Mei Ting/ Generation OMG

1) How has or will the experience of living through an economic crisis shape each of the generations mentioned in the article?

In the 1930s, it has shaped its generation of artists to be lass constrained as there was no art market to speak of. Thinkers who would go on to be the public intellectuals of their day are shaped to seek a traditional path as they knew there were no academic jobs. Mr Howe said that the ‘30s were raised in a cocoon, to trust the system, keep their nose clean, study hard and be a technocrat.

The youth generation born into the great depression was doomed as the silent generation of being cautious and resigned, uninterested in striking out in new directions or shaping the great issues of the day. In addition, the variations of youth’s ambition have shrunk with a majority wanting a good job in a big firm. This has developed a certain sense of maturity in the oldest young generation in the world. Moreover, the worst disruption of depression coincided with the critical years of development resulted in the lack of direction or the sense of confidence. These depression babies have developed a generation of being a conformist, risk-adverse generation which time described, thus asking their potential employers about their pension plans.

However in today’s recession, youths are being affected by many factors such as the context, mood of the time and how children understand the spirit of the times. Youths in the last four years have shown young people being more civil-minded. Also, the older generation among the recession youth might feel bolder striking out in more creative directions, in which have cause people to give more room for creativity. As these youths are born and grown in the too-much–information age of Judy Blume, they were being shaped as “the Homelanders” as in security, in the system they trust and take for granted.

2) It was said that “There is no simple cause-and-effect relationship in how economic adversity pushed a generation into any one kind of behaviour...The impact depends on the context and the mood of the time and how children understand the spirit of the times.”

In your opinion, how would young Singaporeans be shaped by the current recession? How would you be shaped by it? Justify your answer.

Young Singaporeans are shaped through the responsibilities they have to take on during the current recession. For instance, through the current recession, young Singaporeans will be more familiar with the concept of saving money. By doing so, they may learn to spend lesser so as to ensure their families have enough to last them throughout the month as inflation have increased the cost of living. This would allow young Singaporeans to better handle money matters. Furthermore, the young Singaporeans have witness the consequences of bad management and bad investment. Through these, it tells young Singaporeans to be more careful in whatever they invest in.

The current recession have allowed me to have a better understanding on how the economy works. For example, I learned how the Lehman Brother’s company affected worldwide and how spending money in the current economy would improve Singapore’s economy. However, this has to be done moderately.