Well said, Judy. We need to resist all the people and organizations who, for their benefit and not for ours, try to tell us who we are or who we are supposed to be.
And that's still another problem with these popular culture "generations." I said to a Gen Xer that I was a generation older than her. She replied, 'No, two. The Boomers are one generation older than me, and you're a generation behind the Boomers." I told her I was 26 when she was born. Made no impression. I suspect.
Good for you,Judy, pointing out the commercial aspects implicated in the naming of generations. This was very thought provoking. What has always boggled my mind is the self-centeredness of naming the generations; we (people of a certain age and privilege) pick a start event and count forward and back from there. So, the end of WWII is the start date. That makes some sense. But counting forward from there in increments of 18 years, with no relation to another relevant event makes no sense. Why 18? Why always the same? We might have called the generations Post War Prosperity (Brits would wonder about that name), Vietnam, Free Market Globalization, 21st Turmoil. I am sure others can come up with better names, relating to significant factors. The "generation" that has coped with the 2001 onwards war of terrorism, then 2008 recession, then rise of populism, then 2020 pandemic deserves our special sympathy and its own name.
Well said, Judy. We need to resist all the people and organizations who, for their benefit and not for ours, try to tell us who we are or who we are supposed to be.
I totally agree! It is true that we are historical beings, but these labels do not seem to have any bearing on that reality.
30 years used to be a generation...
And that's still another problem with these popular culture "generations." I said to a Gen Xer that I was a generation older than her. She replied, 'No, two. The Boomers are one generation older than me, and you're a generation behind the Boomers." I told her I was 26 when she was born. Made no impression. I suspect.
Good for you,Judy, pointing out the commercial aspects implicated in the naming of generations. This was very thought provoking. What has always boggled my mind is the self-centeredness of naming the generations; we (people of a certain age and privilege) pick a start event and count forward and back from there. So, the end of WWII is the start date. That makes some sense. But counting forward from there in increments of 18 years, with no relation to another relevant event makes no sense. Why 18? Why always the same? We might have called the generations Post War Prosperity (Brits would wonder about that name), Vietnam, Free Market Globalization, 21st Turmoil. I am sure others can come up with better names, relating to significant factors. The "generation" that has coped with the 2001 onwards war of terrorism, then 2008 recession, then rise of populism, then 2020 pandemic deserves our special sympathy and its own name.