In contrast to the standard cynicism about life “these days” or the future of America, there are a few with perspective on history (cf. Steven Pinker’s latest book) who take a more informed view. Here’s an unusually optimistic commentary by one of LA Times’ regular columnists. In contrast to the derisive refrain “kids these days…”, Chris Erskine thinks the greatest generation could be this one.
The greatest generation? Here’s three more cheers for millennials
That’s right: The current crop of young people, the millennials (hatched roughly 1982 to 2004), show all the signs of becoming the greatest generation in human history, surpassing the legendary minds of the Renaissance, or the American Revolution or Brokaw’s esteemed and very worthy WWII America.
They are inherently more adaptive, they are idealistic, they are tolerant of differences.
They are aspirational in all the right ways. At our prodding, they worked harder in high school than we ever did in college.
And, of course, they live in the age of the internet, the greatest tool for information and knowledge acquisition in human history, and the greatest tool for breaking down the walls of insular inculcation.
