Generation Why Not?

My first reaction to Danny Baram’s “Generation Why” column Tuesday was confusion. After all the ups and downs and vague references to why we’re not a “great” generation, I could barely remember where I was. After reading the column a couple more times, I was a little offended and still confused. I still want to know what’s so wrong with us.

Exactly what makes a great generation, Mr. Baram? It would appear after reading your article that we’ll never be “great” until some of us cross an ocean and kill a bunch of people who don’t speak our language. According to you, World War II and Vietnam were “real,” and I can only guess that by “today’s events” you mean the current military situation in Afghanistan isn’t “real” enough. Please don’t think I’m trying to sling attacks at you, but you weren’t around during World War II or Vietnam, so how can you compare how “real” today’s events feel? Even if you’re right, how does this unreality affect our generation’s “greatness?” Are we supposed to cheer if we find out that suddenly there’s a whole army to fight and we can be a “great” generation because we would be given a chance to kill people?

You ask who is our great hero? You should probably wait about 50 years on that one. Most, if not all, heroes aren’t looked at as great until history has had a chance to digest them a little. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man, but when he was putting his plans in motion, I’m pretty sure a good portion of the country didn’t like him too much. But you make it sound like our generation should be ashamed that we have no big name to point to right now, to get us through the doors at the “great generations club.” That kind of thing takes time. Right now we’re the young generation that gets criticized and sent to war by the old ones. We get to talk about our heroes later. Hey, maybe when history looks at us we won’t have a great hero. Will it really matter? Lots of great heroes earn their names by fighting things like racism and wars. I’ll give up the hero if the war goes with them. Nobody calls Thomas Edison a hero, but I don’t think you’d hear his generation complaining.

What is our point and what is our purpose? Well, my point is that we don’t have a purpose, and that we don’t need one. I don’t think that previous generations had a purpose either. They took what was thrown at them — being both proactive and reactive — as best they could. Some rallied around the American flag and went to war to defend their way of life. Some sat at home and made millions off of World War II while the first group died. Those who defend their country deserve respect and gratitude from all of us, and they’ve got mine. Wars happen, and I accept that. But you won’t catch me fighting one just to make my generation “great.”