The Beginning of the Next Generation Politics

[Malice]

I am not a political expert, but I have noticed something that I find interesting.

I am using wikipedia on this, so of course this is a little subject to interpretation
Generation "Baby Boomers" - 1942 to 1953
Generation "Jones" - 1954 to 1965
Generation "X" - 1966 to 1978
Generation "Y" - 1979 to 2000

Politics for the last 15 years has been a Generation Baby Boomers generation. One built from World War II, Korea, Cold War and Vietnam.

I find it interesting, that Burack Obama who was born in 1961, is in the Generation Jones (some places dont even have a Generation Jones and just count this as a late Baby Boomer)

We are starting to see a change in politics as the Generation X crowd, who I am a part of, will soon be seeing the majority of the power. Over 10 years, we will be seeing the transformation of some of the power players to those born in the 60's and 70's. Late Boomers and those born in my Generation X years.

Its interesting, because those two generations have seen some distinct differences which affect their beliefs to the core.

For instance:
Generation Baby Boomers - 1942 to 1953
- They remember the Civil Rights riots and lawsuits
- Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Were present when Duck and Run drills in school were used for Nuclear Missile attacks from our arch nemesis the Soviet Union.
- Remember the landing on the moon.
- Remember Korean War
- Listened to Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole (and a VERY young Elvis)

Generation Jones - 1954 to 1965
- Remember Vietnam War
- Remember Cold War
- Remember Woodstock
- Remember the Vietnam protests
- Listened to Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson, The Four Seasons (an early Rolling Stones)

Generation "X" - 1966 to 1978
- DONT remember any war but things like Greneda, Panama, and then Iraq.
- Grew up (for the most part) in a non-segregated society
- Remember the Soviet Union, but they were not the hated enemy like those of the Baby Boomers
- Grew up with MTV
- Remember the invention of the Computer and Internet as the reached adulthood
- Space Travel with the Space Shuttle was "the norm"
- Listened to 70's and 80's groups, significantly different than the Baby Boomers (Led Zepellan, Journey, Pink Floyd, etc...)

Look at the fundamental differences in the things they simply have experienced in their lifetime. I see a fundamental change happening in politics as the Baby Boomers start to leave politics, and the Xers really start getting heavy in it.

Thoughts?

[Arkady Rossovich]

Your year system is wrong. The Baby Boomers are most commonly accepted as 1946-1964,but some think it's 1946-1957. Because that year was the true end of the Boom of births in America,yet they bring the year to 1964. Generation X is 1965-1979,Generation Y is 1980-1995.Generation Z is 1996-2010.

With that in mind,as the Baby Boomers lose their grip on the country..i can imagine plenty of things that they did not want will be passed into law. Like Universal Health Care,Abortion among other things. Why? Because they see that it could help now,yet the Boomers don't allow it to be done.

Lastly,there is a sub-group in Generation Y. The "Boomerang" Generation 1980-1986,i've heard this group as the younger part of Genration X in some cases.

- Poor view of the economy. Because the economy started to decline in 2004 when many Boomerang young men and women started to go into the work place.

- Last Generation to even have a feel of the Cold War. Most of the Boomerangs still did "duck and cover" drills in school when they were young.

- Last Generation to grow up without computers as a main part of their lives. They mostly started with computers in Middle or High school.

- They think it's acceptable to be 22 and over and still live with their parents.

[Malice]

Your year system is wrong. The Baby Boomers are most commonly accepted as 1946-1964,but some think it's 1946-1957. Because that year was the true end of the Boom of births in America,yet they bring the year to 1964. Generation X is 1965-1979,Generation Y is 1980-1995.Generation Z is 1996-2010.

With that in mind,as the Baby Boomers lose their grip on the country..i can imagine plenty of things that they did not want will be passed into law. Like Universal Health Care,Abortion among other things. Why? Because they see that it could help now,yet the Boomers don't allow it to be done.

Lastly,there is a sub-group in Generation Y. The "Boomerang" Generation 1980-1986,i've heard this group as the younger part of Genration X in some cases.

- Poor view of the economy. Because the economy started to decline in 2004 when many Boomerang young men and women started to go into the work place.

- Last Generation to even have a feel of the Cold War. Most of the Boomerangs still did "duck and cover" drills in school when they were young.

- Last Generation to grow up without computers as a main part of their lives. They mostly started with computers in Middle or High school.

