It’s hard to travel during this pandemic. So instead of fixating our minds on lockdown boredom, why don’t we take a nice imaginary trip to ~100 years back in time? Let’s time travel and meet The Greatest Generation!

Wait!! Before we begin the journey, are you already familiar with The Greatest Generation? The Greatest Generation is also known as the G.I. Generation and the World War II Generation. Generally, they are defined as people born from 1901-1927. As members of Generation Z were born from 1997-2012, we couldn’t be too different, right?

Well, let’s hop on the time machine together and find out!

Technology

The Greatest Generation: They witnessed a vast cultural transformation. Large-scale development and use of automobiles, telephones, and electrical appliances started to occur during the Roaring 20s.

Generation Z: Gen Z-ers are often described as digital natives. It’s said that this generation is the first to have grown up with portable digital technology and internet access from such a young age.

Music

The Greatest Generation: Swing jazz became very popular with members of The Greatest Generation next to jazz, blues, gospel music, and folk music. Due to the popularity of swing jazz, this generation has also been described as the Swing Generation.

Generation Z: The musical genre is dead. This generation has killed it. Gen Z artists aren’t interested in musical boundaries. Instead, they prefer to make music that’s fluid and hard to categorize. One of the biggest stars of this generation is Lil Nas X. His music features trap, rap, and country elements, even though his song “Old Town Road” was removed from the Billboard country charts for not being “country enough.”

Superheroes

The Greatest Generation: The Great Depression influenced the comic scene. Superheroes such as Batman and Superman have reserved a special place in The Greatest Generation’s hearts. 

Generation Z: Unsurprisingly, Batman and Superman are still popular! The rise of the cinematic adaptation of comic book characters (particularly from Marvel and DC) has introduced many other superheroes to pop culture. It also has spoiled Generation Z with technical wonders in cinema, never before seen in history.

Hardships

The Greatest Generation: World War II was the deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. In the USA alone, over 16 million people served in World War II, with the majority being The Greatest Generation members.

Generation Z: The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge we have faced since World War II. Since its emergence in 2019, the virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica. This pandemic has affected all sectors of society, with most Generation Z having to live their youth under strict lockdown.

What we have learned from The Greatest Generation

There are many similarities that Generation Z and The Greatest Generation share, such as growing up under vast technological development and our love for superhero characters. Though our struggles might be different, we can learn how to be resilient like them. 

In the 1940s, The Greatest Generation might have never imagined that WWII would come to an end, but they kept fighting for peace and won. Like our elders, we need to be solution-oriented and adapt to this new normal while doing our role to end the pandemic. Remember, small actions like wearing masks and enforcing physical distancing help to reduce the infection rate!

How’s your journey through time? We hope that you can learn to be resilient and solution-oriented like The Greatest Generation. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section and share this blog with your friends.