Are today's 12-28 year olds the worst generation the U.S. has ever seen?

3rd year MD student wrote:

Go F' yourself old man.

3rd year MD student? Hahahaha.

Unless you're Duggie Howser you're older than me, tool bag.

Working to live? What country do you think you're living in? France?

Or all of Europe. Or Australia, or New Zealand, or Japan or Canada, or the rest of the world baring..oh...North Korea...probably Mexico....

Today's 12-28 year olds are going to get back for the people what the last generation baby boomers lost that their parents gained. The baby boomers gave everything away to the 1% when it was their parents that fought for everything we have. The worst generation was the baby boomers by far. It was the generation before the baby boomers that organized labor, create safe working conditions, outlawed child labor, got women the vote and black people rights. The baby boomers then gave everything back little by little to the slave masters. Thanks DAD! Grandpa can you come back from the dead and give my DAD a beating.

They certainly have their faults, but today's 12-20 year olds (changed the aged group) give more back to the community in terms of volunteering their time and energy than any before them. (I'm 51)

Your statement might be true but you do realize that sometimes the younger generation is not as good as the previous.

laxmack117 wrote:

I feel that every generation says this about the younger generation.

Kids are kids. The parents of this age group on the other hand, leave much to be desired. I teach middle school band, and every year in the Spring take a group of students on a 4 day out-of-state trip. One rule I tell the students at the beginning of the year is that if they are suspended from school during the year for any reason, they will not be allowed to come on my trip. This is common sense but I tell them anyway, and send a letter home to the parents at the beginning of the year stating these terms.

So one year, a 14 year old kid got suspended during the first month of school for vandalism on a different school trip. I told him he was not welcome on my trip. His mom had different ideas. She figured her son shouldn't have been suspended in the first place, and DID deserve to come on my trip. She complained to my administrators who supported me. She complained to THEIR boss who also supported me. Then she went to our board superintendent and just wouldn't go away. Finally the superintendent just got sick of her and I was told I had to take this kid. Some of my colleagues told me I should refuse to do the trip altogether in protest, but it wouldn't have been fair to all the other kids who work so hard in class all year.

So I had to take this little sh!t. When we arrived home at the end of our trip, his mom actually made a huge banner that read "WELCOME HOME (NAME)" and was holding it up in front of the school for everyone to see.

Don't blame the kids for being the way they are. As one person already mentioned here, their parents are still wiping their asses and these kids don't know how to function on their own.

Yesterday -thanksgiving - I got to hear a glory days story from 56 year old who spent 30 yrs at a GM plant.

The story was that they were smoking pot and drinking all shift long, the managers were drunk, and then on their lunch they'd do some coke and have more beers.

That generation drove us into the ground. The white collar guys from that generation are like Jon Corzine, Dick Fuld, and all those mortgage brokers and realtors that pumped the housing bubble.

Younger kids maybe spoiled and feel like working an entry level or non-career track job is beneath them, but at least they have some drive - whether its over emphasizing getting into a high ranked overrated college or the self absorption that they can change stuff by sleeping in a park. I agree that the its their parents who are most to blame. They are better educated and have more drive, once they get a little older and away from their helicopter parents they'll turn around. I hope.

laxmack117 wrote:

I feel that every generation says this about the younger generation.

This is the correct answer. I remember my grandfather (WWII vet) giving Vietnam vets crap - saying how easy they had it. I also remember seeing a recent article that the average combat troop of today has seen more continuous combat than those who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Is any of it true? I don't know, but it just show the quote above holds some weight.

The kids of 12-28 generation have a lot of potential. They are far more tolerant and open minded than any generation before them. They don't adhere to totalitarian world views that repress and mislead the human spirit. The nationwide legalization of gay marriage and marijuana is fast approaching and the ever expanding gap between the rich and the poor will be reversed. The people of this generation have brains that literally work differently than any other generation before them because of the effect of modern technology. Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen, but the idea of a cyborg will likely become reality with this generation. There are already people working on implanting keyboards in our arms and contact lenses that will display the internet right in front of our retinas Sure, this generation is filled with a bunch of fatties too, but I wouldn't be surprised if they develop a pill in 20 years that just takes it right out of you. This generation is breaking with all of the generations before it in terms of how it defines social interactions and personal identity. Human beings are changing with technology and this is exemplified through the younger generation. Hopefully this road will lead somewhere exciting as opposed to a "Brave New World" scenario.

