The greatest legacy of the baby boom generation’s early adulthood has been that it asked all the right questions but resolved nothing. Raised by parents whose sacrifices during the Great Depression and World WarⅡ purchased for us the luxury of being able to question, we all understood the standards from which some of us were choosing to deviate.
But riven by disagreement, we have encouraged our children to believe that there are no touchstones, no true answers, no commitments worthy of sacrifice. That there are no firm principles. That for every person to fight there is a reason to run. That for every yin there is a yang.
How will our children react to this philosophical quagmire My bet is that they will surprise us with their stability, that they will perhaps be slower to make commitments, but more serious when they do.
Someone who has bounced between two parents will not marry with the thought that "we can always get a divorce if it doesn’t work." Someone who has viewed the nightmarish results of political policies and recreational activities that were rather innocently begun will be more careful to consider the implications of new seductions at the outset. In the end, just as my tiny daughter eased my personal turmoil years ago, she and her contemporaries may become the arbiters of the generation that spawned them.