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Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

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Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#31
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So are the greatest generation bad and the boomers good? This is a silly way to look at things I think. Without a solid definition of time, its just the tautology of the good times and bad times being the only states and then blaming the people of those times.

That's literally the exact opposite of what that quote implies: 1. Hard times (e.g. the Depression and WWII) bred the strong people of the Greatest Generation. 2. These strong people brought the prosperity that let to the good times of the Baby Boomer generation. Leave it up to you to determine what kind of times Baby Boomers have brought.

The context is Gen X is weak. So Gen X is good too?

I understand the context of the quote and I'm pointing out it immediately breaks down.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#32
post #26
post #7

I'm Gen X and I'm sick of this bullshit. Generations aren't a monolith and this schmuck doesn't speak for me.

I don't even know what the fuck generation I am, when I was a kid they called me Gen X but then I got retconned to Gen Y and now who knows. When I started highschool mobile phones and the internet weren't a thing and when I started university they were ubiquitous, that should date me closely enough.

You're a Xennial, just like me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xennials

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#33
post #3

At first I was a little annoyed, but then I had to smile at just how emblematic of Generation X the article really is. Screwed over by their parents, depressed, substance-addicted, and hopeless, but not one single hint of any effort or plan to change things. Generation X is the generation of ennui at the ruination of the world. Millenials and Gen Z might just be pissed off enough to do something about it.

1. Complaining is fine 2. Having a plan is not always required 3. The system can always improve

Should the entire system change on a dime because of someone's writing? No.

Should the writing be rejected because they complained? No.

Survival bias is so strong, there are more billionaires than ever and the system is strongly favoring them because they lobby it to be so.

Complaining is the first step in problem resolution, to yourself or to your peers or on a blog post.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#34
post #3

At first I was a little annoyed, but then I had to smile at just how emblematic of Generation X the article really is. Screwed over by their parents, depressed, substance-addicted, and hopeless, but not one single hint of any effort or plan to change things. Generation X is the generation of ennui at the ruination of the world. Millenials and Gen Z might just be pissed off enough to do something about it.

We tried to change things I faced down 15 cops with loaded shotguns to protest Gulf War 1. I'm not depressed or substance addicted and I started doing web development in 1995 and continue to work as an a self taught engineer even though I'm pushing 50.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#35
post #7

I'm Gen X and I'm sick of this bullshit. Generations aren't a monolith and this schmuck doesn't speak for me.

> Generations aren't a monolith

I feel like that should be obvious. But generations do have some commonalities based on the societal changes at the time, and that is what this "generations" talk is all about.

As a Gen Xer, I feel like the defining characteristic of my generation was parental divorce. It was really the first generation whose mothers entered the workforce in droves, and due to a widespread societal change of the roles and possibilities of women, this caused a ton of marital strife and divorce (in no way putting a judgment on this, it's just what happened).

My parents did not divorce, but my mom did work full time since I was in kindergarten, and we were pretty much all on our own until late in the evening, at a time before cell phones where parents could easily contact us.

Thus, this "shmuck" may not speak for me, but I see where he's coming from.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#37
Whilst funny, speaking as a GenXer myself, we got a raw deal, but not nearly as bad as the subsequent generations. Many of whom seem a lot more switched on than we ever were. We just kind of treated what was happening as inevitable. Millennials know that this was a policy enacted by people with names and addresses.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#39
post #4

I'm reminded of an SNL gameshow sketch. Boomers vs Millenials with Generation X being the gameshow host. When the Boomers and Millenials were arguing, Gen X sat back going, "Meh. Not my problem." With Millenials having kids, being married, etc now, I don't think Boomers can continue being the boogeyman holding us down. It might be time to actually start fixing things.

The average politician in the house/senate/congress is a boomer. I agree that the solution is for millennials to get more politically active. But the cards are sort of stacked against us. We have less money over all than prior generations which means any representative we want is likely going to be outspent by older representatives (for not being whiny or whatever). On top of that, the political landscape has changed…

The article is making the point that we don[t actually have it superplushard as a generation.

I work in tech, I have debt, I live frugally, and I've seen how easily it would be to wipe out my entire family's savings with a medical emergency - my dad worked himself to the edge of death.

He's a boomer. We millenials grew up believing that things would always be the idealistic world it was of our childhoods, but that was a really really unique spot in history. We still are some of the most privileged people in history.

Re: Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boomers have the bulk of wealth and political power. We (millenials) still have a a couple decades I think before things are our fault

Millennials have the voting majority though. How long before they start to get the blame for the election results?

My friend, a plurality is not a majority.

And in a two party system, even a majority won't help. Biden got elected thanks to young voters, but look how little climate action the new administration has taken.

Sad that you're looking to assign blame rather than problem-solve for future generations.

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