6 ms·

You're a 26 year old in 1926. You're part of what history would later call the Greatest Generation. You will suffer through both the Great Depression and Wo

You're a 26 year old in 1926. You're part of what history would later call the Greatest Generation. You will suffer through both the Great Depression and World War II. Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age.

dctoedt 4mo ago
If you were born in 1900 you probably are at the tail end of the Lost Generation — the Greatest Generation is considered to be those born between 1901 and 1927. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago
  Lost Generation describes those who experienced WW1. Given that he turned 18 in 1918 it's certainly possible he enlisted or was drafted. The article implies he didn't join WW1. It's that experience rather than his exact birthday that would categorize him into Lost vs Greatest IMO.
  - mylifeandtimes 4mo ago
    In the US, something like 98% of eligible men enlisted in WWI. There was no draft. So yes, VERY high probability of service.
    - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_Act_of_1917 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_Act_of_1917
- fc417fc802 4mo ago
  Wild to think there were people who as adults lived through all of the railroad buildout, WWI, the 20s, the depression, and then WWII. Complaining about AI buildouts causing electronics prices to regress by a decade or so begins to seem rather trite in comparison.
  - TacticalCoder 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - Natfan 4mo ago
      *tough iI you're going to indiscriminately insult an entire generation of people, maybe listen to spell properly?
- Izkata 4mo ago
  They started the report in 1929 and completed it in 1933. Easy enough to just tweak the year slightly to fit the stated generation.
only-one1701 4mo ago
Well, then and the millennials
WalterBright 4mo ago
> Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age. I doubt it. My dad lived through the Great Depression, and fought desperate battles in WW2 and Korea. As a young man, he was a socialist. His experience in fighting for American freedoms changed all that. Before he passed, he told me he regretted leaving me in a country that was significantly less free than when he was young. I don't believe you'll find many communists in the greatest generation, especially among the war veterans.
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago
  In 1994, the Greatest Generation voted D+7, higher than any other generational cohort. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-look-at-generations-and-partisanship/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-...
  - WalterBright 4mo ago
    Your link doesn't seem to cover the Greatest Generation. Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time. I don't have statistics, but combat veterans voice very negative opinions on Jane Fonda and her support for N Vietnam.
    - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
      Look at the 1994 graph. They're n/a in the 2014 for obvious reasons.
    - jshier 4mo ago
      > Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time. What an absurd statement. During the Great Depression FDR was considering a worker's bill of rights that would guarantee employment. In the '60s LBJ used the specter of a dead president to push through the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts (which have been considerably undone). In the '90s, Clinton undid the what remained of the Federal welfare state in this country. In the '10s, Obama was barely able to pass legislation that forced people to buy health insurance. In the '20s, Biden's major achievements were largely spending related. So in what universe has the party steadily moved leftward?
jandrewrogers 4mo ago
You are off by a generation. The Greatest Generation was born in the 1920s. This was the generation that produced the Boomers. I knew my great grandparents. Most were born in the last part of the 1800s and lived through the First World War as young adults. They always seemed significantly less scarred by the Great Depression than their children (the Greatest Generation). There was a communist undercurrent to the Greatest Generation but they didn't get it from their parents.
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago
  Lost Generation: adults during WW1 Greatest Generation: adults during WW2 Silent Generation: children during WW2 People born in the 20's would be split between Greatest & Silent.
cucumber3732842 4mo ago
> Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age. They grew up in an era when various flavors of communism were serious considerations and they saw state power "save the world". Of course they couldn't get enough of it after that. One kind of wonders if that sort of automatic deference to group (government and otherwise) solutions which they very much passed onto their huge numbers of kids is actually what undid the quality of those institutions.

dctoedt 4mo ago

If you were born in 1900 you probably are at the tail end of the Lost Generation — the Greatest Generation is considered to be those born between 1901 and 1927. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation

bryanlarsen 4mo ago
Lost Generation describes those who experienced WW1. Given that he turned 18 in 1918 it's certainly possible he enlisted or was drafted. The article implies he didn't join WW1. It's that experience rather than his exact birthday that would categorize him into Lost vs Greatest IMO.
- mylifeandtimes 4mo ago
  In the US, something like 98% of eligible men enlisted in WWI. There was no draft. So yes, VERY high probability of service.
  - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_Act_of_1917 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_Act_of_1917
fc417fc802 4mo ago
Wild to think there were people who as adults lived through all of the railroad buildout, WWI, the 20s, the depression, and then WWII. Complaining about AI buildouts causing electronics prices to regress by a decade or so begins to seem rather trite in comparison.
- TacticalCoder 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - Natfan 4mo ago
    *tough iI you're going to indiscriminately insult an entire generation of people, maybe listen to spell properly?
Izkata 4mo ago
They started the report in 1929 and completed it in 1933. Easy enough to just tweak the year slightly to fit the stated generation.

only-one1701 4mo ago

Well, then and the millennials

WalterBright 4mo ago

> Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age. I doubt it. My dad lived through the Great Depression, and fought desperate battles in WW2 and Korea. As a young man, he was a socialist. His experience in fighting for American freedoms changed all that. Before he passed, he told me he regretted leaving me in a country that was significantly less free than when he was young. I don't believe you'll find many communists in the greatest generation, especially among the war veterans.

bryanlarsen 4mo ago
In 1994, the Greatest Generation voted D+7, higher than any other generational cohort. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-look-at-generations-and-partisanship/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-...
- WalterBright 4mo ago
  Your link doesn't seem to cover the Greatest Generation. Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time. I don't have statistics, but combat veterans voice very negative opinions on Jane Fonda and her support for N Vietnam.
  - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
    Look at the 1994 graph. They're n/a in the 2014 for obvious reasons.
  - jshier 4mo ago
    > Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time. What an absurd statement. During the Great Depression FDR was considering a worker's bill of rights that would guarantee employment. In the '60s LBJ used the specter of a dead president to push through the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts (which have been considerably undone). In the '90s, Clinton undid the what remained of the Federal welfare state in this country. In the '10s, Obama was barely able to pass legislation that forced people to buy health insurance. In the '20s, Biden's major achievements were largely spending related. So in what universe has the party steadily moved leftward?

jandrewrogers 4mo ago

You are off by a generation. The Greatest Generation was born in the 1920s. This was the generation that produced the Boomers. I knew my great grandparents. Most were born in the last part of the 1800s and lived through the First World War as young adults. They always seemed significantly less scarred by the Great Depression than their children (the Greatest Generation). There was a communist undercurrent to the Greatest Generation but they didn't get it from their parents.

bryanlarsen 4mo ago
Lost Generation: adults during WW1 Greatest Generation: adults during WW2 Silent Generation: children during WW2 People born in the 20's would be split between Greatest & Silent.

cucumber3732842 4mo ago

> Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age. They grew up in an era when various flavors of communism were serious considerations and they saw state power "save the world". Of course they couldn't get enough of it after that. One kind of wonders if that sort of automatic deference to group (government and otherwise) solutions which they very much passed onto their huge numbers of kids is actually what undid the quality of those institutions.