Some here have called "The Greatest Generation" bullshit

[Cyrano]

Tom Brokaw knew what he was saying when he used that phrase.

This is a generation that grew up during the depression. Eating, finding a job and having a roof over your head were major problems.

And then, they fought WWII and saved the world from fascism.

What else would they have needed to do to be called "The Greatest Generation?"

[calguy]

1. K&R

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Why call them anything?

[cwydro]

3. Agree.

Fuck the haters.

[pecosbob]

4. What of those of the 'Greatest Generation' that aided the Nazis?

History employs a big white brush.



https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-labor-history-army-seizes-montgomery-ward-hq/

[Coventina]

5. You mean like GHW Bush's father, Prescott, who was a banker for the Nazis?

Hmmmmm......

You raise a very good question!!

[brush]

21. Prescott Bush was also part of the American Liberty League, the cabal that tried to...

overthrow FDR in the '30s by enlisting Gen. Smedley Butler to head an army of down-on-their-luck veterans. Butler was having none of their treason and exposed their plot.

All of them were wealthy business people from prominent families. FDR turned their revolt against them by threatening public exposure and jail if they didn't go along with his New Deal plans.

[dflprincess]

46. Prescott was not a member of the Greatest Generation

H.W. was.

[Coventina]

51. Well, neither was Sewell Avery. (photo in post to which I replied).

I understood the point to be about people's actions during the war, which the OP was also primarily about.

Interesting that when HW volunteered for duty, he specified that he wanted to be in the PACIFIC theatre, so he wouldn't be fighting his father's cronies....

[BannonsLiver]

76. He wanted to be a naval aviator

The overwhelming majority of those operations were conducted in the Pacific, not Europe. In fact I’m not sure we operated any carriers at all in Europe during the war. If there were ops they were inconsiquential. I know this guy has a lot of people foaming at the mouth, but fear of killing Nazis wasn’t the reason he wanted to be in the Pacific.

[lunatica]

8. Why measure human worth by the worst of humanity?

That’s an insult to any generation.

[pecosbob]

14. Agreed.

My point is that there were good people and bad people, just like any other era.

[Cyrano]

10. And what about the countless who died?

America ain't perfect. But that generation did in fact save the world from fascism. Having said that, I wish the America they fought for still existed.

[JI7]

23. they ended up voting for Reagan and other shit politicians

who have kept the us from being much better.

[Generic Other]

27. Not all of them

My dad stood for what was right. That was the moral center he lived his life by. And he hated liars with a passion, so GOP would make him see red.

[pazzyanne]

47. Actually in my family, older family members switched from the Republican party

to the Democratic party because of Reagan. My grandparents refused to put a movie star in the office of POTUS by voting for him. Too bad more people did not make the same move in 2016.

[pangaia]

62. With not a little help from the Russians.

[obamanut2012]

82. The America they fought for was horrible

Unless you were a middle class and higher white, straight man.

Fuck that bigoted America.

[chowder66]

15. This is the image I always think of when hoping for Trump getting booted out of office. nt

[BannonsLiver]

77. Yes, it does

But we’re the majority of the so called greatest generation Nazi enablers?

Answer: No.

[mobeau69]

6. Brokaw nailed it.

[grantcart]

39. I agree and I dont generally like Brokaw

[BeyondGeography]

7. Side with civil rights marchers and Vietnam War protesters in the 60s

I grew up around this generation and come from a working class Catholic background. In my experience, they were good providers, loyal and hard working. They also held many retrograde social attitudes and were utterly incurious in the white American manner about the plight of others. A lot swung from JFK to Nixon and were suckers for the Southern strategy, even though they were living in the northeast.

This is not to demonize them. They just weren’t very deep people and were severely empathy-deficient. They weren’t “great.” Most people aren’t, and I certainly count myself in that group. Generational labels are absurd.

[MichMary]

22. "They just weren't very deep people"

[BeyondGeography]

24. Yes, lacking depth

Like your response.

[Hoyt]

26. Definitely agree about "civil rights." I think a lot of WWII vets struggled with supporting troops

while wondering if Vietnam was a justified war.

[BeyondGeography]

29. I'm much more sympathetic on that front

We were after all being governed by a progressive Democrat who didn’t want to be the first President to lose a war. There was so much destructive pride involved.

