Throughout the twentieth and now twenty-first centuries, each American generation has taken on its own identity, shaped by the circumstances surrounding it during its most seminal years. It is also an American tradition for smart Madison Avenue types to give each generation a nickname that embodies its most important attribute; the “Baby Boomers” after the post-war peak in births, which lasted almost two decades. The “Greatest Generation” was defined because of the enormous difficulties that generation overcame to provide its successors with a more prosperous and secure nation. There is "Generation The current crop of twenty-somethings is aptly called the “Me Generation” for its members' apparent deficit in empathy and attitudes toward marriage and family. http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/the-culture-of-narcissism/My parents are the Greatest Generation, I am Baby Boomers and my children are the Me Generation. Over the course of my life I have learned that those of the Greatest Generation tend to be more identical in the attributes they share. From an emphasis on religious and family values ​​to a sense of economics and loyalty, the Greatest Generation was shaped by events that had a far greater impact on their lives and education than any other generation alive today. We Baby Boomers, who flourished in an America that enjoyed mostly brisk economic growth and relative peace, have become more diverse in our customs and values, as there has been no major event that has changed the life that led us to unify. We are... a paper medium... we collapse under their own weight, and when the government intervenes in an industry like healthcare, prices will skyrocket. We should have been aware of politicians who entered Congress with a modest net worth and left a millionaire. Except we were too busy satisfying our own needs. The current Great Recession may be a life-changing experience for Generations X and Y, and may create an environment where tried and true fundamentals will guide decisions, not feel-good experiments. Perhaps these generations will learn the value of the energy sources we have and not chase the fairy dust mirage of solar and wind energy without taking into account current energy needs. If the Great Recession is simply a course correction that lays the foundation for future prosperity, then my generation's reckless disregard for anything other than complacency will not have been in vain.