More like Children of the Corn

Today's feature on "The Current" about children of the recession is the latest in the media trend of creating parallels between the Great Depression and the current global recession. As guest host, Nancy Wilson tried to get economics expert, Yvette Kantrow, to compare the generation that grew up during the Depression of the 1930s ("The Silent Generation") with the current crop of youths, it became evident that the story was a non-starter. Kantrow stuck by the belief that many other world events might have just as much of an impact on the current generation as the economic crisis, if not more.

Rather than refer to the war in Afghanistan or the advent of China as a world economic power as influences on young people of today, I would refer instead to Britney Spears's public breakdown and Octo-Mom. It has been speculated that the Western public was largely complacent about the genocide in Rwanda because it had the misfortune of taking place at the same time as the O.J. Simpson trial. Similarly, I would posit that the current generation of youth are nicely anesthetized by widespread tabloid media and consumerism to the economic woes that scarred the Silent Generation into a lifetime of thriftiness and practicality. It is ridiculous to even compare the two generations, despite similarly disasterous economic situations.

Maybe if the children of the Dust Bowl era had had access to a Hilary Duff credit card that allowed them to buy affordable, throwaway fashion while surfing the internet to download songs and movies for free off torrent sites, then they wouldn't have had to suffer their way to a strong work ethic and fatalistic leanings. If today's generation has learned anything about the economic crisis, it is that recessions provide good sales.