[BlueStater]

40. They were flawed people like anyone else.

A lot of the men of this generation were also not very affectionate to their children. I can count my own grandfathers among this group. I know this has much to do with how they themselves were raised and that their childhoods weren't the best (my maternal grandfather lost his dad when he was only about 12), but it still doesn't completely excuse it.

They were put in extraordinary circumstances beyond their control that most generations will thankfully never have to go through and they handled themselves with courage and conviction. However, since the vast majority of people in this country have never had their spirits tested the way they did, it's impossible to say what inner "greatness" we all have as individuals.

[BeyondGeography]

41. I'm not a fan of generational branding

And if I was from that era, I’d like to think I would have told Tom Brokaw thanks, but no thanks. Lionizing and/or demonizing people by birthdate is silly. My elders had qualities on both sides of the ledger that I will never have, as do my kids. As humans, we also have a lot of basic things in common. Life is much more interesting than marketers would make it out to be.

[Cyrano]

43. Well said, BlueStater

Especially your second paragraph.

No one really knows how they will react to extraordinary circumstances. People like JFK, GHW Bush and thousands more like them weren't drafted. They joined up. I don't know if we'd see that happen today.

But all posts on this thread to the contrary, there is one undeniable fact. That generation saved the world from fascism. No sophistry can change that reality.

[elocs]

60. "Generational labels are absurd."

Agreed. A generation is too large to have a single label applied to all of them. Each generation has good and bad.

[yardwork]

9. My young adult children face similar struggles.

Even a college degree is no guarantee of a decent job nowadays. Entry level jobs for non-college graduates are often part-time, with no benefits. It's hard to get ahead when you have to call the office every morning to see if you will have work that day.

Nobody can supports family with such jobs. Bunking up with multiple roommates is required.

And there's always another war. How long have been in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[Cyrano]

13. Yes, we're going through hard times now

And how you deal with those hard times, defines you.

[MichMary]

30. I no longer feel like a college

degree is worthwhile. Unless a young person has a definite career path in a good field, they may be better off going into a trade. We will always need plumbers.

My d-i-l is a CPA and has a great job. Those jobs are out there, but not necessarily for philosophy majors, etc. anymore.

[pazzyanne]

54. I think you missed the main purpose of getting a 4 year degree.

A Liberal Arts degree of any kind tends to give you a more open view of the world and the skills to do your own research to help you develop your own conclusions. I have nothing against Associate degrees received at technical schools. Technical colleges give you skills specific to the job field you are planning to pursue. We have several of our younger generation in my family who chose Technical College over a 4 year college degree. We also have several members who do have 4+ year degrees that have helped them find good jobs with good incomes. Post secondary education is a plus on anyone's resume, IMHO.

[MichMary]

68. Of the two philosophy majors I know personally

one is a barista and the other works in a factory. It's wonderful to have an open view of the world, etc., but if you need to work in order to eat, it's better to have a marketable skill. Especially if you have gone thousands of dollars in debt to get your degree.

I have a degree in English. I've read a lot of good stuff, I'm pretty good at trivia, and that's about it. I became a full-time mom (which I loved,) but the downside is that if I had had to make it on my own, life would have been pretty uncomfortable.

[exboyfil]

80. If you are exceptional academically, then

a liberal arts major can make sense. Also if your family is wealthy or has a business or connections that can get you a professional job then it doesn't matter what you major in, then liberal arts can make sense.

For most students though your first goal should be to get the credential that allows you to get that first professional position. Also do it at the least possible cost (again assuming your family is not wealthy).

Who thinks that 18-22 is the only time that you can study philosophy, history, literature, etc. That study can occur anytime. As a matter of fact I would argue you have a better appreciation of these subjects with more maturity.

It really is all about the ROI. My oldest daughter majored in engineering and my youngest in nursing. Both are now employed making over the family medium income in my state at 22 and 21. Both also pursue their liberal arts pursuits while working full time (my oldest does videos and my youngest writes fiction). Courses with online discussion boards are only a click away. In many communities you have colleges and universities that have lectures, public speakers, and of course their own courses - often at night if you work during the day.

Learning is for a lifetime.

