Each generation since WWII has gotten softer, as parents tried to make their children’s lives better than the one’s they had growing up. While that sentiment is loving and certainly understandable, they didn’t do their children any favors. Immediate gratification became the standard by which lives were lived and more immediate with each successive generation. Next day air. Easy payment plans.

G. Michael Hopf’s quote tells the story:

Hard times create strong men.
Strong men create good times.
Good time create weak men.
Weak men create hard times.