Generational Discussions

[Harmony]

The Greatest Generation – born 1901-1924.
The Silent Generation – born 1925-1945.
The Baby Boomer Generation – born 1946-1964.
Generation X – born 1965-1979.
Millennials – born 1980-1994.
Generation Z – born 1995-2012.
Gen Alpha – born 2013 – 2025.


Ok - which generation do we blame most and why?

Who had/has it hard?  Who had/has it easy?  And why?

If you could be a member of any generation which would you choose and why?

[gmillerdrake]

Will give a much better response very shortly…..but this has P/R written all Over it 

[WilliamMunny]

Born in '80, so I've always felt a bit torn between two generations–that said, I feel much more in line with Gen X, largely because I grew up with an older sister and was always riding her coattails (and plundering her music).

I don't blame anyone for anything, and, in general, I try not to focus too much on the idea that 'now is the worst it's ever been.'

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but there's literally nothing to be accomplished by stewing on the general state of things.

As for who has it the hardest? Everyone has it hard in their own way.

[TAC]

What are we blaming them for?

[Harmony]

Will give a much better response very shortly…..but this has P/R written all Over it 

Hey - I'm trying NOT to get it moved there. 

This thread could go in many different directions and I hope it does.

The inspiration is that I've been reading a whole lot of millennial posts about how much they despite the boomers.  There seems to be a trend of adult millennials cutting off their parents completely.  TBH I think every generation thinks the generation before them sucked ass.  And social media is just amplifying this ATM.

Except for Gen X'ers.  We are perfect if not mostly forgotten.   

[Jamesman42]

What are we blaming them for?

The existence of this forum.

[Cool Chris]

I've never heard the terms The Silent Generation or Gen Alpha before.

I'll stew on this for a bit. Watching my elder kid approach her teen years I am starting to think how my life would have been different if I reached adulthood in the 2020s. My life really went off the rails when I hit my early 20s, and I wonder how I would have handled that period of my life in today's culture.

[wolfking]

What are we blaming them for?

Kip Winger is a baby boomer, so I thought you'd blame that one.

[wolfking]

Whatever we are blaming the generations for, I'm sure each generation has their part in whatever we are talking about.  It would be impossible not to when we are talking about the amount of people captured in each of these time periods.

Perhaps some more specifics to narrow down the discussion and talking points.

[King Postwhore]

I hate you all.


Then love you too.


Dammit.

[jingle.boy]

As for who has it the hardest? Everyone has it hard in their own way.

Agreed.  With advances in knowledge and technology come both good and bad outcomes, intended and unintended consequences.

[lordxizor]

The only constant is that every generation thinks the one after it is lazy, spoiled, doesn't want to work, and ruins everything.

[Skeever]

The only constant is that every generation thinks the one after it is lazy, spoiled, doesn't want to work, and ruins everything.

It's funny because it's true. You can go back and read novels from like 1914 discussing the same dilemma. The young "progressive" kids and the scorn from the traditionalist adults.

[hefdaddy42]

The Baby Boomers are to blame for virtually everything wrong in the world right now.

[pg1067]

Ok - which generation do we blame most and why?

Who had/has it hard?  Who had/has it easy?  And why?

If you could be a member of any generation which would you choose and why?

I'm not entirely sure I understand any of these questions other than the last one.

I know from what I see in a couple of "nostalgia" groups on Facebook that some Boomers think Millennials are the greatest evil in the world (although don't understand the distinction between Millennials and Zoomers and often blame the former for whatever evil they really should be blaming on Zoomers).  Similarly, some Millennials and older Zoomers think Boomers and older GenX'ers are barely better than knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.

I don't believe any members of the Lost Generation are still alive, and there are relatively few of the Greatest Generation still around.

I'm perfectly happy being an older GenX'er, but I sometimes wish I had been born about 10-15 years earlier (primarily for music/concert-related reasons).

The only constant is that every generation thinks the one after it is lazy, spoiled, doesn't want to work, and ruins everything.

I think it's more of an every other generation thing - particularly with respect to Boomers and Millennials.  If social media is any indication, they hate the fuck out of each other.

[Jamesman42]

The only constant is that every generation thinks the one after it is lazy, spoiled, doesn't want to work, and ruins everything.