[pazzyanne]

87. My liberal arts degree came with a double major in Education and Art

with areas of concentration in sociology and psychology. I have continued to add to my area of concentrations over the years. This degree has served me well and provided me with the flexibility to move from one profession to the next over the years. I agree that college degrees are expensive at this time. I am not "exceptionally academic" but I was the first in my family to attend a 4 year college and I am a determined, hard worker. I'm just saying that they pay off in the long run if you are willing to work hard. I believe post high school education is valuable. I don't have children of my own, but my sister's 4 kids all have degrees. Two of them went to Technical colleges and received their Associate degrees and the other two have Bachelor degrees in the medical field. All are doing very well.

[X_Digger]

72. Similar in that both apricots and peaches are orange in color.

Unemployment is nothing like it was during the great depression, the stock market is booming, hunger is at an all-time low, poverty in general is quote low, teenage pregnancy is at historic lows, high school graduation rates have never been higher, illiteracy is at an all-time low. The draft isn't stealing healthy young people and returning broken shells. Even those who volunteer today are much less likely to be injured or killed.

So yeah, you don't do any favors by comparing today's generation to those who went through the great depression & WWII.

Quite tone deaf, in fact.

[yardwork]

73. Everybody has an opinion.

Nothing against other generations, but I think that my children have a much harder path ahead than my parents or I did. Plus they are facing rapid environmental change that will impact their lives in ways we can't even imagine.

[X_Digger]

74. Opinions do not equal facts.

You're welcome to your opinion, but objective facts don't quibble.

[JI7]

11. maybe only among white americans

[Coventina]

12. I'll add: straight, Christian and (mostly) male. n/t

[Cyrano]

16. It was far from a perfect world. But what if the Nazis had won?

[JI7]

19. this wasn't about whether one should have defeated nazis

it's about living tough lives which many always did.

[Coventina]

20. Don't get me wrong, I think they were awesome for defeating fascism.

I'm proud to say my Grandfather was one of them.

I don't think they deserve to be called the "Greatest" generation, though.

They also put their fellow Americans in internment camps, after all.

[Cyrano]

25. I know. Their values were those of the dark ages.

Nonetheless, no matter what we think of the backward beliefs many of them held, they really did save the world from fascism.

The fact that today's Republican Party, and their bumbling "leader," are trying to impose fascism on us now, makes them our deadly enemies. They are, in fact, what our Constitution refers to as "Domestic Enemies."

[Coventina]

33. Values of the dark ages does not equal "Greatest Generation" n/t

[pangaia]

64. +++

[LanternWaste]

58. If the Nazis had won, maybe Uber would have a phone number...

[JI7]

17. yes. others would have dealt with the pain and hardships

all throughout our history.

[tymorial]

18. Be f'ing Mary Poppins apparently... practically perfect in every way

It's a ridiculous demand that is seems to show up whenever a Republican or a perceived traitorous democrat/liberal receives any sort of praise. Sickness or death doesnt seem to matter. Evil has been bandied about today and it's a preposterous notion. People are rarely entirely one thing, whether that "thing" is a positive adjective or negative. To summarize Bush as entirely evil is ridiculous. All people are flawed. Party is irrelevant to this fact. I am perfectly comfortable with some feeling sadness for his death and for the praise he has recieved.

[MineralMan]

28. My parents, who are now both 94 years old, are part of that generation.

My father, the same age as GHWB, is fading. When he was 20 years old, he was the pilot of a B-17, flying missions out of Italy and then out of Northern Africa. While he was doing that, my mother was living with her parents and gestating a fetus that ended up being me. They got married not long before my father shipped out to Europe.

Their time on this planet is just about over. They were never rich. They were just working folks who had a family to raise after the war. They did that, and became important parts of the small town they lived in. My father was the Fire Chief in the volunteer department there, and owned an auto repair shop.

They did not have wealth, but they earned the respect of all who knew them.

The "Greatest Generation?" Well, I think they qualify, really. So do many people I have known from that generation. I was born in 1945, a year too early to be an official Baby Boomer. Now, I'm seeing people deriding the Boomers, too. Is that justified? I don't think so. We worked in the civil rights movement. We protested the Vietnam war. We invented the technology that makes the Internet possible. We didn't do so badly.

There are wonderful people and scoundrels in every generation. Lumping them together and forgetting what actually transpired in a generation's history is weak sauce.

Here's the thing: The current Millennials will become the elders before they know it. Then, their children and grandchildren can malign them unfairly, too. And so it goes.

