The suggestion that 'every generation sees the next as soft, but there is really no difference' does have elements of truth, but it also ignores the effect environment has on the development of a generation. The Greatest Generation were clearly different due to the impact of the Great Depression and two world wars. The old saying that "hard times make strong people, strong people make good times, good times make weak people, and weak people make hard times" is true, but that only touches on part of the influences. We've had multiple generations of prosperity and that is clearly affecting generational development. Technology is clearly affecting generational development. The drift into secularism is clearly affecting generational development. The changes are slow, the causative factors are hard to identify, but the differences are clear.
I cannot see a circumstance where people from the Greatest Generation would ever be involved in a flash mob ransacking a department store, but I could see a case where they would take the law into their own hands if law enforcement wasn't willing or able to handle the problem. Current generation is clearly responsible for flash mobs and current generation would be less likely to defend against them. They are obviously different in ways that go beyond being "soft". When have stores ever been forced to close due to things like this? Only now. That teaches us something if we're willing to learn.
