Every Generation’s Fear and Assumptions, Extended?

The dissidents of every generation probably assume that their leaders are the most corrupt, the most depraved, the most evil the world has ever seen. Particularly in the US, where such assumptions have been quite fashionable since the ‘60s, such fears are almost a mark of pride, validation for all the piss and vinegar of a generation coming into their intellectual and political own. That’s why I don’t pay much mind to the anger of politically-minded people my age: they’re ticked because it’s expected of them to be.

What worries me is when the people who should be comfortable and apathetic – the upper-middle class, my parents, their Washington politico friends – are just as angry and scared as the young people, perhaps more so, and with very convincing reasons. When a very smart family friend and high-up in the Democratic party talks about the unprecedented exclusion of non-Republican lobbyists by the Bush White House I worry a bit. When I hear these people say they thought they’d never see a more corrupt administration than Reagan’s but “well, here we are,” I worry a bit more. Are we really in an unprecedented era of American political corruption?"