[Buckeyeblue]

31. They fought a good war and were hard working

They also turned a blind eye to racism in this country. Black men who fought against fascism returned home to the same old racism. Why didn't more of the greatest generation stand up and say, enough. We just fought and died in a war that was largely about hate. But not many--not enough--did that.

So the greatest generation was great from 1942 to 1945. Then they were just ordinary.

[brewens]

32. I'll give them that, but I don't doubt most other generations would have stepped up if faced

with something like WWII. You know recruiters did real well during the Vietnam war overall, especially early on. The ratio of enlisted men to draftees was real close for both wars. To hear the stories, you'd think all the WWII kids rushed off to join up, and all the Vietnam kids were draft dodgers. Not so.

[Jarqui]

34. With my father and his generation, there seemed to be a lot more who

said things like "my word is my bond" and then lived by it. You shook someone's hand and you had a deal. Today, we're into the fine print of 100 page contracts and an army of lawyers.

You can find exceptions to any generality. That generation had issues that we protested in the 60s. But some of their qualities in ethics and integrity seem lost on today's generation.

Trump's lying and conduct would not have been tolerated.

It's a double edged sword because racism and attitude towards women for example was worse back then.

I have mixed feelings overall but some of their qualities I miss.

[wasupaloopa]

35. I don't call any generation great or not great.

The 30’s and 40’s were tough years.

After the war women had to leave their jobs and blacks did not find jobs. White soldiers and just about all of greatest folks were racists, my dad included.

So were the 50’s and 60’s tough years if you were not a white straight male.

Blacks and women had trouble eating and finding a job and a house.

Blacks have yet to be equal and women still struggle.

I was born in 1946 just 9 months after my mom visited my dad at Fort Riley.

I lived through the assignations of John Kennedy, Dr. king, Bobbie Kennedy and attempts on George Wallace and Ronald Reagan.

I fought in Vietnam. Lived through what was called race riots and burning cities.

I marched in Civil Rights protests. Joined the anti war movement. Worked for Gene McCarthy.
We made a hell of a lot of progressive change.

We were also great.

[pangaia]

66. Yes you were.

I was born in 1943. Am I one of the 'great ones?" No, I would not say so. But our generation was.. something very special

[USALiberal]

36. Maybe check with the Black soldiers first for their opinion. nt

[lapfog_1]

37. Lets take a rain check on that "saved the world from fascism"

the groundwork for the current rise of fascism around the world may well be the result of the decisions made by "The Greatest Generation" ( death and neglect in Africa, chaos in the middle east and south america, global warming, etc)

They saved the world from Hitler. The "Nazis" are still here and growing in power.

[pecosbob]

38. What legacy will the Boomers leave behind?

Driving a Hummer ninety miles an hour with the stereo blasting as the world falls off a cliff...and Donald Trump.

[lillypaddle]

42. K&R nt

[Locrian]

44. My dad was part of that generation

now passed a few years.. and he had a few comments: (note this was the US)

They weren't better or worse than any other "generation".

What was different - was the way people felt toward one another, the sense that things would get better (yes, even in the depths of the depression when they had newspaper in their shoes, his father losing the grocery store, etc.) He said that that's all changed.

Back then there wasn't as much separation between people. Yes, people were rich and poor, some dirt poor and filthy rich. But not like the way it was now. There wasn't any climate change, there wasn't any sense of limits on the environment, there wasn't the same sense of the system is rigged. Businesses were still local, not the huge global monstrosities that have no boarders. People talked to each other - they'd never dream of sitting next to someone on a train or bus without talking. And things were slower. Much slower than the attention deficit disorder economy we have now.

And it seemed the grown ups were in charge. Not morons and imbeciles (*well they had that too) but at least there wasn't the feeling it was all a sick joke. That things were real not just made up.

He said they went through a lot - but they always felt they were a part of something and that made it a completely different feeling. That *that* was what made the "generation" great.

[Raven123]

56. Well said. My mother was quite young but remembers universal, voluntary sacrifice.

The “rugged individual” was not as nearly idolized as the “one for all and all for one” concept.

[Locrian]

63. yes exactly

There was more of a sense of community. I know that for minorities and women it wasn't great in a lot of ways.
But the idea of the superhero, or the rugged individual, captain of industry, worship of celebrity was nowhere near the level of today.

