Generation X or Slacker
Earlier this week, I had another couple of days that had a lot of time occupied with meetings. This one in particular was with this fellow from API hired to assist us jump-start our strategic planning process that we are starting to put together for 2009 and apparently for 2009-2011. What is relative to this blog though, is a discussion that was had in regards to generations. The conversation itself was in regards to how that there some general characteristics from respective age groups that tend to influence how they view the news and community around them.
There was a book written not to long ago that talked about a cycle that is seen in generations. The book is titled,at least in the main, Generations and is authored by Hugh Mackay. So the presenter made it sound like there were just two cycles in the generations, as it was traced back to the 1400′s. However, the book actually has a four step cycle to the generations, and with only one exception based on his classifications, it always follows the same four step cycle. The one exception being the generation that fought the American Civil War.
Skipping along though, the important thing to note is the last few generations, specifically including the one I am member of. First, you have the GI generation, or the greatest generation. This is those born prior to about 1923 or so and were of course the men and women of WWII. They are considered an active generation, more specifically, very civilly minded active generation.
They were followed by the generation born basically between roughly 1923 and 1943 or so, which is typically called the silent generation. Obviously because of their “silence” we typically hear very little about them. They are considered a passive generation and perhaps associated with a be adaptive to whatever comes though having artistic outlets.
Next of course would be the baby boomers, depending on who is counting, born between 1943-1944 up to either 1961, 1964, or even 1968. They are a very active generation and in the cycle of four are characterized very correctly as idealistic.
The next one, the so-called generation X is the one that I suppose I am strapped with as a label no matter how it is sliced. I think it most properly counted for 1961 to 1981, but some have placed it from 1968 to 1982. We are of course the lost generation that is so self-absorbed and into little else. We are generally considered a huge disappointment to the generations before us and I guess to a certain extent the generation after us is starting to feel the same way now. We are characterized in some ways as having been the first generation with huge access to birth control, child demon movies, an explosion in divorce, ready access to abortion, and zero increase in the population. All of those things pretty much hit me on just about everyone one them right square dead center. It was worse though, apparently we are also more apt to wear dark colors in either blacks, grays, browns. And of course, not only myself, but my boss also, who is the only other true Gen-X’er in the room, were both in gray shirts, surrounding by bright colors in the rest of the room.
As Gen-X is my generation – a few more thoughts before moving on… In the book referenced above, we are generation thirteen. This is based on our generation being the 13th generation counting from the founding fathers like Ben Franklin. However, at the same time another popular book labeled us generation X and that stuck. What is the moniker suppose to mean? I am not sure. Probably we are just so self-absorbed that there is nothing else to identify us. I bet that it was a baby boomer that gave us that label. Of course other labels we have been saddled with include the baby bust generation, and my personal favorite – the slackers.
Heck, we have even been proud of that one. I can personally recall several us at my first real job after college talking about how everyone thought we were slackers and only did the minimum of what we had to do. Of course on the other hand, those of us that joked about ourselves being slackers when we did take those almost two-hour long lunches also put in a much higher average number of hours in the typical week then the baby boomers whom were our team leads, with a few notable exceptions. Anyway, I still occasionally, when I take a late lunch and someone says something about it, note that I am just a slacker, what do you expect.
Really quickly, there are two other generations, though only one of worthy note. The next one after X which is pretty much anyone born in 1981 or after as far as I am concerned – I will even go so far to say that a LOT folks born in the late 1970′s, like the waning days of the Carter administration probably match this group more closely than those of a few years older. Anyway, from 1981 or so up to about 2000. Basically the first of this group has just started finishing up college and getting into world. For a while there, they tried to stick the name Generation Y on them, but they really do not want to be associated with us slackers from the generation before. Another label that was tried was the net generation and the next generation, but quietly it started to become the millennial generation. They have to have a great name like that though, after all, the cycle puts them back to be an extremely active generation, civic-minded again. Reportedly much more in volunteering and community and such as that. I can also attest to the fact that they usually go on dates in groups instead of one on one, because friendship and that kind of thing is much more important to them.
The last generation, just being born now, probably is not really all that defined yet, however they have already been given a couple of labels one of which is the Neo-Disney, new silent generation, and homeland generation.
I want to go back a bit to my generation. Yeah, we admit that we are a bit of the slacker at times. But then again, look at what we are stuck between. You got the baby boomers on one side of us, that own pretty much everything and have all the greatest top-level positions and apparently do not want to step down or let go of anything for the most part. We have the millennials on the other side, that can’t wait to take over and bring their own sense of community and closeness into the vacuum that is going to be left by the baby boomers, because obviously the Gen-X slackers are never going to amount to anything.
Looking harder though, think about the following. What generation has brought us some of the greatest things there out there? Would there be a Google, Wikipedia, John Stewart, or even a Barack Obama without us? And just think about music that come along because of us too, though maybe we did fuel the 80′s music just a little to long – but hey, look where we started. Disco was what we were handed to begin. Also, we were really the first generation to start questioning things like how come she is a better parent by virtue of her sex. So, anyway, there is another book out there that is titled, in full: X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but can Still Keep Everything from Sucking by Jeff Gordinier. I have already added it to my reading list, and when I mentioned it to a fellow Gen-X’er, she has offered to loan me her copy of it. And after my boss told everyone what a disappointment us Gen-X folks are in the meeting, I think I am going to give him a copy of it for Christmas this year.
Note: This slacker spent an hour before work checking email and web servers before a shower, put in roughly eight hours at the office, unloaded his car after work (moving still), drank an additional 72 ounces of coffee while chatting online and listening to some millennial kids play some pretty decent music, and is now about to finish writing and hence post this blog at sometime after 1:00am in the morning.
