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The Greatest Generation meme is nonsense — virtually every living member of the Greatest Generation has been a ward of the state for at least a decade, dependent upon the government’s largesse in the form of Social Security payments, Medicare, Medicaid and other welfare benefits. It was the so-called Greatest Generation that transformed a republic of self-reliant Americans to a welfare state.

But one could go back to Wilson who introduced the income tax, Prohibition, the Federal Reserve, Federal racial segregation mandates, and world war with weapons of mass destruction to American history.

Or, one could go back to Teddy Roosevelt who first declared the the US should act as the world’s policeman, celebrated the glories of war, and introduced the idea of eugenics to the American political discussion among other things.

Or to the sainted Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the slaughter of over 600,000 Americans, suspended habeas corpus, abrogated freedoms of speech and press, and introduced conscription to America.

Or to His Rotundity, John Adams, who signed the Alien and Sedition Acts which, if still in force, would subject virtually every poster at FreeRepublic to fines and imprisonment.

Or even to George Washington, who thought that some men could rightfully own other men as chattel property.

There has been a lot of rationalization of evil by the American ruling class and it goes back to almost the beginning of American history. The conflict between today’s ruling Court class and the ruled Country class has waxed and waned since the founding. The most significant lasting improvement was the elimination of slavery.

I share your opinion of the self-indulgent hippies but disagree on the supposedly great generations of the Depression and World War II.
It was that exact generation that gave us Franklin Roosevelt’s endless reign and took us much farther down the path to destruction.

The Hero Generation generally refers to the people who came of age during the Great depression and WW-II. For the most part, they are NOT responsible for electing FDR in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. The vast majority of voters for those elections were older generations.

"It was that exact generation that gave us Franklin Roosevelt’s endless reign and took us much farther down the path to destruction."

You're absolutely right about that.

My father and mother were fanatical Democrats who thought Franklin Roosevelt was wonderful. However, if they were alive today, they would be horrified.

My father died a Democrat. My mother finally saw where the nation was headed and became a Republican back in the 1970's before she died.

That generation was very foolish to empower Franklin Roosevelt and his enablers--but they would never have tolerated the foolishness of the present generation or of the Hippie Revolution.

I can't help wondering how the men--most of them under the age of 21--who walked directly into machine gun fire on the beaches of Normandie would have felt if they had known where the U.S.A. would be in 2010.

I know how my father and mother would have felt. They would have done everything within their power to prevent this Decadence.