- Boomers are having their last dance in charge.
- Gen X leaders are stepping up to replace the last of them.
- Younger leaders are taking charge of politics and corporate giants such as Boeing, HSBC, and Costco.
Kamala was born in 64. She’s a boomer. Also, GTFO with Generation Jones. She’s a boomer. X-ers are those who came after the pill became omnipresent after the mid 60s. I am one of those (born in 77). We are relatively few in numbers in comparison to the boomers. Because of the pill. Also GTFO with Generation Jones. She’s a boomer.
Trump and Biden also aren’t boomers. They predate the boomers. They were born during or shortly after WW2. That’s usually called the silent generation. Trump being part of the silent generation is of course ridiculous. But he’s the exception of the rule, I guess. But both are born very late in that generation, so they are its last remnants I guess. Soon they will all be gone.
Boomers is short for Baby Boomers which were literally the babies born after WW2 vets came home and had families. I don’t know why your misinformed comment has so many upvotes
What’s the fact you’re objecting to? The only thing wrong is Trump as a Silent as he’s born in the very first year of the Boomers. Everything else is following the common definitions.
Where does the common definition of ‘Boomer’ say it starts after 1946 (the year Trump was born) and stops with the birth control pill (1960)?
I have never seen such a definition anywhere. Certainly not one that says it starts at least two years after the end of WWII.
Huh? I’m saying Trump is Boomer because Boomers start in 1946. And it goes to 1964, which is when the birth control pill was recognized as a contraceptive. I don’t know if X is defined by that in the same way Boomers are defined by a specific event, but it lines up precisely.
I guess you didn’t read down very far since it talks about multiple definitions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers#Date_range_and_definitions
You literally just asked about where the common definition came from. Read the first fucking paragraph man.
I did not ask anything. I certainly didn’t ask that:
Pretty amusing that you’re accusing me of not reading though.
You might be right there. I’m German. And many a man did come back later, after the war, here. A lot of refugees were forcefully relocated from what is today Poland. Also a lot of POWs came back long after the war was over. So the baby boom was a bit delayed over here.
Then again, you’re a computer scientist, not an historian, and therefore excusable :p
It all depends on whether you start counting from 0 or 1!
We are relatively few in numbers in comparison to the boomers
That’s not true. The birth rate dropped slightly from the low 20s per 1000 in the 40s to the mid-60s, then dropped to the high teens in the Gen X era. Relatively few in numbers implies that there were twice as many boomers or something. The reality is that there were about 75 million baby boomers births, and about 65 million Gen X.
Trump is a boomer (1946, same year as Clinton and Bush), Biden is a “silent generation” guy, born before the end of WWII. He’s actually the first (and presumably last) Silent Generation president. The ones before him were all boomers or “greatest” generation.
While those facts might not be wrong in your neck of the woods, they are at least very, very US centric. That is of course ok, as we are talking about the US candidates here. But generally, keep in mind that the world is way bigger than the US. You make up a whole of 4% of the world’s population. And those numbers all vary from country to country.
I’m amused with all the people who think there’s some hard line where you have to be born before or after some exact year to be of a named generation as if this wasn’t all made up. A baby didn’t get labeled Gen-X if they were born after midnight on a certain day.
As far as I’m concerned, she’s Gen-X. She was 13 when Star Wars came out.
Maybe I am missing something but you do have to be born before or after some exact year to be of a named generation. That’s kind of the definition. Gen X is 1965 - 1980.
Dude, it’s all made up and there is no hard definition for the years of Gen X.
I mean if you really want to be pedantic about it, the people we call Boomers these days are the original Gen X.
The term Generation X has been used at various times to describe alienated youth. In the early 1950s, Hungarian photographer Robert Capa first used Generation X as the title for a photo-essay about young men and women growing up immediately following World War II. The term first appeared in print in a December 1952 issue of Holiday magazine announcing their upcoming publication of Capa’s photo-essay.
Or maybe it’s people born in the 1950s and 1960s?
The term acquired a modern application after the release of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, a 1991 novel written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland; however, the definition used there is “born in the late 1950s and 1960s”, which is about ten years earlier than definitions that came later.[16][17][13][18] In 1987, Coupland had written a piece in Vancouver Magazine titled “Generation X” which was “the seed of what went on to become the book”.
Or maybe it’s 1965-1980?
In the U.S., the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan think-tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has, albeit gradually, come to gain acceptance in academic circles.
Or maybe it’s “Gen X is whatever we decide it is.”