Exactly. I try really hard to not think this way because I see a lot of different groups of people, and each group has the same thing in common: some are lazy and some work hard. It's not dependent on when you were born.

[gmillerdrake]

I get that each generation rips on and 'blames' the other.....it's just part of it all


BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

[King Postwhore]

I think it's every generation.  Here's the thing though, went we all get into our 40's and 50's. we see how lazy a 20 year old it and you worry about the work ethic.  That changes when you have bills.

I never worried about leaving lights on as a kid.  Now, I court-martial anyone who leaves them on. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Didn't realize the current generation ends so soon (2025). Us Millennials are already a thing of the past... :'(

[Grappler]

I was born in 1980 and have always been considered part of Generation X.  Don't lump me in with the Millennials!

For me, I tend to blame the boomers for their absolute, rigid views on life and the "back in my day" talk.  Their constant nostalgia surrounding "who remembers....the metal slide at the playground" stuff on Facebook also annoys me to no end.   

[Dave_Manchester]

I'm writing only about my native country of England and what I consider to be its failings according to my own value system: I 'blame' my parents' generation - 'baby boomer' in Harmony's rundown - insofar as theirs was the biggest squandering of potential. Thatcher's infamous "there is no such thing as society" ethos did irreparable damage to the north of England, where I'm from. When a country finds itself in a relatively good situation (as in many ways Britain was in the early 80s), you have to use that as a platform to improve things even more for future generations, rather than just squirrel as much of the good fortune away for yourself, as many did (and the millionarie trust fund children of those who did it now fill the UK parliament: Boris Johnson, Rishie Sunak, Jacob Rees-Mogg etc). My dad - a simple working-class greengrocer - worked very hard but in terms of things like access to 'free' and high-quality (and debt-free!) education, access to a strong NHS, access to affordable housing, and so on, his generation had it far easier than mine. The result now in England is a very divided, very worn-out society whose health and education infrastructure is stretched to breaking point, and where the gap between rich and poor is enormous and increasingly unbridgeable. My parents' generation - fortunate through no effort of their own in so many ways - missed the opportunity to strike a balance between valuing self-sufficiency but also fostering a culture of looking out for one another regardless of wealth, background, accent, etc. With a slight change in values and priorities, so many of the problems England faces today would have been ameliorated. And that's what's sad about it. It didn't need to be a paradigm shift. Just a slight one.

I could write more but it'd involve getting into political ideology (i.e. the British brand of socialism that would have worked - similar to how Scandanavia's 'socialism' more or less works today - had Thatcherism not seen it as akin to Stalinism), but that'd be too close to P/R's war-torn border.

All that aside, I'd like to have been born 30 years earlier, if only to witness first hand as a teenager the rise of my favourite bands and watch movies like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and The Godfather in the cinema, instead of the reboot of the remake of the re-imagining of Superman vs Iron Man's League of Vengeful Justice Part 9 (couldn't resist a 'bah humbug' wisecrack to end with).   

[MirrorMask]

I consider myself a Millennial, since I'm born in late November '79. I feel more comfortable grouped with them.

What I like most about being born in the period I was born is that I was at the perfect crossroad of the two eras - the "Pen and paper" world, and the digital world.

I'm old enough to have attended school without computers, to have played in the streets as a kid without video games, and young enough to fully embrace the internet and what it meant; if I was born a little earlier, I probably wouldn't have been such at ease to witness the new changes, and if I was born later, I would have found myself already into a digital world. I KNOW what it was like before. I KNOW that internet, social media, smartphones are all something "more" and not something to obsess about. I sent postcards. I waited three months to hear from friends. I connected only one hour in the evening to the internet and downloading an mp3 file took forever. And I sent e-mails rather than posting on social media. People obsessing over social media are too young to remember how we lived without it.

I remember how the internet was terra incognita, a new land of opportunities. Parents warning us to "not to trust anyone on the internet". And you know how ended up those people warning us to never believe something you read on the internet? they're clogging and ruining social media believing EVERYTHING they read on the internet. From 20 years the boomers went from "so you're talking with someone on the internet? he's obviously a psycho killer" to "Look, Hillary Clinton is a lizard mutant that feasts on the blood of the children". Boomers totally didn't understand how social media function and they ruined them all.

