Something in the Way

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Did you know that there were a fuck-load of babies born in the US between 1980 and 1996? 70-some-odd million, who will grow up as 41% of the US population.

Already, pundits are calling the WTC this generation's "Wake-up call", and suddenly the attempts to place some form of broad-stroke characteristics on this group are taking on a kind of seriousness, rather than being laughed off at the absurdity that it is.

Worst of all, it seems that the unimaginative, derivative, lazy moniker of "Generation Y" seems to have stuck.

More diaries by Electric Angst

Right now I'm can't help but flash back to Newsweek magazine, circa 1993. We had a subscription, and I would usually pour through the magazine the day it arrived. I remember the articles they did, and the issue they devoted, to "Generation X".

Even then, at 13, I could tell what a load of crap they were shoveling. It was less like they were attempting to describe something as they were attempting to shape it. To give some kind of generational stereotype that the kids could conveniently fall into. Even though it was total crap, I have to admit, in a way, it worked.

Now, it seems that the same thing is happening again. The far-left is already coming out and saying that Generation Y is strongly anti-globalization, ignoring the fact that they're some of the biggest comsumers of the goods the anti-globalists hate most. I'm sure that the mainstream will start hitting on things as well, especially now that there's a galvanizing national event that they can use as a point-of-contact.

I'm in that odd 1979-1980 group that was caught in between these two media-defined "generations", and being labeled twice is the quickest way to realize that the labeling isn't right. I've seen it before, and in a way, I feel immune to it. I also feel impotent to make any headway against it, though. I mean, the bullshit can be seen coming up from the horizon. Buisnesses, media conglomerates, political groups, they're looking at this like a remake of the 60's, and they all want to sit in the director's chair. When you've got so many voices, all so very loud, saying one thing, how does one single person possibly communicate another view?

So, that's pretty much the summery of today. Despair over a potential (despite my futilism, this is all still potential) diabolical overtaking of the youth of America by those who's interests are wholly selfish. As for my love life, something are more honest and genuine that I could have written about with much more clear and coherent information... Well, there isn't much to say about that now. Things are still in flux, and right now I'm too busy living it to write about it.

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	As a supposed Gen-X'er (4.00 / 1) (#1)
	by motherfuckin spork on Tue Sep 25th, 2001 at 09:52:17 AM PST

	I can say that yes, indeed, all this generation labelling is shit. It is old-school thinking. I find that society tends to evolve faster now than it had in years past. Yet these so-called "experts" seem intent on overbroadly branding groups of people based on the year of their birth. This worked decently well in the past, such as with the Baby Boomers, bu it seems to not be quite so useful now. It is only a dumb technique for the media to sell more shit. The huge amount of disparity I find from one end of Gen-X to the other makes them seem almost like polar opposites. And this whole Gen-Y thing is absolutely stupid. So, does this arbitrary labelling make my son Generation Z? At least that sounds cooler than Generation "Why?". Yes, I am in Generation X - and yet, I'm not some angst ridden, snot-nosed, lazy fuck that the media would have you beleive that we are. The mass labelling of society only proves to be an attempt to generate more conflict, more controversy, for the sake of having something to discuss and stereotype. I am who I am, you are who you are, and we all live on the same planet. And unless you are a very talented cat or dog or something, I'm going to go ahead and assume that we're all people, too. Enough with the arbitrary labelling. WTF is the point? p.s. - Thank-you, EA, for affording me this opportunity to suddenly explode into a tirade within the forum of your diary. I am not who you think I am.

	i love newsweek (none / 0) (#2)
	by alprazolam on Tue Sep 25th, 2001 at 01:08:26 PM PST

	when i read newsweek, time, us news and world report, and all that bullshit i get to pretend that it's all a satire, a joke on everybody (maybe it is) and that makes it quite amusing. the gen x shit was god damn retarted. the y moreso. social commentary from whats hardly better than a tabloid magazine is a great form of entertainment.

	a suggestion... (none / 0) (#3)
	by Anonymous Reader on Wed Sep 26th, 2001 at 10:45:52 PM PST

	use Iggy Pop (or Stooges) lyrics for all you subject headers. that would be way cool. Nirvana's okay, but it doesn't inspire me to read much further.