The Greatest Generation

I wrote this back in June of 2009 under the title of Why Are We So Afraid of This Recession? In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, I'm renaming it, but the sentiment remains the same.

Why are we so afraid of this recession?


I’ve been contemplating the Great Depression a lot lately. With the constant recession coverage and frequent comparisons to the Great Depression, it’s hard not to. We’re told that the world will come to a screeching halt if we don’t bail out this bank or that auto manufacturer or Krispy Kreme Donuts (Sorry, Shipleys; Krispy Kreme has been deemed “too important to fail,” but you were just out of the running.) Crud… I think I just ruined my contemplative mood.

Anyway, with all that thinking about the Great Depression, my mind is drawn to memories of my grandfather. My grandfather was the quintessential Depression kid. I don’t remember if he ever said they were “poor,” but he had a fondness for saying that they were “hard-working people,” by which he meant they had to work hard just to have enough to get by. He could make anything from nothing. He could take the broken-est things and re-make them into something new and wonderful. He was a man of God. And he wasn’t afraid of a fight.

I on the other hand am the quintessential child of the 70’s. Pampered from birth, my greatest hardships in childhood were peer pressure, wishing I was more popular in Jr. High, and my great despair that my mother wouldn’t buy me Guess jeans. To this day, I have only owned one pair of Guess jeans, and I think they came from a thrift store. There I go ruining the mood again…

As I think about our current recession, I wonder what it must have been like for those folks back then. Life had been pretty good through the 20’s. Most folks had their needs met, and many had great abundance. Then came 1929. What must it have felt like for parents who had planned to give their children the best of everything to suddenly worry about providing them with the basic necessities of life? What would it have been like for the children? And whatever did happen to those kids?

I’ll tell you what happened to them – they became our Greatest Generation. Today, we think that the key to ensuring our children’s success is to provide them with every opportunity and advantage possible. And yet, this generation of poverty, of need, of despair became the heroes and heroines of the entire world in their adulthood. How can this be?

I believe that their greatness was forged in that defining event of their childhoods – the Great Depression. I believe that out of hardship comes character, like gold refined in fire.

From hardship comes innovation. The American soldier of World War II was known not for his training or equipment or financial backing, but for his ability to innovate on the battlefield.

Hardship produces a work ethic like no other. The Greatest Generation worked. The prosperity of the American economy during the last sixty years rests on their backs. 

Compassion is born in hardship. I remember hearing my grandfather telling stories of his service in Italy when the little children were starving for food. He and many of his fellow hungry soldiers gave part or all of their rations to those children. No ambassador or elected official traveling abroad and shaking hands can impart foreign relations like that.

From hardship comes a willingness to stand up for what is right. After all, when you’ve got nothing to lose, why not stand on principle? I wonder if we have too much to lose today. When standing up or speaking out poses a threat to our comfortable lifestyles, fear often intervenes to keep our mouths closed. My grandfather wasn't afraid of a fight - and he was proud for having stood up when a fight was called for.

And finally, hardship puts you on your knees. No generation can be great without an utter dependence on the mercy and providence of God.

So really, why are we so afraid of this recession? Do I wish for financial hardship to come upon my family? Absolutely not. I am doing everything in my power NOT to participate in this recession! Do I want my children to suffer poverty? There isn’t a negative that’s powerful enough to convey my feelings on that.

But if the worst case scenario did indeed occur, what would be the effect? I would like to think that in dark financial times, my pampered generation would be able to pull it together at least enough to participate in raising the next Great Generation. So bring it! I’m not looking for a fight, but if one comes to me, I’ve got enough of my grandfather running through my veins that I’m up for the challenge.