The Brookings Institution, another U.S. think-tank, sets the Gen X period as between 1965 and 1981.[31] The U.S. Federal Reserve Board uses 1965–1980 to define Gen X.[32] The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) defines the years for Gen X as between 1964 and 1979. The US Department of Defense (DoD), conversely, use dates 1965 to 1977.[33] In their 2002 book When Generations Collide, Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman use 1965 to 1980, while in 2012 authors Jain and Pant also used parameters of 1965 to 1980.[34] U.S. news outlets such as The New York Times[35][36] and The Washington Post[37] describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. Gallup,[38] Bloomberg,[39] Business Insider,[40] and Forbes[41][42] use 1965–1980. Time magazine states that Generation X is “roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980”.[43] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials “cover equal 20-year age spans”.[44]
In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979.[45] In the UK, the Resolution Foundation think-tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980.[46] PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980.[47]
But those are just think tanks. Surely other experts have a specific range, right?
On the basis of the time it takes for a generation to mature, U.S. authors William Strauss and Neil Howe define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981 in their 1991 book titled Generations, and differentiate the cohort into an early and late wave.[48] Jeff Gordinier, in his 2008 book X Saves the World, include those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980.[9] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials “cover equal 20-year age spans”.[44] In 2004, journalist J. Markert also acknowledged the 20-year increments but goes one step further and subdivides the generation into two 10-year cohorts with early and later members of the generation. The first begins in 1966 and ends in 1975 and the second begins in 1976 and ends in 1985; this thinking is applied to each generation (Silent, boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc.).[49]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X
This isn’t science, it’s categorization based on pretty arbitrary stuff.
Yeah, it’s all made up. That how names work. What exactly is your point? They are made up to label something.
I just showed you my point quite well. That there’s no agreed-upon definition of the term like you suggested. All I can think is that you read nothing I pasted.
No, I didn’t suggest that. I asked for clarification because you said it amused you that people thought being born before or after some year made you part of a generation. That is literally the fucking definition! There are certainly different definitions of those generations but regardless they are all based on a person being born before or after a certain year.
Your words:
That’s kind of the definition. Gen X is 1965 - 1980.
I showed you very clearly that it is one of many definitions of Gen X. Some of them apply to Harris.
My point was to show that they are defined by a span of years. I see now that this concept is hard for you to understand.
I agree. I think they do pop up every now and then, always for a cultural event. For example, I draw the line between Millennial and Gen Z at remembering 9/11.
Wiki says Gen X is 1965 - 1980. Kamala was born Oct 1964. Boomer.
Warm bodies outnumber the dead, news at 11.
I’ll take your comment at face value and see it as a comment on the theory that ‘there’s more people alive today than have ever lived’.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-living-outnumber-dead/
However that seems not to be true. The dead are more numerous. However they are unlikely to vote (unless the republicans find a way).
I do appreciate this clarification. Granted it wasn’t my intent, as I was more focused on modern history.
But hey, learn something new every day!
No I didn’t read that in your comment, but found it too interesting a tidbit not to share !
you’d think so, but boomers had it so good they hardly ever die. the amount of stress they left the newer generations while not giving a fuck themselves made them likely to outlast some millennials let alone xers.
Cool great so if we’re making generalisations, the generation who was nothing but snarky, cynical, and too lazy to stand for anything is taking over from the spoilt brat boomers.
At least it’s a slight improvement.
As a millennial (only just though) maybe we should just skip Gen X and millennials and hand everything over to Gen Z. Maybe a generation who are generally consuming less and care about the environment would do a much better job of making sure the world doesn’t burn.
Turn on, tune in, drop out.
Boomers? Biden wasn’t even a Boomer!
I’m finally in charge!
What are yer orders boss?
Let’s eat the rich. Starting with Murdoch, Bezos, and Musk. Then let’s send the entire GOP to a for-profit state prison.
Deal, they seem to like to self flagellate. I’ve got the perfect name for it. Hear me out, we’ll call it “Florida.”
I’m fully in support of Kamala, but she’s not Gen X. Close, but no cigar. She was born in 1964.
The dates for these generations are not set in stone. Lots of organizations use 1965 to 1980 but the US SSA uses 1965 as the start.
People born around the transition points are going to have more in common with each other than with people born earlier in the date range. Especially when you consider families having kids a few years apart but each is apparently a different “generation”.
I can’t tell if she looks young for her age, or if she looks super young compared to everyone else on stage wirh her
Probably a combination of three things. First hate ages you terribly, example Laura Loomer, Alex Jones. Second she is a child compared to Biden/Trump. And third and finally as clichè as it is black dont crack
Also, and this is a biggie, she didn’t have kids. Kids harvest your life force in order to grow.
She’s Generation Jones. So am I (b. 1963)
Damn, they even have her picture on the page 😆
Generation Jones is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older siblings in the earlier portion of the Baby Boomer population; thus, many note that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to older Boomers. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness and “jonesing” for the level of doting and affluence granted to older Boomers but denied to them
This reminds me of the Xennial generation that fell between X and Millennial. This also sort of shows how little we can really actually equate from these 20+ year generational spans. Really I am just happy she’s not old enough to collect SSI yet.
I turn 40 in September. I don’t like it!
Hard cutoff dates for generations has always been a stupid concept. Imagine believing that an Xer born in 1980 has more in common with an Xer from '65 than a millennial from '82.
