Generation of greatness

Passing 061509

My father died yesterday, he was over 100. It was an expected death and he went fairly quickly and easily so it wasn’t such a shock. Looking at his death with some perspective this morning it brought home the passing of the 20th century, the American Century.

My father lived through most of the century and saw change in land, the people and the world as a whole. I wish I had listen more closely to his conversations with his contemporaries when there were some who understood his time. There were a few stories that stand out, as a teenager he drove the family across country before there were highways or maps to show the way. He learned to fly in an old WWI Jenny and hopped freights during the depression he was not unique for his time there are many such stories of his generation.

His was a generation of giants that built a new culture they grew up when a man’s word was a bond, honest work was the norm and invention and discovery carried the nation from conquering forest to conquering space. These old men fought two world wars and numerous minor wars where not only they served again but their sons also. They survived the great depression, dust storms and industrial migrations that changed the nation. They invented and manufactured cars, planes and communications networks that bind the world today. It was their honor and hard work that carried America to respected great power status. They had vision and overcame obstacles, solved problems and created new solutions to achieve their visions.

Theirs was a hard scrabble life that shaped their character. They passed their values to a new generation but it became diluted for they wanted their children to have a better life without the challenges and struggles they had experienced. As generations multiplied the culture and values began to erode. It lasted for most of the 20th century as the Giants built a New World and controlled the development of the American Century for almost all of the century. They began to die off, from the wars, from their hard work and finally from old age.

The Giants left a legacy for the 21st century, their R&D and inventions continue to be exploited well into this century. Their greatest contributions to society however are being lost. Their values and their culture that made them Giants of the American Century are rapidly disappearing. These Giants who survived the challenges to old age may not have been happy with the direction of those changes but they were to old and tired to lead the nation to greater innovations and back to a respected place in the world.

My father was not a great statesman or a captain of industry but like most his generation a man of vision, invention, backbreaking labor and honor. I’m grateful to have known not only my father but also so many other 20th Century Giants, I wish I had paid more attention to their teachings.

My father outlived most of his generation, in the end missing the companionship of his generation of Giants. The passing of my father signals the passing of our greatest era.

great game 052209

052209 Great Game

In democratic societies as administrations near the end of their tenure they begin to worry about how history will view their legacy. Administration “spin” and dis-information bombards the public, public records disappear, and open source files become classified in the “national interest.” Their interpretation of national interest being prevention of political embarrassment.

History, unlike the administrations, takes a long view of success and failure. History also looks beyond era public pronouncements of politicians and self-serving officials. In the past historians could call on period journals, not meant for publication, as keys to truth. Today the truth is a little more difficult to find in the vast information ocean electronically manufactured by spin-doctors. Administrations’ egos ignore that the information age cuts both ways, allowing publication of both their official politically correct pronouncements as well as contradicting documentation. In recent years administrations have shredded files and erase computer memories in vain attempts to leave history only favorable views of their regime. Linked computer workstations and the Internet however have insured that obscure accurate records remain as flotsam and jetsam on the information ocean to be salvaged by future historical researchers.

US administrations count on the public’s short attention span to enhance their image, disseminated PC sound bites in place of factual dialog. Sound bites are catchy buzzwords that hang on in a disinterested public’s mind. Honest explanations of events are papered over by Sunday morning talk show sound bite spin, which set the agendas for the coming week’s amplification. More substantive analysis and discussions of current events however condition the international community’s views and it like historians have long memories of both words and actions.

Public long memories also consider more than an administration’s waning months in evaluating legacies. Actions and rhetoric undertaken early in the first few months in power defeat slanted legacies requiring redefinition. As embarrassing documents bob to the surface of the information ocean member of the former administration attempt to cover up, deny and spin but without a forum and following to legitimize their ossification of responsibility.

This year’s change of American administration keyed on two lost wars, failed policies, declining power and an economic melt down. These are historical indicators of great power decline. Instead of contributing to reversal of this trend, members of the previous administration are attempting to justify their failed policies, which have carried to country to crisis. Lost wars and failed polices will eventually reside in dusty archives but the economic melt down and fall from power will impact a generational culture change long remembered by the international community and those that have lived through dynamic change.