History 101 for Gen Xers: lessons for the future from a past that the present generation doesn't know.

• Author: Chinni, Dante

As generations go, my own Generation X is a dour lot. We don't get excited very easily. We fear we are the targets of evil Madison Avenue ad campaigns. And we are not terribly optimistic about the future. In fact, our sad state is such old news that the media are beyond chronicling our angst; now they're obsessed with finding its root. Some believe it's because we might never see a dime of Social Security money. Others say it's because our spokesman, Douglas Coupland, has given us a bad rap. But the real reason, the seed of our moroseness, can be explained through the Detroit Red Wings -- although the Chicago Cubs and the New York Jets are arguably just as useful. Stay with me. This isn't about sports.

The Red Wings, Detroit's hockey franchise, have not won a Stanley Cup in 42 years, the NHL's longest current dry spell. The Cubs' legendary World Series victory drought now stands at 89 years. For the Jets, it's been a painful 28 years since their last championship. In each case, it's not just that the team can't seem to win, it's that many of us can't even remember what it was like when the team was great. And that is Gen X's problem. Born in the late 1960s and early '70s, our experience has been a lengthy national losing streak. Ask anyone of my generation what our era's defining moments have been and you will get different answers -- Vietnam's conclusion, Nixon's resignation, the Iran hostage crisis, the Space Shuttle explosion -- but the answers will almost always be negative. Even the greatest victories we've witnessed, the fall of the Soviet Union and our victory in the Gulf War, are at best incomplete, with Saddam Hussein still in power and Russia on the verge of chaos.

Older people, who have lived through both the trials of the Depression and World War II, and the better times that followed, perceive the setbacks of the last 25 years as unfortunate moments on a long historical timeline. Our generation sees them as the timeline itself. And disillusioning times make for disillusioned people. But while sarcastic self-awareness (our trademark) has its place, it will only take us so far. We need to understand that our nation's experience over the past three decades is not our nation's entire experience; our society, our economy, and our government weren't always what they are today.

With this in mind, I went in search of a little per-spective. Have there been times that were better, when Americans felt less cynicism about their leaders and...