He also said the sense of having to "get rich or die" was not something everyone felt. The jobs were there to make a living (not in the depression of course) and you didn't feel like 1/2 the country was left behind.

[SharonAnn]

45. And they built the following:

Roads, bridges, schools, water treatments system, sewage systems, electric utility and natural gas systems, universities, labor unions, etc.
And they taxed themselves to pay for all of it.

Maybe not perfect, but we baby boomers don’t come close.

[pecosbob]

48. If nothing else, the thirties tought most hard lessons in economics they didn't forget

The 1% of that generation was every bit as wrong-headed as todays' are, but at least they knew someone actually has to pick up the garbage once a week or things go to Hell.

[budkin]

49. It's the boomers that are bullshit

We can thank them for the mess we're in now.

[Codeine]

50. The Soviets saved the world from fascism.

The rest was sideshow.

[pecosbob]

52. and I served in the Navy in the 80s chasing Soviet submarines around the Atlantic

the Universe enjoys dark comedy.

[Coventina]

53. Oh NOW you've done it!!

[MicaelS]

78. I imagine the 20 million Chinese killed by..

The Japanese would have a different opinion.

[Codeine]

85. Not an unfair response.

My comment was specifically about the Nazis, but your point stands.

[treestar]

55. It's what happened

And each person did different things.

Each generation has its challenges.

Every generation is the "greatest" you don't have superior generations - no one can be judged against another.

What about the one that protested the Vietnam war and advanced the rights of women? What of the one that voted for the first black President? What of the one that fought the civil war? What of the one that made all the technological advances in medicine? What of the one that increased communications by inventing the phone and the internet?

It's just the romanticization of World War II again.

[Baitball Blogger]

57. They were the greatest generation in their time.

But, I think America went through stages where the bar was lowered. Less honesty, less integrity, more selfishness and, yes, more expression of prejudices.

The greatest generation was not immune. They would have made fantastic role models for us, if they had. But I believe some of them used the reverence we gave them to take unfair advantage in many ways. At least, here in Florida where we have a great many military retirees, I saw many examples of retired officers making decisions that made them not so honorable and not so gentlemany.

[janterry]

59. I don't know what it means, exactly

Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2018, 06:13 PM - Edit history (2)

For me, it's too much, a superlative that defines not just one generation, but unfairly measures all it's predecessors and limits all those that follow.
My father fought in WWII. He would not have thought much of that title. The war defined him, was a source of personal honor - and pride - and an experience that irreparably broke him. All three and all at the same time.
But my reaction, mostly, is that the title cannot be offered. No one generation is 'the greatest' because there are many great things in our history and many great things that will follow.

It's true: my father's generation shouldered burdens, but they did that because they were duty-bound, a concept that was meaningful to them. They endured because they strove for honor and what was right.

If I had to name the generation,
I think I would have defined them by their sense of moral duty and honor.

But I would not have said 'greatest.'

[Hekate]

61. They rose to the challenges of their generation, some nobly. I hope the same can be said of us...

...and our grown children.

[kwassa]

65. My dad called the greatest generation idea bullshit.

That was his generation. That is what he said about it.

Every generation has all kinds of people. Dad was WW2 combat vet.

He really liked "Band of Brothers" which he thought was the most realistic depiction of what he had gone through.

And that series also shows the cowards and dangerous incompetents in the US military, as well as the heros.

[spike jones]

67. They are the Greatest Generation because

They raised the Hippies.

[deurbano]

69. My dad was too young to actually fight in WWII, but helped occupy Japan,

and benefited from the GI Bill (1st and only in his family to go to college)... and used a VA loan to buy a house... and prospered professionally... and also became a city councilman, then mayor of our CA town... after starting out as a poor kid living on a farm in MS during the Great Depression. But was he grateful for the government programs that helped him achieve this success? Was he grateful for all he had been able to achieve and attain? Did he have any appreciation for how fortunate he was to be raising a family during an expanding economy? Hardly. While still in MS, he was a member of the White Citizen's Council. (Keeping the Negro down.) After moving to CA, he and my mom broke with the Democratic party over civil rights (they voted for Goldwater)... and like my husband's uncles (sons of an immigrant coal miner) and his step-father, they had so much resentment against "the blacks" and women and anyone they thought might have a chance to be supported by the type of government programs from which they all benefitted. And by the end of his life, my dad was actually buying into the "greatest generation" thing, even though he'd never been in harm's way, and never challenged the racism and misogyny in which he had marinated... or stepped up for what was right. I mean, he was fairly honest and basically modest, and okay in many ways... and pretty stoic (if that's a good thing)...but definitely not the greatest. Maybe I've just had a disproportionate number of privileged and fortunate, yet still resentful and bigoted, older white men in my life.