Which generation had it harder? eh, can't top World War II, but think how much has happened in the third millennium and what it meant for people being young at the beginning of it. Right off the bat we get planes into skyscrapers and the following war(s). Then a huge economical crisis, prices skyrocketing everywhere, the earth warming up more and more every year, and the icing on the cake - a global pandemic with everything shutting down (the last time the Olympic Games were not held, Hitler was alive) and we were barely out of it when we got a war of conquest and aggression on european soil again. Can we catch a break?

[Ben_Jamin]

It's hard to actually say who had it harder, especially how life evolves and has progressed immensely since even before these generations were born. There's lots of history that occurred to consider, which is why I find it difficult to actually say who had it worse.

Now, I am an early-ish millennial, that does remember life before the internet, still using land-line phones, writing letters, playing outside and coming home before it gets dark (my friends mom would actually yell out for him sometimes). I really find it quite interesting how technology and it evolving to become a part of our lives has affected Human behaviors.

Something also to consider is how each of these generations has had some form of that technology evolving alongside them and how that evolution of technology affected their behaviors.

[El Barto]

I get that each generation rips on and 'blames' the other.....it's just part of it all


BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

Don't you think there's some inherent condescension towards the younger folks form the older generations? I think things like "the boomers are responsible for all that's wrong in the world" are silly. I'm on the side of the older folks. At the same time I fully get that I view them as young and ignorant. That's unquestionably an attitude of disrespect, and I'm the guy that tries to be fair and even-handed. Even if people like me don't go out of their way to demonstrate it, it's still there. It can't help but be.

As for the rest, and I by "the rest" I mean pretty much the entirety of what we're discussing, it's all part of a trend that's been happening all along. The boomers were just as disrespectful, entitled, and indecent to their folks as the kids are now. And frankly, we're better off for it. Particularly those of us here discussing it in a rock band forum. Jim Stark wasn't exactly a model youth, after all. And I suspect he blamed his parents' generation for all that was wrong with his.

[Progmetty]

The Greatest Generation – born 1901-1924.
The Silent Generation – born 1925-1945.
The Baby Boomer Generation – born 1946-1964.
Generation X – born 1965-1979.
Millennials – born 1980-1994.
Generation Z – born 1995-2012.
Gen Alpha – born 2013 – 2025.

You could add "Xennials" to that if you want, that's born 1977-1983.
I think it was 5 years ago or so that they came out with Xennials and I think it's fairly widely acknowledged now as the crossover generation between Gen X and Millennials.
Somewhere there was an article from back then where they explained why the term was created; they're the people that spent the first half of their lives (so far) with analog and the second half with digital, which doesn't apply to the prior or following generations. There's was a bunch of other reasons that I don't recall as well, but I identified with it right away.

[gmillerdrake]

I get that each generation rips on and 'blames' the other.....it's just part of it all


BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

Don't you think there's some inherent condescension towards the younger folks form the older generations? I think things like "the boomers are responsible for all that's wrong in the world" are silly. I'm on the side of the older folks. At the same time I fully get that I view them as young and ignorant. That's unquestionably an attitude of disrespect, and I'm the guy that tries to be fair and even-handed. Even if people like me don't go out of their way to demonstrate it, it's still there. It can't help but be.

As for the rest, and I by "the rest" I mean pretty much the entirety of what we're discussing, it's all part of a trend that's been happening all along. The boomers were just as disrespectful, entitled, and indecent to their folks as the kids are now. And frankly, we're better off for it. Particularly those of us here discussing it in a rock band forum. Jim Stark wasn't exactly a model youth, after all. And I suspect he blamed his parents' generation for all that was wrong with his.

Yeah....I suppose it's a generational chip on the shoulder so to speak. But the stunts/things I see these younger generations pulling are so disrespectful....just a lack of common decency....of which....even when I was taking my turn as a young disrespectful asshole...I still had.

[pg1067]

For me, I tend to blame the boomers for their absolute, rigid views on life and the "back in my day" talk.  Their constant nostalgia surrounding "who remembers....the metal slide at the playground" stuff on Facebook also annoys me to no end.

