Highland Center, in Southeast Iowa | Red Paint - 6/10/2021 08:53 Grouping people into arbitrary “generations” has no benefit or reasoning. Regarding the idea of “weaker generations” I remember a conversation with my grandpa about how his Dad often said he wanted to make a world where his children didn’t need to be as desperate as he was. Grandpa said he felt the same. My Dad does too. I would feel guilty if my kids had to “work harder” than I did, because that would mean I took something rather than contributing. We don’t build canals with hand shovels anymore either, and I’m personally kind of happy that this country isn’t so desperate as to have hoards of people wandering in search of work.
At my age (probably double your age, just guessing), I'm not 100% sure that a little bit of desperation isn't maybe a good thing. A sliver of that "good God, if I don't get out there and do the job, my kids are going to suffer" feeling in the pit of the stomach. It's very motivating, and lets a person see exactly what they are truly capable of when the chips are down, When we aren't forced to bow our necks and lean into it, I don't think we appreciate the outcome nearly enough.
My granddad left my grandmother and four kids in 1934..the youngest being only 2 years old.....in what could only be described today as a shack to hop freight trains to get to California to work in the ship yards. He sent nearly every penny that he earned back home to his family. That's probably a bit too much desperation, but he created four hard working kids who created seven hard-working grandkids. It wasn't a waste of time. |
The greatest generation.
