Do we have a "clash of generations?"

Thomas Friedman in the New York Times today (see here) has an article that suggests that what a lot of the debt debates (the U. S. and Greece) have in common is a fundamental class of generations.  He quotes the scholar David Rothkopf:

“When the cold war ended, we thought we were going to have a clash of civilizations. It turns out we’re having a clash of generations.” 

I confess that Mr. Friedman is not one of my favorite writers, but he writes about something that I have been thinking about for some time now.  As I have read and listened to much of the "noise" in Washington lately, it has occurred to me that what is really in play is the belief that we can "have it all."  Moreover, many of the positions being cultivated by both parties just aren't supported by the data.  Specifically, (1) the data shows that the effective rate of federal income taxes for American taxpayers is lower than it has been in 30 years, yet the Republicans continue to act as if that data just doesn't exist and that they have some "mandate" to continue to perpetuate the view that taxes are the economy's main problem, and (2) the data clearly shows that entitlement programs are growing at a rate that is unsustainable, yet Democrats continue to act as if the data are irrelevant to their "principled" arguments about "fairness."  At times Republicans and Democrats remind me of two toddlers shouting "mine."

Mr. Friedman (ever the writer with a punch line about China) concludes his article as follows:

What happens is that both the American and European dreams hang in the balance. Either we both put our nations on more sustainable growth paths — which requires cutting, taxing and investing for the future — or we’re looking at a world in which democracies are going to turn on themselves and fight over shrinking pies, with China having a growing say over how big the slices will be.

We need two things right now:  (1) some old-fashioned statesmen (and women) who are willing to take on the false claims of their parties and U. S. citizens and (2) some informed citizens in both parties who are willing to confront the facts and behave responsibly.