Reply #214: All true, but in the end, the question is, what works best for society?

[JDPriestly]

In what kind of society do we want to raise our children and grandchildren?

How do we want to live together?

Do we want to share good fortune with each other?

Or do we want a world in which taking as much as you possibly can for yourself and leaving nothing or very little for others is the rule?

It may be that the generations are divided as described in the OP.

Nevertheless, we have to choose our values.

The influence of the excessively selfish, Ayn Rand, libertarian tainted ideas of the Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats will not work for our society.

Eventually, we will all fail if we go their route.

That is why even though the OP describes why a generational rift exists, it does not excuse those of us who grew up understanding the values -- Democratic, humanistic, realistic -- of the Democratic Party of our youth if we succumb to the temptation of "being nice" to those who teach or put into practice ideas that will tear our country apart, weaken it and destroy it.

United we stand. Divided we fall. True today as it always does.

Republican ideas just divide -- by race, by gender, by education, by wealth, whatever. We have to find the right balance between sharing and individualism. And the current Democratic Party is not prioritizing the task of finding that balance as it should.