[Nitram]

70. Sorry, but I don't buy the "Greatest Generation" BS.

My parents were both from that generation. They had plenty to eat during the Depression, and a good roof over their heads. It was fear that the Depression wouldn't end, or that their fathers would lose their jobs that was the most difficult. Then Dad enlisted in the Navy and served in WWII. He didn't see combat. But when the war was over, the economy boomed, and they had a fantastic ride.

Compare that to my life, the life of a Baby Boomer. I participated in nuclear attack drills in 4th and 5th grade. There were discussions about whether to build or stock a bomb shelter. The threat of world-wide nuclear war was a very real possibility for years. When I was in middle school, JFK, our president was assassinated. Followed by Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When I was in high school the Vietnam War was escalating and I signed up for the draft on my 18th birthday. Happy birthday! It was a pointless, immoral war, but I had a choice to help kill Vietnamese, go to jail (only those of preferred religions got CO status), go to Canada, or get a student deferment. I did get a deferment and was lucky that the war wound down by the time I graduated. But I graduated into a severe recession caused by the Middle East oil embargo and joined the Peace Corps after failing to find a job.

So the GG grew up with low expectations, and everything got better by the time they were adults. We grew up with tremendous expectations and watched it all go downhill over time. The right's war on the middle class, the increase of wealth disparity, our dreams of one world destroyed by conflicts and the failure of democracy in region after region. The GG lived in a world where lynchings and segregation of African-Americans were "normal" and Jews were excluded from country clubs and other organizations. And they didn't try do a damn thing about it.

I wouldn't trade my life for anyone else's, but I don't see any generation being greater than the ones before or after. Every generation has to deal with new challenges, and the ups and downs of life.

[Raine]

75. That's the way I feel too

and my parents were of that generation but hated that term. I don't think one generation should be labeled greater than another. What about the founders of this nation, the ones who fought in the Civil War, the ones who treked across the country in covered wagons and the ones would fought in WWI and those since then. Every generation has struggles and sacrifices and defeats it's not right to put one above another.

[tavernier]

71. They should have not let their children be sent to Vietnam.

That’s all.

[BannonsLiver]

79. Some of the responses here are nuttier than squirrel shit

The thread has it all, pro Russian revisionist history, irrational hatred and loads of fact challenged individuals with unresolved daddy and granddaddy issues.

Endlesssly fascinating on so many levels.

Also, generations aren’t fucking monolithic.

[obamanut2012]

83. yawn

[BannonsLiver]

84. You should try some Red Bull if you're tired.

Maybe some uppers.

[obamanut2012]

81. Not be bigots for most of the rest of their lives

Not encourage the war that killed their sons, and bullied their sons into fighting said war.

Not be wingnuts who voted for every wingnut under the planet and cheered laws against women, POC, LGBT, immigrants, unions, etc. And passed on these "values" to their kids and grandkids.

They are the generation that has helped keep many areas of American red and backwards.

And, they excue and excused all of these because they are "The Greatest Generation." Except they are not and were not. They got passes on a lot of bad behavior because of WWII.

[mcar]

86. My parents

grew up during the Depression. My father was a WWII vet who went to college on the GI bill. They ended up living the true middle class dream - raised 4 children in a lovely home. We had a weeklong vacation at the beach every year and a generous Christmas. All of us went to college on their dime, as they'd saved up for it.

Sadly, they died too young to take advantage of the retirement they earned. Both 62, cancer one after the other.

30 years later, I still miss them.

[colsohlibgal]

88. They Did Go Through Some Hard Times

Most of us here cannot imagine going through hardships like food rationing. Don’t know about being the greatest but if Hitler and his ilk had won....we would be in a much different world right now.

So greatest might be a bit too strong but imagine dropping your life here and building airstrips and buildings overseas like my paternal Grandfaher did.

[GeorgeGist]

89. Prevented global warming ...

cured cancer
eliminated poverty
recognized human rights
eliminated greed
etc.

[highplainsdem]

90. K&R