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THE MICHIGAN DAILY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1951




SPORTRAIT of the Younger Generation
But God (whoever or whatever they understand by
-W hy haven't we heard from today's youth? that word) has once more become a factor in the
younger generation's thoughts. The old argument of
TN TIME, this week, appears "The Younger independent business, but most want a good job religion v. science is subsiding; a system which does
IGeneratiop". .. a major report on the nation's with a big firm, and with it, a kind of suburban idyll, not make room for both makes little sense to today's
silent, cryptic youth. The following are excerpts: , *. younger generation. it is o longer shockingly un.
fashionable to discuss God.
Youth today is waiting for the hand of fate to fail on The younger generation can still raise hell. The *
its shoulders, meanwhile working fairly hard and significant thing is not that it does, but how it goes esshr ndesak ef-eanisfrp.
Ssaying almost nothing. The most startling fact about about doing it. Most of today's youngsters never He is short ida lacs serei, is for perk.
Ss il It does nseem to lose their heads; even when they let them- ny p ngu y
ise yniegeatvo s ence .. er. t selves go, an alarm clock seems to be ticking away fame. In spite of this, he makes a good, efficient
k yousgbregeeration'stthught&eThe ol argumen. o
ha N calEthei l ent Gpenr Teoneration.eatntetb ufthisins; iut mos oatasoodorbergn sold ieelyignsuprioirg sew.oe
and sends them back to school, to work, or to war. The best thnmg that can be said for American
But what does the silence mean? What, if any-yutn ru fuiorsth ths end
thing, does it hide? Or are youth's elders merely * * * youthe in osnry to nIm t haist o has inlerned
tahiato st i od.k h eto abdaddft
hard of hearing? * , , The younger generation seems to drink less. "There cult job, whether that job-is life, war, or both. The
is nothing glorious or inglorious an more generation which has been called the oldest young
But youth is taking its upsetting uncertainties with about getting stewed," says one college profes- generation in the world has achieved a certain
extraordinary calm. When the U. S. began to real- sor. Whether youth is more or less promiscuous than aturity.
ize how deeply it had committed itself in Kore a it used to be is a matter of disagreement Young people do not feel cheated. And they do
youngsters of draft age had a bad case of jitters; Fact is that It is less showy about se'c.. As a not blame anyone. Before this generation, "thsf;
but allreports agree that they have since settled whole, it is more sober and conservytive, but in in- were always toblame. It was a stendard prewar
down to studying or workieg for as long as they dividual cases, e.g., the recent dope scandals, it feeling that "ey"had let them down. But thii
can. The majority seem to think that war with makes Flaming Youth looklike amateurs. generation puts the blame on life as a whole, not
Russia is inevitable sooner or later, but they feel. $soer-renso nser epse.
that they wil survive it.nidntparentngotticanaelsadetr.
extraordinry calm. hen the U S. beganto rdaator s acthryossth e o. ssomisctatuouhng mtriy

* Educators across the U. S. complain that young
w s g th r tepeople seem to have no militant beliefs. They do Says a TIME correspondent in Boston: "You
Hardly anyone Anot speak out for anything. Professors who used cannot say of hem, 'Youth Will BeServed,' because
little enthusiasm for the military life, no enthusiasm to en
oo eenjoy baiting students by outrageously praisuig the phrase suggests a voraciousestriking out fron

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for war. Youngsters do not talk like heroes; they
admit freely that they will try to 'stay out of the
draft as long as, they can. But there is none of the
systematized and sentimentalized antiwar feeling of
the '20s. Pacifism has been almost nonexistent since
World War II; so are Oxford Oaths.
* * *
But youth's ambitions have shrunk. Few youngsters
today wart to mine diamonds in South Africa,
ranch in Paraguay, climb Mount Everest, find a
cure for cancer, sail around the world, or build an
industrial empire. Some would like to own a small,

child labor or damning Shelley now find that they
cannot get a rise out of the docile note-takers in
their classes.
The only two issues about which the younger
generation seemed to get worked up are race rela-
tions and world government; but neither of these
issues rouses anything approaching an absorbing,
faith.
Many students and teachers blame this lack of
conviction on fear-the fear of being tagged "sub-
versive." Today's generation, either through fear,
passivity or conviction, is ready to conform.

security, wealth and stability. The best you can say
for this younger generation is, Youth Will Serve'
* *
With reports on subjects"like this-and
on subjects growing even more directly put of the
headlines-A-TIMEeach week attracts 1,6,QOOO of
America's alert, most intelligent, most influential
families . A..the families who do the most planning,
recommending and buying in the home and out.
Every week, these people are America's largest
audience of best customers.
Every week they take TIME-to get it Straight.

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