From: wwhitman@nevada.edu (MICHAEL WISE)
Subject: Re: Generations (was Re: Generation Gap (Gen X vs. boomer), 13th-gen)
Organization: University of Nevada System Computing Services
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 09:59:39 GMT

>
>>>Has anyone seen any information about a book by NEIL HOW - 13th-Generation:
>>>abort, delete, retry, fail?  I think it will be published in march 1993.
>

>I'm currently in the process of reading this book.  I find it
>fascinating and thought-provoking, but not completely convincing.  It
>seems to me that their historical evidence is strongly filtered
>through the preconceptions of their theory.
>

>On the other hand, I think their sociological analysis is on target.
>In particular, I think they provide a good portrait of the tendency
>toward moralism and ideology on the part of Boomers, as opposed to the
>tendency toward pragmatism and cynicism among Thirteeners.  (You can
>tell this book was written by Boomers -- they manage to be
>self-critical at the same time that they place themselves at the
>center of all things important since World War II... :-)
>
>Of course, the problem with generational studies is that there is a
>huge variation of individual world views and personalities within each
>generation, so any generalization is likely to be suspect.  Not all
>Boomers are moralistic; not all Thirteeners are pessimistic.
>
>Nevertheless, I think the new generation gap is real, though more as a
>subtle difference in perceptions and values than an open conflict.  As
>to whether it will blossom into the full-scale generational war that
>Strauss and Howe predict, only time will tell -- but it should be
>interesting to watch...

I find it interesting that my brother and I, with only three years dif-
ference between us, are of completely different mindsets. I'm 28, and
a classic baby-buster, cynical about everything, living at home, con-
cerned that there will never be a job for me (despite my gainful em-
ployment as an English instructor here and in other places for the last
six years). My brother, on the other hand, is interested in business, 
has faith that Reaganomics will continue to protect his investments 
despite the change of governments, saves his money, plans to get married,
etc. The only strange part is that he, acting like a baby boomer, is 
actually more a buster (in a generational sense) than I am, because he's
three years younger than I am. 

What strikes me also about this post is that it comes from a totally
unreliable point of view. A twentysomething (my favorite designation)
looking at boomers see them as breaking the faith. We saw them racing
after dollars during the eighties, so we have a right to question their
new emphasis on commitment and idealism. We saw them scuttle human rights
and the environment for personal gain. It wasn't the busters that brought
us the Reagan/Bush "greed is good" song and dance (I was sixteen in 1980).
It wasn't busters who brought us lower standards of living for all but
the very rich. If there is any generation that can see that the baby
boomers are emporers without clothes, it is the busters. And the reason
busters are cynical is because they do believe in the ideals of the 
sixties; holding boomers up to it, though, they find the boomers want-
ing.


___________________________________________________________________________
Michael Wise 	(wwhitman@nevada.edu)	UNLV English

"Now I want you to tell me just one thing more. Why do you hate the South?"
"I dont hate it," Quentin said quickly, at once, immediately; "I dont
hate it," he said. I dont hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, 
the iron New England dark: I dont. I dont. I dont hate it! I dont hate it!
				--William Faulkner, Absalom! Absalom!



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