GREATEST GENERATION

GREATEST GENERATIONWhat happened to America since the Greatest Generation? Once the entire nation saw a need and flocked to the rescue. Today we bicker about which special interest will fare the best. As people became more affluent, having more money and time on their hands, our cultural focus moved from regional or national to personal.

In large numbers, we fail to acknowledge that we have been wrong in ignoring, even ridiculing, most of the values our parents and grandparents stood for. In addition to heartfelt gratitude, we should express our sincerest apologies, remorse, regret, and commitment to change, for having exploited the freedoms they protected.

Rather than understanding and implementing the principles touted and exemplified by our now elderly citizens, we have arrogantly engaged in unsurpassed recklessness. Our collective ignorance of the attributes that made the Greatest Generation the "greatest" has led to a bankruptcy of moral leadership, an epidemic of social ills, and a self-indulgence that threatens the very basis of society.

We do not vote. Recent city elections proved that a minority of registered voters appeared at the polls. In Hampton just over 800 voters selected the new mayor and council, even after heated campaigns. In McDonough only 1350 people, from over 6,000 voters, participated. Stockbridge voters did not discern the difference between what is right, and what is at the moment legal; and they returned all incumbents to office with a very low turnout.

We do not revolt. When we know of unethical, even illegal actions perpetrated by elected officials it is ignored. In Georgia, violation of ethics laws means mishandling campaign money. But we do not see the correlation between such indiscretions “in politics” as in administering a $110 million county budget. We are too self-absorbed to realize that budget comes from us – the taxpayer.

We do not act to insure equal protections. When elected officials accept huge monetary contributions, then insure the desires of that individual are met, the community is weakened. The fact such actions may be legally protected does not remove the appearance of guilt - and the fact of preferential treatment. Yet there is no outcry denouncing the conflict of interest. Nobody says, “That is not right!”

In four decades America withstood social and political revolution, apathy, and the Me-Generation. Blue chip companies emerged and dissolved. Careers were made and lost. We saw triumphs like the defeat of Communism and America’s rise as the dominant world power. We also saw the world become very dangerous because of religious extremists. It is scary because we do not agree on how to face these issues, much less the problems in our community.

You say, “One person cannot change the world.” Maybe that aloneness has, one by one, defeated us. That shows how we have changed: In 1941 Americans did not feel alone because they did not see the world like we do. Our parents and grandparents believed that honesty, integrity and self-reliance were the “right stuff,” and truly expected it from others. They had a common sense of right and wrong, and those hard-working souls knew our freedoms had to be protected.

When we are not making the grade our brains know it, and send a barrage of warnings: ‘work harder,’ ‘make a new plan,’ ‘slow down.’ We literally cannot fool ourselves, or even be fooled, into thinking everything is great when it is not. We have an uncanny knack for the truth about our condition. When the media spin swoops in, however, self-awareness is disrupted, and we cannot find our own answers. We must rely on the background and support we learned from past times and the things that really work. It means giving up myths, and shunning belief that someone else will rescue us.

We can show the same bravery, fortitude, and will of spirit. First, we must admit that we have been wrong in forsaking the values of our forebears. Then, we must act -- in the town hall and at the ballot box. Are you ready?

Back To Archive