How do you people put 12 y/o's in this category? Seems like it should be more like 16-whatever age. I have a 12 y/o and other than her spelling issues is fine

This is the stupidest conversation I've ever seen on LetsRun, and that's saying something.

I remember why I rarely post to these message boards, or read them.

You're the stupidest conversation I've ever seen on Letsrun.

jimmyhat4 wrote:

Today's 12-28 year olds are going to get back for the people what the last generation baby boomers lost that their parents gained. The baby boomers gave everything away to the 1% when it was their parents that fought for everything we have. The worst generation was the baby boomers by far. It was the generation before the baby boomers that organized labor, create safe working conditions, outlawed child labor, got women the vote and black people rights. The baby boomers then gave everything back little by little to the slave masters. Thanks DAD! Grandpa can you come back from the dead and give my DAD a beating.

Right on bro! The 1960's were all about being self-centered. Baby boomers created hostile takeovers, and a multitude of other nefarious ways of skimming from the middle class to feed the rich.

Yes, the previous generation had their share of hucksters, but they didn't become mainstream until the boomers took over.

Dick fitzwell wrote:

Compared to the WWII generation, everything afterward is a large group of soft pussies. Those people spilled a ton of blood that the US has milked and squandered for 60 years. We're now getting our asses handed to us by China and we deserve it. Rather than saving and investing in infrastructure and innovation we've become primarily a culture of consumers with irrational personal debt levels. Everyone thinks marble contertops, hardwood floors, SUVs, mocha coffees and john mayer albums are brithrights. And all the government has done is enable this retardedbehavior. It would be funny if not so extremely depressing.

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+1

I am not in the 12-28 age group and not old enough to qualify as a "boomer". I agree, however, with the above comment. America has lost its way since the greatest generation. For people in the boomer generation to criticize any age group younger than them is nothing more than an abdication of responsibility. The boomers (and the rest of us) have done nothing but squander everything the greatest generation achieved via tremendous sacrifice. The boomers like to point fingers and claim responsibility for things that really were the product of their parent’s generation. A good example is the civil rights movement which was not lead / started by boomers (they were followers, not leaders) but by members of the greatest generation (like MLK, Medgar Evers, etc....who were born in the 20's). The only thing the boomers have lead is the great race to the bottom which all of us have subsequently become part of and it appears, based on the politics of today, that the baton has been handed off to the anchor leg as the finish nears. Hey, at least will have finally won a race with Western Europe following in a very close second.

Worst generation: the baby boomers. Smoked pot and took LSD in the 60's got rich in the 80s/90s and destroyed everything and society in the 1st decade of this century, its one thing to blame your parents for the state the world is in, to try and blame the state the world is in on the younger generation when they have had hardly any impact, smacks of lady Macbeth claiming innocence, and blaming it all on the servants!

A generation does not grow up in a vacuum. Each generation is raised by the generation before.

Judge the tree

by the fruit it produces.

We should be discussing the tree,

not the fruit of the tree.

If anything, the current youth generation is a greater reflection on their parents.

The current youth generation will have their day ... we will see what fruit they produce, in terms of children, schools, farms, etc.

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good discussion...

wendell

Dick fitzwell wrote:

Compared to the WWII generation, everything afterward is a large group of soft pussies.

Uh huh. Tell that to the 26 year-old, father of 2, combat veteran (who volunteered) who's on his 2nd tour of Afghanistan after already having done 1 (and maybe even 2 tours) in Iraq.

Compared to the civil war generation, everything afterward is a large group of soft pussies. See how easy it is - just substitute the generation.

Just bumping the results of a recent survey.

A report was recently released that showed that 56% of 21-29 year olds would decline a job if they couldn't use social networking at work. That tells you all you need to know. Absolutely disgusting.