I have to say, I disagree a bit some the theme of some of these comments. I was born in 1981, and wouldn't want to be born any earlier. I would much rather be born right now, or later.
Technology keeps improving, life spans and quality of life increasing, it can be hard to tell with all the whingeing, but the world in most cases just keeps getting better for the vast majority of people.
To all those waxing nostalgia about growing up in the 50s...do you like polio? do you like wive's who get beaten having little legal recourse? racism? difficulty in travelling the world compared to now? lack of internet, an incredibly useful tool? I could list things all day
I may be attacked as a foolish Gen Y for this, but from where I am sitting the world is a lot better now than 50 years ago. And to those who suggest younger generations aren't as hard working, or smart, or responsible, get a grip. Older generations have thought the younger generation was useless for a long time. This quote is from Socrates, so circa 400 BCE (Imagine trying to find this quote in 1960, without the internet!):
"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
