The so-called great-generation of the
> Depression and WWII were some of the least funny, least pleasant, most
> authoritarian assholes I ever knew---right or left it didn't
> matter. They seemed to me to be grim bastards one and all
Reminds me of a story. Some years ago at a museum where I worked we did a meet-the-curator thing for a while in connection with some new exhibits, and I was usually the curator the visitors got to meet. One would often see grandparents of "greatest generation" age taking the grandkids on a cultural outing. With these family groups, it frequently happened that grandpa would talk quietly to me, then turn around and repeat what I had just said to the wife and grandkids in a loud, lecturing tone of voice. This happened far too often for it to be mere personal idiosyncracy or coincidence. It seemed to be common behavior for men of a certain age, and I suppose they would have been surprised and hurt to learn that anyone would consider them pricks for acting that way. I would guess that it has more to do with authoritarian attitudes about gender and family structure being more prevalent when they were growing up than with the generational experience of depression and war.
Jacob Conrad