First it was the weird kids in the 60's. The first generation (that I know of) who so rattled the status quo they vilified and shot us. So, the kids were no good.
Then, the ageism started (and has never stopped). First it was "don't trust anyone over 30" (remember those days? And the movie?) and then anyone deemed "old" as in their fifties or older just got no respect at all. We still don't. And the older we get, the more obvious it becomes. We're talked down to like we're babies again. Our decisions and our dignity are co-opted by people who are doing it "for our own good." When we walk into or through a store, we might as well be wearing a cloak of invisibility. And any handicap to that old age, and you're really in for a non-existence as the rest of the country sees it. Other countries honor their parents and grandparents, and their ancestors, for pete's sake. Not America! Do you even know who to put on your "ancestor list?"
Handicapped individuals are hidden from sight, either literally or metaphorically. Their handicaps too much to bear witness to for the average "normal" person. Have a hidden handicap, and be accused by anyone and everyone of "faking it." No honor there.
Go into the service at 17 or 18 years of age. Stay your four or six years, or make it a career. It won't make a hill's worth of beans difference to the average person. I got so sick of being told "Thank you for your service" with no action to go along with it, that I now refuse out in public to state I'm a veteran. It's all surface-level hypocritical talk for most people. We're treated as the "other" just like women, the aged, and the handicapped.
No, America doesn't do "honor" any longer... not since they installed nothing but crooks in our government. If I ever hear a repub talk about corruption again, I'm going to slap him upside his head (even if I have to stand on a step stool to reach it!).
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