The severity of the current recession has engendered all sorts of dubious Great Depression comparisons.

One of the more plausible ones floating around the media is the notion that our generation will gain some of the traits ascribed to those members of the “Silent Generation” that came of age during the late 1930s and early 1940s. We do share some characteristics with this demographic, but our greater ambition and individualism sets us apart from them, for better or for worse.

The Silent Generation may be described in the aggregate as bearing the scars of their Depression ordeal. They are stereotyped as congenial yet suspicious, overly thrifty and decidedly risk-averse. They lack the heroism of the generation that fought World War II, and neither do they commit the moral abdication of the 1960s hippie cohort either.

The hardworking “organization man,” who goes to work at the same employer year after year and wants, above all else, a secure life for himself and his family, manifests these characteristics.

According to The New York Times, the Silent Generation produced “more than a dozen White House chiefs of staff, but not a single president.”

Each chiefs of staff has behind-the-scenes influence — but who can name even one of them? The organization man achieved as much as any other man, but he left no memory of his accomplishments.

Given the current state of the job market and with tax increases looming on the horizon, many of us can understand the relatively modest aspirations of a young Boeing engineer interviewed by Time Magazine for the 1951 cover story that coined the phrase “Silent Generation.”

“I’d just like to net $600 [a month], and then my family would always be OK,” he said. “You start earning more than that, and it’s taxed away from you, so what the hell.”

When things are bad, expectations get scaled back. In a downturn, many people will focus on basic needs. Or, they might simply burn off the extra time watching celebrity gossip or staring at Twitter feeds, hitting “refresh” every 30 seconds.

Still, worst-case scenarios aside, our generation undoubtedly expects a lot more from a job than its predecessors — whether it be money, personal fulfillment, or being able to help others, to “always be OK” simply won’t do for many.

The Time article describes a group whose collective values are familiar but alien to us. We see the beginnings of trends that have reached fruition today: women becoming more interested in developing careers of their own, growing concern about work-life balance and job security, and increased desires to express creativity.

However, mid-century “youth’s certainty that government will take care of it” is dead — whether you support it or not, Social Security is most definitely not going to support you, at least not to the extent that it did in previous generations.

The information-age global economy has created new opportunities that this recession will not destroy. To give in to satisfaction with being average is to surrender to a self-fulfilling prophecy; look for security, but don’t accept mediocrity.

When looking at the bigger picture, ask not what the government can do for you, but what you can do for yourself.

Reach columnist Russ Wung at opinion@dailyuw.com.