May 29, 2022
Tom Brokaw wrote a best-selling book titled, “The Greatest Generation.” In the book, Brokaw profiled American members of this generation, who came of age during the Great Depression and went on to fight in World War II, as well as those who contributed to the war effort on the home front. Brokaw wrote that these men and women fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the “right thing to do”. The commonweal came before the common. What is my generation going to be called? The moniker “baby boomers” is not very descriptive or helpful. Maybe we should be called the “Rip Van Winkle” generation.
It’s as if an entire generation has been asleep at the wheel while the country has gone off the road. When we fell asleep decades ago, we were making progress on the environment, a women’s right to privacy was the law, voting rights were protected, pandemics were the subjects of text books, and mass shootings were almost unimaginable. An entire generation that was going to change the world has woken up after a deep slumber, interrupted only by careers, children and consumption, to find a country that it almost doesn’t recognize.
When the historians that are produced by Generation Z write our history, it won’t be flattering. They will blame us for despoiling the environment, and not addressing climate change. They will blame us for making it more difficult for them to vote. They will blame us for allowing Roe vs. Wade to be overturned. They will blame us for 1,000,000 deaths due to COVID. And they will blame us for not being willing or able to stop mass shootings. That will be our legacy.
The Spin Doctor 