Musings on the Generations

Reading Padraig Martin’s recent article reminded me of something I came to the realization of a few months ago. Before I continue, I would like to say that this is in no way meant as a rebuttal to his article, as I quite enjoy his writing. It is more or less an expansion upon the “Generation Question” and the concept of generational divides. Anyway, I have found that it is often better to define generations based upon the decade one was born, as opposed to the arbitrary 15-to-25-year span method we use today.

If we go all the way back to the Greatest Generation, differences between it, the Lost Generation before it, and the Silent Generation after it, are few. This period of time prior to and during World War II tended to not experience much cultural shift between the elderly and the youth, often easily passing down customs and culture from one generation to the next. What muddies the water even further is that the Greatest Generation is often defined as being born between 1901 and 1924, as an attempt to encompass all the men who fought in WWII. I will allow this definition, as most generations prior to WWII tended to be relatively the same. Additionally, from the handful of WWII veterans I have met and the history I know of the generation, it was, for the most part, pretty reactionary, but also comprised the brunt of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. It typically moved between the extremes. Still, the majority fought the communist takeover of America quite hard. It produced stalwart Southern statesmen such as George Wallace, John Bell Williams, Strom Thurmond, Allan Shivers, and Herman Talmadge, all of whom were veterans of the aforementioned war.

It gets a bit easier to determine the Silent Generation, and they are the last demographic which can be explained using the modern breakdown. Born between 1925 and 1945, their earliest memories are defined by famine, poverty, and war. They make up the brunt of the Korean War veterans still living today. Though some were the misguided college students protesting Jim Crow laws and supporting communism the Civil Rights Movement, they are by far the single most legitimately conservative generation I know. They did not need the internet to know the things we here at Identity Dixie know. Seriously, they are pretty cool, and I greatly enjoy spending time with members of the Silent Generation.

With that finally out of the way, I can now get down to the meat and potatoes on this topic. Starting in the 1950s, generations are better defined by decade. Children of the 1950s still hold onto some of the customs of their forefathers. This is largely due to being born prior to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. They still experienced some normalcy, so many of them are still solidly traditional. That said, the negative influences of the post-WWII years and the dawn of the Sexual Revolution, the Civil Rights Movement, an unimaginably good economy, and being spoiled by their parents took a huge toll, and it is easy to observe that among those of this demographic (particularly when you interact with them).

It is the children of the 1960s which, unfortunately, showcase the absolute worst of Boomer behavior. That statement may ruffle some feathers, and I have met many born in this decade which are great and admirable people. That said, most of the negative Boomer stereotypes brought up and chastised within dissident circles, and this website, characterize 1960s children the most. I will not waste time describing those characteristics, as that would require an article all its own. If you have made it this far into the depths of the internet, you probably already know them anyway. This specific subset of Boomers (born in the 1960s) are the ones holding arguably the most political and financial power in America right now, and they are, at least in my state, the ones responsible for the destruction of Southern imagery and culture. I will give credit where it is due, these Boomers did experience the single most intense propaganda and media campaign of all living American generations.

I find Padraig’s definition of Gen X the most befitting of that generation (specifically, those born in the 1970s). By and large, they are some of the most fascinating people I have ever met. If you would like a detailed description of this generation, I urge you to read the linked article at the beginning; it is quite good. It is amazing to think about how small of a demographic this generation is. I know very few people born in the 1970s. That said, the few I have met are usually pretty conservative, a characteristic they have in common with the Silent Generation. Like the Silent Generation, the Third Law of Physics, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” applies as well. Meaning that this generation produced a multitude of hardcore rightwingers while also creating a plethora of lefties.

1980s kids are an amalgamation of the 1960s and 1970s. Growing up in a similar culture to that of the previous decade, these people made up most of those who served during President Dubya’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the beginning of the War on Terror, often led by Gen Xers who served in the Gulf War. What makes this group so interesting is its beginning as having a Gen X worldview, only to end up chasing greenbacks and climbing the corporate ladder. It is bizarre and quite sad to see so many in this generation, who grew up quite conservative and “normal” within a Southern context, only to later forsake all of it by kowtowing to the current political agenda. Very few seem to be having a large number of children, more than two by today’s standards, with an astonishing amount turning out totally sterile (or purposefully getting vasectomies at a young age). The children of the 1980s are, more or less, the product of the pre-smartphone period of American iconoclasm and feminism.

From what I can tell, there is a stark dividing line between people born before and after 1990. It is shocking how intensely this decade stands in stark contrast to everything before it, almost as though there is something which happened between 1989 and 1990 that we have simply overlooked, a metaphysical Maginot Line of sorts. This also happens to be the decade I was born in. This generation grew up during the golden era of video games, experiencing the Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and the peak years of 2001 to 2011. It experienced, at a young age, 9/11 and the height of the disaster of the meat grinder that was the Dubya phase of the never-ending War on Terror. It saw the early years of cell phone culture and the advent of the smart phone. It witnessed the Great Recession as youths.

Most grievously, it primarily came of age, or were very young adults, during the Obama years, which induced them with the most intense pro-homosexual propaganda campaign than any previous generation. I once heard the father of a buddy of mine describe the first few years of Obama’s reign as marking the moment he realized our state was remarkably less Southern than previously. According to him, my state lost its culture and sense of self “almost overnight.” These factors carried with them macabre effects on 90s kids. This is the generation which leaned heavily into the homosexual and LGBT cultures we see in abundance today. It has all but totally cast off any semblance of Southern identity, culture, or outright normalcy. It embraced this impossible to ignore trend of emasculated boys, abhorrent women, and epidemic levels of adult children. Furthermore, this now fully adult generation has possibly the least financial opportunities of any other. The list goes on and on. Of all the decades I have discussed here, the 1990s generation have portrayed arguably the most devastating and brainwashed characteristics during adulthood than those previous.

I have not much to say about 2000s kids. What little commentary I do have is generally negative. The earlier ones have a good bit in common with the 1990s children, but the rest are more or less the product of being raised on iPhones. They come off as decadent, hedonistic brats with no culture or connection to their parents or grandparents and wholly lack even a semblance of a work ethic. The later ones are still a bit too young to see how they will pan out as adults.

It is important to remember that I am merely speaking from my own life experiences. Of course, I am not criticizing these generations as individuals, but as demographic wholes. There are many within each of these groups that I like, and think are great people. Each and every one of these groups I have briefly discussed could comprise their own respective articles. I do find it a devastating story when delving into these differences. Anyway, the contemporary labeling of generations is in need of reevaluation; although, there is a bit of grey area during the transition years at the decade extremes.