The legacy of three generations

Generations are often categorised, which is not always helpful, as it is obviously a generalisation. Nonetheless, it does help us make sense of things. If there is any generation that we owe a debt to it, it is ‘the silent generation.’ This is the generation that roughly from the 1910s to the 1970s and fought in the Second World War.

This generation lived through the First World War, the Great Depression and witnessed the growth of fascism and communism in Europe, which threatened their civilisation and values. They fought in the Second World War and sacrificed their freedoms to protect the freedoms of future generations. Millions of people died to save Europe from degenerating into fascism.

Following this, they made a concerted effort not to go back to the rampant unemployment and poverty of the 1930s. Indeed, ‘The Beveridge Report’ sold 600,000 copies. The book aimed to tackle ‘squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease.’ The Labour Party was elected in 1945 and implemented Beveridge’s ideas by creating the welfare state. They also created the NHS, which was spearheaded by Anuerin Bevan as minister of health. ‘No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means,’ he claimed. The spate of reforms during this period did much to protect workers and for a long time we had full employment.

This generation also made a concerted effort to avoid another world war. The UN was created, as well the germ of the European Union - ‘The European Coal and Steel Community.’ The IMF was also created to prevent countries from sliding into economic chaos.

The Baby Boom generation benefited from the economic comfort that was bequeathed to them by their parents. There had never been a generation that was born with so much so security and so many opportunities. However, they were more prone to virtue signalling than their parents. At the same time, they were extremely indulgent. They indulged in heavy drugs and engaged in wild orgies. On the other hand, they waved placards and protested against social injustice and figures of authority.
The song ‘Taxman’ by The Beatles exemplified this very well. Ostensibly, The Beatles care about justice and world peace, but were still unwilling to do contribute back to society by paying their fair share of tax. It was bogus.

The activist Jerry Rubin is very representative of many hippies. He was active in revolutionary politics, but he really did nothing constructive to change society. He squawked about ‘capitalist pigs,’ ‘straights’ and ‘war,’ but really did nothing apart from indulging in casual sex and heavy drugs with free-spirited abandon. Ten years later, he became a clean-shaven millionaire stock broker in Wall Street. Really, there was not much difference in this career move – it was equally indulgent. Cases like this are legion.

The legacy of this generation is not good. They deregulated the financial system, which led to the financial crash. They voted for Brexit. There is little affordable housing, the NHS and other public services are creaking and there is low growth. They still have the gall to complain about millennials, which is a bit rich. We are the ones who will have to pick up the pieces.