- They think it's acceptable to be 22 and over and still live with their parents.

Like I said, the dates are off a little...they are not set in stone, it all "depends on the writers point of view" So...ignore the hard dates in the thread...as they are not to important...its the other details that do.

[Matt]

I see Gen X and Gen Y being a very selfish generation. The Babyboomers are to an extent as well. Gen X and Y have never really wanted for anything. There has never been a major adversity in their generation. I believe this is going to cause them to run things very callously and there is a good chance that "Generation Z" is going to be the next "great generation" as they will have to clean up our messes. Plus, they are learning first hand, what adversity is. Many are growing up poor, without knowing parents. They will see the effect that addiction has on X and Y first hand. They will see the consequence of wreckless government spending (and they will pay for it). I think adversity is necessary to make one strong. I don't know, my thoughts are sort of jumbled on it at the moment. I shall post more later.

[Malice]

I find it funny, I was born in 1974.
I grew up with a completely (that I knew of, of course) unsegregated society
I new of the Soviet Union, but by the 80's they were not too bad (granted I was young, so my vision on things was MUCH different)
I didnt see a computer till about 1981...
and I NEVER had a Duck and Run drill from Nuclear weapons

[Arkady Rossovich]

I think Generation X will have no choice to accept what the Baby Boomers has done,and Generation Y will spend a good long time fixing the mess the Boomers have done. By the way,Generation Z..a good example is this. Malice is born in 1974 right? Let's say he has a child,that child will be part of Generation Z,because he is Generation X. Z is the current generation of children in America.

[bell110]

Your year system is wrong. The Baby Boomers are most commonly accepted as 1946-1964,but some think it's 1946-1957. Because that year was the true end of the Boom of births in America,yet they bring the year to 1964. Generation X is 1965-1979,Generation Y is 1980-1995.Generation Z is 1996-2010.

With that in mind,as the Baby Boomers lose their grip on the country..i can imagine plenty of things that they did not want will be passed into law. Like Universal Health Care,Abortion among other things. Why? Because they see that it could help now,yet the Boomers don't allow it to be done.

Lastly,there is a sub-group in Generation Y. The "Boomerang" Generation 1980-1986,i've heard this group as the younger part of Genration X in some cases.

- Poor view of the economy. Because the economy started to decline in 2004 when many Boomerang young men and women started to go into the work place.

- Last Generation to even have a feel of the Cold War. Most of the Boomerangs still did "duck and cover" drills in school when they were young.

- Last Generation to grow up without computers as a main part of their lives. They mostly started with computers in Middle or High school.

- They think it's acceptable to be 22 and over and still live with their parents.

I agree with everything here. I was born late '79, so I heading off the Generation Y/Boomerang generation.

I see Gen X and Gen Y being a very selfish generation. The Babyboomers are to an extent as well. Gen X and Y have never really wanted for anything. There has never been a major adversity in their generation. I believe this is going to cause them to run things very callously and there is a good chance that "Generation Z" is going to be the next "great generation" as they will have to clean up our messes. Plus, they are learning first hand, what adversity is. Many are growing up poor, without knowing parents. They will see the effect that addiction has on X and Y first hand. They will see the consequence of wreckless government spending (and they will pay for it). I think adversity is necessary to make one strong. I don't know, my thoughts are sort of jumbled on it at the moment. I shall post more later.

Babyboomers are the reason Gen X/Y are so selfish. Boomers seem to coddle their children too much, giving them anything they ask for. They also started the creation of the nanny state, where the government has to protect us from our selves. I think Gen Xers are more selfcentered and politically cynical. Gen Yers are probably more materialistic and tech-savy/reliant. We've only been in the political spectrum for 10 years now, but I think we will be more politically influential because A) the government is going down hill, and Gen Yers don't want that to interfere with their material consumption, and B) Because we're growing up in the begining of the information age, getting news and other information when and where we want. We don't have to wait for the sunday paper or 6 o'clock news to know what's happening in the world. It will be interesting to see what we do with what we have.

It will also be interesting to see what we'll do to the next generation. I know two types of people in my age range, single people who had a kid by accident and single people with no intention on getting married, let alone having kids, in the immediate future. It's going to be like an anti-babyboom. A baby-implosion perhaps?

[Malice]

Well if McCain gets the Nom...he is not even a Baby-Boomer!