Moses vs. Joshua

From The Washington Post comes some amazing information about the differences between generations that are civic ("Joshua") and those idealistic ("Moses"). In an article entitled "The Boomers Had Their Day. Make Way for Millennials," writer Morley Winograd explains the difference between the two. American history suggests, he says, that times of upheaval brought about by the "fervor" of an idealist generation, are followed by an era of civic-mindedness in an attempt to straighten things out. Not hard to guess which generation the boomers belong to.

I was surprised, though, to read the following from the same article: "On the college campuses of the 1960s, there were twice as many members of the right-wing Young Americans for Freedom as of the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society. It's no different 40 years later. A survey done last month...found that twice as many boomers call themselves conservative as liberal. The only thing that unites this generation are its members' efforts to impose their diametrically opposed ideals, values and morality on everyone else through the political process."

The rest of the article is definitely worth a read as the author explains in detail the differences between boomers and millennials, showing the latter's commitment to strengthening the political system instead of tearing it down. 

Yup. The times sure are a-changing.