The ones that bug the crap out of me are some variation of:  "Name something from your youth that 'today's generation' wouldn't understand?"  Inevitably, half the comments will be "respect" or "hard work" or "manner" (or something like that).

[Jamesman42]

BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

I am not sure, but social media sure as hell doesn't help.

I am lucky to work in a school where no kid can have their cell phone out, ever. Not even when the final bell has rung, only when they leave the gates. We have a relatively tame group of kids because they can't go sneak off on their phones. Sure, they get on social media outside of school, but within the school, it keeps the normal disrespect and entitlement down to manageable levels. Talking with teachers at other schools, I have to say I am extremely lucky because their phone policy isn't as strict and wonder why they have problems with behavior and academic test scores.

[HOF]

The Greatest Generation – born 1901-1924.
The Silent Generation – born 1925-1945.
The Baby Boomer Generation – born 1946-1964.
Generation X – born 1965-1979.
Millennials – born 1980-1994.
Generation Z – born 1995-2012.
Gen Alpha – born 2013 – 2025.

You could add "Xennials" to that if you want, that's born 1977-1983.
I think it was 5 years ago or so that they came out with Xennials and I think it's fairly widely acknowledged now as the crossover generation between Gen X and Millennials.
Somewhere there was an article from back then where they explained why the term was created; they're the people that spent the first half of their lives (so far) with analog and the second half with digital, which doesn't apply to the prior or following generations. There's was a bunch of other reasons that I don't recall as well, but I identified with it right away.

Yeah, I'm an old millennial, and I never heard the term "millennial" until it was being applied to people 10+ years younger than me who I didn't really have anything in common with. I think there is a real difference between people born in the early 80s and people born in the early to mid 90s. The later group never lived without the internet, never had a land line, probably never owned a CD player, etc.

[Harmony]

I get that each generation rips on and 'blames' the other.....it's just part of it all


BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

Don't you think there's some inherent condescension towards the younger folks form the older generations? I think things like "the boomers are responsible for all that's wrong in the world" are silly. I'm on the side of the older folks. At the same time I fully get that I view them as young and ignorant. That's unquestionably an attitude of disrespect, and I'm the guy that tries to be fair and even-handed. Even if people like me don't go out of their way to demonstrate it, it's still there. It can't help but be.

As for the rest, and I by "the rest" I mean pretty much the entirety of what we're discussing, it's all part of a trend that's been happening all along. The boomers were just as disrespectful, entitled, and indecent to their folks as the kids are now. And frankly, we're better off for it. Particularly those of us here discussing it in a rock band forum. Jim Stark wasn't exactly a model youth, after all. And I suspect he blamed his parents' generation for all that was wrong with his.

Yeah....I suppose it's a generational chip on the shoulder so to speak. But the stunts/things I see these younger generations pulling are so disrespectful....just a lack of common decency....of which....even when I was taking my turn as a young disrespectful asshole...I still had.

Just jumping off of this - but just because you kept a modicum of respect and common decency do you assume that applies to your whole generation?  Because I don't.

Without veering too far into P&R territory here - as a woman who came of age in the 80s, the disrespect shown to me by both the older generation and my own peers was pretty constant.  I can't speak for people of color or disabled people or LGBTQIA but I'd imagine they'd have some stories to tell about how people of our generation (pardon my assumption that you are Gen X, please correct me if I'm wrong) treated others.

[gmillerdrake]

I get that each generation rips on and 'blames' the other.....it's just part of it all


BUT there's a level of disrespect, entitlement and just utter lack of decency that is celebrated and condoned in Generation Z and Alpha that was not there in all the previous generations. Who's fault is it? We can debate that for a bit. But, you can't suggest or defend that the other generations were just as disrespectful etc etc as those two groups cuz it simply ain't true.

Don't you think there's some inherent condescension towards the younger folks form the older generations? I think things like "the boomers are responsible for all that's wrong in the world" are silly. I'm on the side of the older folks. At the same time I fully get that I view them as young and ignorant. That's unquestionably an attitude of disrespect, and I'm the guy that tries to be fair and even-handed. Even if people like me don't go out of their way to demonstrate it, it's still there. It can't help but be.

