70 years, and what has changed?

70 years ago today, one of the most devastating attacks was carried out on American soil. For many it was labeled the 'Day of Infamy'. It drug us kicking and screaming into World War 2. When we got there, we kicked ass. We were the kid who didn't start the fight, but we sure as hell finished it. The generation that was called upon to fight in the Second World War was ever after known as the 'greatest generation'. During the war, people had to choose. They had to make sure that they saved resources such as tires and sugar. Women went to work in factories, making planes and muntitions for the war. People pulled together to make sure that our country could finish any task set before us. Victory gardens and war bonds were common place.

Today we live in a very different America. Today we live in a time when communication is as fast as someone can type. We live in an age when people purposely mess with facts on the internet just to see if anyone is paying attention. We have passed the age of Baby Boomers and we have become the Bullshit generation. We no longer get our title of Gen X. And the generation after us is so filled with apathy, that they will be know as the "I don't care, just give it to me" generation. We have gone from those once noble ideas, and we have become complacent and bored.

We are living longer than ever, and we are bitching about more stuff than every before. With cell phones, tablets, PDA's and the 'net, we have moved away from our fellow countrymen. The anonimity that technology offers us, has taught us that we no longer have to watch out for our neighbor. It has taught us that we can speak freely and act like total assholes to the person on the other end of the conversation. Now while I wasn't around 70 years ago, I was around 20 years ago before the proliferation. Just at the begining of the Technical Revolution. I do miss the days when I was able to leave the house and only have to worry about where I was going.

So given the fact that things have changed a lot in the last 70 years, I would like to say thank you to those who fought in World War 2, and I would like to extend my thanks to those who continue to fight to protect the American way of life and our ability to totally screw it up.