As I read the two articles for this week, I imagined there would be a major emotinoal response in class. It was really interesting to see how everyone was so deeply offended. I must say, I was a little pissed when I read the article and watched the movie in class, but then I realized that most of the stuff was pretty true. I think that for the most part our generation is plagued with civic illiteracy and (myself included to an extent), historically challenged (definately me), and current event-ly retarded as well (also, myself to an extent). That being said, who has the authority to judge an entire generation on that (or similar) criteria, let alone calling us "the dumbest generation?" I used the example in class of how congress couldn't come up with a compramise in a reasonable amount of time, dispite knowing the deadline/consequences, so our country was downgraded from a AAA to AA+ S and P financial rating...Now the whole world has even less respect for us...is that even possible?? I think that was pretty dumb. Or how about our neverending quest to conquer the middle east...seems pretty dumb to me becuase we'll literally never win.
I think its always easy to blame the young and inexperienced. If you talk to adults today about what they were thinking about/what they knew when they were 21 years old, I'm sure most of them won't tell you that they were concerned about learning every detail of history, politics, and every current event in the world, they'll probably tell you something like "I was 21? I don't remember that year... ;-)"
To come full circle, I think that our generation has a lot to learn about what's important in "real life" but we are the generation of innovation, so we'll figure it out.
Love,
Chad
I like you are very blunt and bold about what you say. Our generation does have a lot to learn, but so does the older generations too. Some of them are stuck in there old ways of thinking and what they think is right. Just like the government, the people who are old and have been working with the government for years have a different mentality than the younger people. They think because they have more experience they are wiser. Wisdom does not always come with age. Everyone learns something new every day; to be honest, it is just how you intend to apply what you know.
ReplyDeleteYou have made some very good points. They are basically calling us the dumbest generation because of our inexperience in the world. When we are in their shoes we will be calling the next generation dumb. Its just something that will never change.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to call a generation that hasn't even gotten the chance to prove itself the "dumbest". If you are looking for some of the "dumbest" people look at congress. They bicker like little children and get nothing done, but whatever I guess I wouldn't do any better. Good observation, he is somewhat right, but not to a great extent.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your ending statement, I think it was an interesting take on the situation. Our generation is still very young and inexperienced, which also makes us easier to blame because most of us our still learning. I think that we need to be given the chance to prove ourselves before we can be judged by those older than us who have lived through what we our experiencing.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you hit different points, from both points of view. The point about Congress really shows that know matter what generation you are, you make mistakes and aren't perfect. Also, I like how you were mad but then thought about it and felt that a lot of what he was saying actually had some truth. As others said, I liked how you ended the post.
ReplyDeleteMaybe what the "government" needs are some thoughtful "innovators" willing to "bluntly" tell them like it is: Hey, your war in the Middle East is pointless!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is...as Bauerlein sees it (and maybe me to a degree as well) is that NOBODY CARES about politics. It's impossible to be apathetic AND change the world at the same time...
And we wonder why people retreat to "virtual" worlds to escape....hmmm, seems like a no brainer to me :)