I think we Gen Xers dropped the ball. Sure, we were supposed to be the slackers. We were the disaffected youth, disappointed that the ideals of the 1960s morphed into the social and economic selfishness of the 80s. We had our grunge music. We had our long hair (some of us still do), our goatees (ditto, still got it), flannels and Nirvana. Ethan Hawke in "Reality Bites". Got it?
So what happened. We were supposed to take the torch and move the world forward at some point. Instead, those decrepit Baby Boomers refused to cede the throne and now these pesky Gen Y rubes are using their superior technological aptitude and horrible work ethic to shape popular culture and politics.
We grew up during Reagan. We watched the Berlin Wall fall. We have seen America at its best. We know what this country can be and why you don't want to fuck with us.
We grew up with Star Wars. The ideals of freedom over tyranny. Good and evil. We understand this.
Bono, Madonna, Prince, Kurt Cobain. They belong to us. The future belongs to retarded clowns like Lady Gaga.
Let's face it. We've always had Lady Gagas. Remember Soft Cell? The Screaming Trees? Crystal Waters? We've always had remakes and sequels. The difference is, now these flimsy excuses for entertainment and art are elevated to the status of true masters. Cheesy Katy Perry music is fine. It's fine. I'm listening to it right now. Extolling her grand talents and calling her an artist? That's wrongheaded and culturally dangerous.
Generation Y doesn't like to work. Why would they? Never before has a nation produced a bigger group of self important individuals. We follow people on Twitter. We all write blogs. We all have our own piece of the internet, either on Facebook or Myspace. Everyone is important. Everyone is a celebrity.
What would you expect from a generation raised in a school system where everyone got a trophy just for participating. Gen Y doesn't believe in winners or losers. Everyone is a winner.
We know that that attitude leads to everyone being a loser.
This Generation has ushered in the reign of leftist democrats and "The One". We in Gen X are supposed to be too cynical to buy into that. Consider this Soundgarden fan unimpressed. Gen Y is squishy. They were raised that way. You can't blame them. Why would you want to fight and stand up for principals? Watching funny cat videos on youtube is way more fun.
We lost the fight about three years ago. The Gen Y folks with their Baby Boomer enablers (who now want to bring back their 60s ideals in a vein attempt to recapture their youth) ran rimshot over American ideals and managed to vilify a principled, well intentioned leader and lead us to a cultural wasteland. Gen Y isn't about results. It's about feelings. It's about theories and ideas. The Greatest Generation was results oriented. They won the biggest, most important war EVER. The fact that we were attacked on our own soil on 9/11 and haven't had a single incident since should have at least garnered a bit of gratitude and good will. It didn't. Instead we got a light weight actor who can't give a speech without a teleprompter. But hey, he looks good on camera. What else would you expect the facebook generation to give us?
But at the core, the cynicism of Gen X came from our disappointment with our parent's generation. They should have done more we thought. Our grand parents were so fucking impressive. The stories of war, the Great Depression, life without technology and convenience were inspiring and mind boggling. Through it all, they were great people. Happy to be alive. Happy to be Americans. Our parents looked like spoiled brats in comparison. With all of their privileges all they managed to do was get a bunch of really good ideas half way there. Then, they got selfish and abandoned it all, leaving the country worse for the wear. What was the point for us to do much if anything? We couldn't really change much. Being selfish didn't lead them anywhere. So, screw it. Let's play some Madden 97 and drink some beer.
Now, things are different. The world needs our cynicism. These happy lemmings are going to lead all of us over a cliff. We need to buck political correctness. We need to be that group that asks the questions, points out the hypocrisy and offers the solutions.
Culturally, we need to inspire, finance, and support true artistic movements. These clowns may know how to use the internet, but screw you, we invented it! I used to have AOL dial up to IM girls I never met who lived in Hawaii. Sure, it took two minutes to get an answer, but my ass was typing LOL while your ass was learning your ABCs.
For a generation that thought they could do nothing to change the world, the time has come to lead it.
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4 comments:
Ok so first off.....How dare you speak Gen X and not talk about the movie Singles....only a great soundtrack ...and u mention reality bites instead. I am deeply offended!
I am a Gen X who is now raising a Y...go figure. Yes she is the "trophy child" so to say.
You also have to look at the facts that We Gen X' ers put high demands on ourselves. It was easier for us to succeed as young adults, because the competition was not as high at it is now. Gen Y era places high demands on children!!! You and I got to be kids! These kids are treated as adults. Yes they get a trophy for everything but they also are adults to early!!!I There is so much obsessiveness to be perfect in ALLL aspects of life not just one. They are taught u cant just be a great musician, now you have to be a great student and athlete while playing an instrument and doing service work. These kids are taught to be included in family LIFE decisions. Way more is expected on them then it ever was on us. There is alot of pressure on them at to young of an age to be successful. lets see who they are in 15 years????
Bravo. It's true -- the lemmings are headed for the cliff, and I hope your call for a retreat from destruction is heard.
I do also hope, however, that your action is not all based on cynicism. I think optimism is a large part of what made this country great -- we believed we could do amazing stuff, and we did. So be cynical about the bad stuff, but still have hope in the good stuff.
And keep writing.
Leigh Scott, the brother I never had...brilliant writing!
Well said...I enjoyed reading that.
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