Socha: Today's generation fails to live up to predecessors

It’s been said that those who grew up in the Great Depression are considered the “Greatest Generation” because they overcame great odds to get America working again. The US stock market collapsed and the unemployment rate had reached an all-time high at 25 percent. 

The depression and its generation are relevant today despite an almost 100-year gap. The economy still hasn’t recovered from the 2008 global recession, and considering everything that has occurred in the past 20 some odd years, our generation has a great potential to leave behind an incredible story about how we overcame great odds and surpassed our predecessor’s legacy.

If you’re questioning the similarities, take a moment to consider everything that we have experienced in our lifetime: the sex scandal of President Bill Clinton, the breakup of the Soviet Union, 9/11, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2008 economic collapse, and much more. We saw all of these events unfold before our eyes and how previous generations handled them, but with our generation coming of age, the future is not nearly as clear as before.

Don’t get me wrong. As a member of this generation, I want nothing more than for us to surpass the legacy left by those before us. After all, we have more access to technology and education than any other generation in the history of mankind. But is that access really helping us in reality?

E-mail has replaced the art of letter writing. Interpersonal communication skills have dropped severely since the birth of social media and the internet, and we’re becoming lazier as each year passes because of our access to the latest and greatest technology. As individuals we’re becoming more detached from each other, and this is making our generation less cohesive and less focused on solving global issues.

If you don’t believe that we’re lazier than our predecessors, take the music industry as an example. Queen produced “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975—a song that is still widely popular to this day. It was written by one man, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury. Compare it to the top hit from today’s charts, say will.i.am’s “This is Love” featuring Eva Simmons. It is written by six writers and will eventually be lost to time like so many before it.

This one example is a clear indicator that this generation is not living up to its full potential or making the changes that need to be made. So why are we wasting such potential and talent just to come up short? As future leaders it is our job to continue an incredible legacy. If we just coast by, will we truly be able to become the next “Greatest Generation,” or will we just be those who accepted the world the way it was and didn’t care to change the world for the better?

Our generation is full of potential, but unfortunately it’s also full of those who wish to stay with the status quo. To make a change and be satisfied the answer is simple, surpass our predecessors, become the true “Greatest Generation,” and leave a world worth living in.