I blame it on the vast majory of baby boomer parents who've done a piss-poor job of child rearing. Between revolving door marriages and coddling our kids rather than teaching them the life skills and discipline they so desperately need, we've created a generation of softies who don't stand for much of anything. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, as there are some stellar youth, but they are few and far between, and I think their numbers are dwindling.

I suspect the trend may be reversing itself. Being a parent of a toddler, I'm amazed at the number of people in my generation who are letting one parent quit work to actually raise the child properly (one-on-one parenting in the formative years is extremely important), and who are teaching their kids self-reliance. We still seem to be showering our kids with too much material stuff, but I'm noticing more quality time being spent between parent and child that seemed to be sorely missing in the generation of current high school/college kids. This is far from the rule, but I'm seeing evidence of it.

It's important, because there is a major problem in "Generation Y." Those of you who are in it probably don't see it, but trust me, it's there, and is is at the heart of what Sage is talking about.

That said, there's nothing wrong with being multi-cultural in a democracy made up of the wretched refuse from every other shore. What is important is what you do with it. It is okay to be tolerant of other's differences and to be assertive about your political beliefs while also being good at math and medicine. These aren't mutually-exclusive concepts.