The same generation that laments a loss of values in this generation was born and raised before Brown v. Board of Education, before the initially-weak Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and before the required reinforcement that was the Civil Rights Act of 1965; their values and conditioning stem from an entirely different moral perspective, one in which racial integration had not yet taken place, women had very little bodily autonomy, and gays were routinely beaten and killed
The same generation that laments the “lack of reading” in this generation actively banned books and suppressed information that they did not like; their anxiety about the Internet and the availability of information relates to a loss of power and control, along with resentment that their word can be challenged
The same generation that calls this generation “lazy” voted for Reagan, endorsed trickle-down economics, dismantled the welfare state, and made higher education into a for-profit institution; $5,000 in the 1950′s was enough for two semesters at Princeton with about $1,100 left over for travel and expenses, so whatever sense previous generations have of financial stability and affordability battles with being raised in a more robust economy
The same generation that calls this generation “selfish” are the ones in tenured positions regardless of their abilities, that squeeze out every ounce of productivity they can from their underpaid, under-supported workers yet give themselves a bonus the size of three new employees’ combined salaries, and the ignore people for profits, routinely bankrupting companies
The same generation that says our generation is so very, fundamentally flawed is responsible for creating the world in which they raised us(!!!); Whatever problems, projected faults, or displaced resentment the older generations spout off, they are also accountable
