support leaders who want to eliminate those same safeguards for the ones coming behind them... the very ones who have been paying for their retirement.. Their own kids and grandkids..

And....they have the nerve to call us greedy :(

[jonoboy]

1. thats all true..my grandfather as a union organiser used to dispair

when my brothers said unions were very very bad..they could never understand when he was telling them that they got good wages and a great standard of living because he chose to get beaten over the head with a baseball bat..sometimes I wish they would get sacked and their jobs were outscourced just to teach them ..but they would probably just blame the Clintons anyway !!!

[ramapo]

2. Some switch

I think many were Democrats at one time, especially during the FDR years. Many went Repub during the Eisenhower years or later, especially when the Democrates were at the forefront of civil rights. Civil rights did destroy the Dem party in the South but then many of those old Dems were hardly civil rights advocates.

My dad was a longtime fervant Repub. A few years before he died he started to vote Democratic. He learned the hard way. The cost of prescription drugs and the general health care mess made his last years all the more difficult as he battled failing health.

What I find more perplexing are the number of young Republicans. This started back in the Reagan days. I guess some of that is what you grow up with.

[SoCalDem]

5. The young ones have been fed rightwing media since Reagan

If you grow up only hearing bad things about a group of people, how would you know the difference??

The madrassa schools are "successful" at turning out terrorists for the same reason.. Control the message and you control the person..:(

[NJCher]

3. great points

I just printed them out to send to "certain people."


Cher

[Nay]

4. Sad, isn't it?

But this is what happens when people refuse to educate themselves and think history is "boring."

[HereSince1628]

6. Just for clarification...who is in the greatest generation?

This is not a criticism of your basic thesis that people who have benefited by the programs of the New Deal now belittle them.

But what are the dates of birth you use to define the greatest generation?

Someone who was an 18 year-old in 1945 (the end of WWII marking the end of service identifying the greatest generation?), is now about 80. They would have been born in 1927. Based on survivorship curves, well more then half such people are dead, and even fewer of those who worked the depression years are alive...

If you entered the work place in 1965, even after 4 years of college
you would have been born in about 1943. Perhaps a child of those fighting the WWII, surely a child of those who suffered the depression/dustbowl years and did water and electrification projects of FDR. To me it seems a logical flaw that a child of the greatest generation can still be in his/her parent's generation.

[SoCalDem]

7. Probably "late 50's" would have been a better choice

People did not have to be of "working age" in the depression to have been affected by it.. My mother was a child then and always remembered the strangers living in their basement, and the men following her father to work, in hopes of getting work..

She also remembered having her father's overcoat, re-cut to make a coat for her..

.. Thanks.. for pointing this out..

Logic and math were never my strong suits :)