As for the rest, and I by "the rest" I mean pretty much the entirety of what we're discussing, it's all part of a trend that's been happening all along. The boomers were just as disrespectful, entitled, and indecent to their folks as the kids are now. And frankly, we're better off for it. Particularly those of us here discussing it in a rock band forum. Jim Stark wasn't exactly a model youth, after all. And I suspect he blamed his parents' generation for all that was wrong with his.

Yeah....I suppose it's a generational chip on the shoulder so to speak. But the stunts/things I see these younger generations pulling are so disrespectful....just a lack of common decency....of which....even when I was taking my turn as a young disrespectful asshole...I still had.

Just jumping off of this - but just because you kept a modicum of respect and common decency do you assume that applies to your whole generation?  Because I don't.

Without veering too far into P&R territory here - as a woman who came of age in the 80s, the disrespect shown to me by both the older generation and my own peers was pretty constant.  I can't speak for people of color or disabled people or LGBTQIA but I'd imagine they'd have some stories to tell about how people of our generation (pardon my assumption that you are Gen X, please correct me if I'm wrong) treated others.

This is a good point. I was very lucky to grow up with a very close group of friends…..of which we all are still very close and see/talk to each other multiple times a week. Even though I’m certain we were little assholes at times in our teenage years…..we did use manners and more or less behave and show ‘respect’ in a general manner.

That was my experience though…..maybe I was just spoiled by being around generally ‘good’ people who kept me in line or we were just a hair more respectful than most.

[El Barto]

With regards to respect, I reckon that both respect and disrespect scaled accordingly with the times. You go back 60 years and yes ma'am and no thank you were basically inviolable. They might not have had to say "fuck you and your loser generation" to have just as offensive an affect. Kids back then might have been just as disrespectful compared to the norms at the time.

[Stadler]

Building off Dave's post and El Barto's last post, how about we not point fingers at everyone else, and look inward?   I'm blessed, that my kid is about all I could ask for - she went to school 1200 miles away, not knowing anyone, during COVID, was an officer in her sorority, had a boyfriend, and graduated with a triple major, with honors and distinction. I mean, pretty hard to say "she doesn't know what work means".   

If you don't like what came before, BE BETTER.  If you don't like what's coming after, it's kind of on you to model the behavior that you want to see.  If it's so much better than what's happening now, it'll take.  If it isn't, well, "mirror time".

I'm a fan of "potential", as Dave writes; we disagree on what that looks like, but I get the concept.  I'll have to think about what generation "squandered" theirs the most; at least in America, it'd be hard to point to any 20th Century generation and easily say that. 

For me, born in 1967 (my parents were The Silent Generation; never heard that before), I would have loved to have grown up in the late '60s, early '70s.  Seems most of the bands I love were in their heyday at that time.  Cars were cars (you could actually WORK on them yourself!) and I stood a chance of working for NASA when it really mattered.

[TAC]

OK...I think what bugs me the most about the OP is, well, other than calling generations names I've never heard, the first question asked is "Who do we blame-and why?"

Huh? Why are we blaming anyone for anything? This just perpetuates the spreading "victimhood".

We talked about this in a thread in P/R a few years ago. I referenced a book where a Civil War veteran wrote a book about a half dozen years after the war, and lamented the (I'm paraphrasing) the cushiness of the upcoming generation.

Every generation has potential. Some if it is reached and some of it is squandered. Every generation tries to improve their lives and in turn the lives of their children. In many cases, that involves making things easier for them. We cannot get upset with them when we succeed with it.

Every generation is susceptible to all of the failings of man. And all of the achievements. We're all guilty of something. We all achieve something.

I don't know. The OP comes off as divisive with respect to the different generations and basically asks for finger pointing. The truth is, each generation, IMHO, has exactly the same needs, desires, and faults.

[King Postwhore]

I think a Hugh percentage of people  hange their thoughy process when they become parents, have mortgages and have bills. Priorities change.

They see youth, unmotivated to see their futures and talk about the youth being softer thank the past.  I'm guilty of that for sure.

I see it right now with my godson living with us. I see it in a new employee quitting on me to get a job at Foot Locker for less pay to get a discount on sneakers when he has 50 different pairs already and a child on the way.

Fact is, each person is different snd some mature and work because they have to support their families and some don't.

It's the circle of life through every generation.