Interesting, GeorgeParker. I had never heard of Generation Jones, to which I apparently belong. I just had to Google it. Thanks for the insight!Originally Posted by GeorgeParker
Interesting, GeorgeParker. I had never heard of Generation Jones, to which I apparently belong. I just had to Google it. Thanks for the insight!
So, do you agree with the characterization that Generation Jones always either envied or resented the true Boomers because us Boomers were always the big kids and the older siblings who got everything first and soaked up all the resources, attention, jobs, etc while the Jones' were constantly being told to "Wait until you're older", or "do what your big brother/sister tells you", or "wait until you have more experience", or "come back in a few years"?
No, not really since I don't have any older siblings.
I do feel like some of this generational stuff is similar to astrology in its validity and usefulness. When I was working, I attended talks and read a lot about the generations in the workplace. I worked in a department of mostly millennials, and my team was unique in that I had boomers, gen Xers, millennials and gen Zers. Sure, there were some similarities of older and younger employees, but people can't be categorized all that neatly. I remember reading something about Boomers being characterized by an interest in financial preparedness for retirement, and I thought that was pretty silly, because the same will be true of any generation as it approaches retirement age.
I was in a bust year. The class ahead of me was big and a lot of their parents spaced their children two years apart. The older class would be rough and wear out things like desks. The worst ones would be set aside and because my class was small we would get by, but then there would not be enough desks or textbooks or whatever for the class after us and they would get all new. I was a little resentful in school.
True enough. I've always found it interesting (and somewhat baffling) that so many of the idealistic teenagers of the late 60s and 20-somethings of the early 70s who were convinced we could change the world by pushing all the old politicians out of power or by turning on, tuning in, and dropping out of the rat race, turned into yuppies and entrepreneurs in the late 70s and early 80s. Pragmatism dawning on them, I suppose. And to some extent that's been true of every generation. So anything said about any generation has to be couched in terms of broad general tendencies, not specific traits.
Even so, each generation is shaped by either conforming to or rebelling against the beliefs and psychology of the people born 10-20 years earlier, because those people are by definition "the establishment" and the status quo. So the pendulum slowly swings back and forth.
One judges according to what one learns, experiences or sees around them. That truth is eternal. Some reach beyond that very basic framework and look to the past and some consider the options of the future. Some authors have been amazing in seeing future possibilities. Again this is how life has been and I expect will continue to be. People in the 1800's had struggles but created short-lived lives in most cases. People in the 1900's have increased positive lives according to: https://www.samuelthomasdavies.com/b...s/factfulness/
Life goes on with its ups and downs through generations, each with unique aspects.
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
That editorial takes the position that things aren't as bad as we think they are, but it reaches that conclusion by looking at only one side of the evidence. For example:
More and more countries are moving from "undeveloped" to "developing" or "developed" and the percentage of the world's population that is officially poor is shrinking, so we should all rejoice at this great progress.
<rant mode on>
But more developed or developing countries and fewer poor people living in survival mode means more consumption, which means more production to meet the increased demand for products, which means more pollution and more garbage to dispose of and more demand for energy to power the factories and to power the improved lifestyle in those newly developed countries, which means more global warming at a time when we desperately need to reduce global warming; not to mention the fact that worldwide population growth is continuing and will exacerbate this effect with the result that sometime within the next 20 years, climate change will cause civilization as we know it to collapse and 80% of the human race will be wiped out by pandemics, starvation, tribal wars, or some combination of those factors. A Mad Max world is on our doorsteps and the very "progress" we're celebrating will be the thing that causes it to happen.
The only way to avoid the approaching Mad Max world is for the Haves to voluntarily reduce their consumption and simplify their lifestyle and for strong nations to pour resources into clean energy and environmentally friendly technologies, and for the developed nations to convince the developing nations to follow an environmentally friendly path instead of making all the same industrial and lifestyle mistakes that the developed nations made. And what are the chances of any of that actually happening????
We're all doomed!!! So give up.
<rant mode off>
Not so pretty when you look at it from that viewpoint, is it. But IMHO the odds of us somehow muddling through as a species are at best 40% based on how few people are truly simplifying and working to improve the environment vs how many people are focused on making more money and having a "better" (meaning higher consumption) lifestyle regardless of what effect their lifestyle has on the Have-Nots or the environment.
OP...dunno.
Maybe simpler cause they can't afford hardly living. If Biden gets his wish and brings in 20 million illegals, then they can bring in 40 - 60 million more from chain migration. More people scrambling for a piece of the American dream.
Well, sometimes it does not swing back. Sometimes a country stops being recognizable to what it was. There is no guarantee a country lasts forever. We are on that journey now with the dems destruction of the 1A. No more freedom of speech or thought in the USA. Dems will work tirelessly to destroy any person, company, city or state that does not toe their party line.
But none of these discussions will save you or America. The only thing that can save a chunk of America as founded is if America is broken into two and let the dems destroy their half.
Just like generations change, someone brought up the case that politics goes back and forth from dem to rep control. OK, even if so, which is unlikely now that the dems have the formula for perpetual control, the dems destroy so much of America when they have control and it never comes back. And the shitty reps we have in DC can't do anything when they do have control.
The reps have to come to grips they are no match for the dems. They can't beat them. (politically) History tells us that. Look at what we got from Trump and 2 years of a rep controlled Senate and Congress. Compare that to 2021 with the dems hitting the ground running.
OK, if it was a shooting war, then it would be different. The dems have proven to be cowards and shrink from hard-core battle. But that does not do us any good. If we could secede, a group of states that is, then you would have a chance. Now, succession would still not be a perfect answer, with an enemy at your borders wishing to reconquer or destroy the states that do not want to be under their thumb. But it would be better than being disarmed and losing all of America as seems to be what is in store for us.
I mean, the dems do look at the reps as bad people, their enemy and would like us all destroyed. We have seen their comments for some time now attesting to that. In contrast, the reps would just like to be left alone to live their lives...under the Constitution. Dems can go their way and do their thing...in their states. But they just won't accept it. The dems will bring the fight to you and work to destroy you if you don't accept their doctrine. Once it became the norm in the USA to throw out the 1A, all was lost. ANYONE that is offended by your worldview has the right to destroy you, as long as it meshes with the dems dogma.
I agree. I read a really good book about consumption* in the 20th century, and why it blew up like it did. The conclusions were inconclusive but discouraging if you hope for the voluntary retreat on consumption levels. We are just brainwashed as a culture by the "Hidden Persuaders". I watch HGTV and every episode involves tearing out what I consider in most cases to be perfectly good kitchens and replaced with the au courant cabinet/counter/appliance package du jour. There is actually a syndrome called the HGTV effect, where everyday buyers parrot the wishlist of the buyers on these TV shows, or strive for copycat living rooms a la Joanna Gaines.
Obviously the problem goes far beyond HGTV into things like how love of consumerism has resulted in products that don't degrade, deforestation, monoculture farming, reduced biodiversity, etc. But it's all on the same track.
*An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America by Gary Cross
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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