Family context also plays a role. My wife and I are “officially” Xennials, born a year apart in the late 70s. I have a brother seven years older than me, and she was the first born. I skew way more Gen X than she does, to the point where she doesn’t see any point in describing herself as anything other than a Millennial.
Yeah, I was born in 84 but I identify pop culture wise much closer to my step brothers that are 1.5 and 3.5 years older as Xennails than I would my millennial counterparts.
I mean given the passage of time and human mortality this was almost guaranteed to happen at some point.
Gen X isnt much better tbh. They grew up during the golden age of the boomer era where society had not started to breakdown yet. Some of them may have progressive views, but I bet it won’t be until millenials are in charge that we start to see meaningful change. Gen Z will really get into progressivism I bet.
Can we stop making assumptions of an entire group based on some arbitrary rule? The people that will get to power is based on the population that votes for them and not when they were born, start voting in primaries, supporting candidates that match your values and going out to vote for them during election and you might just get what you want.
Millenials might just make it, but if Gen Z is actually like what it looks like, leadership positions everywhere are going to skip a generation.
People raised with the same ideas as their parents/friends/society aren’t going to magically change just because they come from a younger generation. When Millennials start coming into power, there are still going to be Millennials on both sides of the political divide. The Republican ones will likely be just as insane, if not worse than the Boomers or the Gen Xers. It’s not like Millennials are just magically going to all be progressive and everything changes. Any of them getting into politics are going to become part of the mainstream political culture and internalize their political beliefs as they learn from their elders. The Right is much more organized about maintaining their ideas and pushing their beliefs, that’s why they work so hard to suppress the other side.
Said every generation ever.
As a millennial, I think I can speak for all of us and say we’re OK with Gen Z taking over early, they might still have the emotional capacity to effect lasting change.
That’s really the answer to any of the “Generation ___ will save us”. It’s not generations, it’s age. If a generation takes over earlier it will be more far looking and less fearful. If it doesn’t, it will age into being the same mess all the others have been.
The Boomers dying off might change things merely because they were a huge generation and X is a small one, meaning the average age of a voter should be going down.
The difference is that Millennials seem to be disproportionately tired of responsibility while Boomers hoarded it. What sort of Millennial wants to go through the effort of maintaining a home owners’ association or of showing up at town halls to complain about new developments? Just give us some mtg cards and a runescape membership and you can have the White House.
Abrogation of responsibility is still messy selfishness, but it’s easier to work around for people who do want to be productive. Those in power are more than old enough that Millennials not replacing them in large enough numbers means reasonably middle-aged Zoomers get those positions instead.
I can guarantee you there are Millennials happily ruling over petty little fiefdoms. No generation is universally petty dictators or lazy gamers. The same sort of assholes are born again and again, just waiting for their chance.
Sure, I’m not denying that, but what matters in a democracy and even a corporation isn’t the purity of each generation, it’s the relative fraction of different groups. Going from 60% petty dictators to 20% is far more important than going from 20% to 0%, especially when it’s just one demographic among several.
Millennials aren’t better people, they’re just younger, with currently less opportunity to lord over others than people 30 years older have. But as they rise into the ones with the power, they’ll be the same humans we’ve always been.
I agree, and since most of us didn’t start our careers “on time” due to the absolute destruction of the economy in 2008, and also being most of the military strength during GWOT, Gen Z can take charge.
Just don’t short us too badly, maybe throw us a little bone here and there. We will happily take it since our Boomer parents were so massively shitty to us.
Millennials aren’t going to be the savior you think they are. Like, I want to be hopeful, but I see a lot of Millennials my age just acting scared. They’ve finally gotten some stability, they’ve finally gotten some comfort, and they’re incredibly loss averse. I see a bunch of people my age bought a house in the suburbs posting in the neighborhood Facebook group every time there’s a loud bang “did anyone hear that noise? What was it?” with people lamenting about how the neighborhood is going downhill.
Ten years ago, millennials were pissed the fuck off and were ready to burn shit to the ground. The ruling class gave them just enough to be scared of losing it.
The boomers grew up in the “Golden age”… Gen x is the boomers first round of kids… Born from hippy free love and mistakes… Then the boomers grew up, got divorced, and started their millennial “real” families… Gen x caught the shit end of the boomer stick for sure, and it fucked them up as a generation… That and the fact that they caught a lot of the boomers pig headedness, probably because they had far less access to information than millennials.
Luckily they’re a small and mostly insignificant generation that won’t ever be able to prop up the old oligarchy parties the way the boomers have been able to.
I’m Gen X and I can tell you from experience that that is mostly accurate.
We’re the generation that was born, came of age, and entered the workforce when Boomers were still far from retirement age and hording all the good jobs. We had to all go to university to study for the leftovers.
It was the generation after us, that second round of kids that you talk about, that came of age and started going to University right around the time that Boomers began to retire, leaving all these well paying jobs for them to pick up now that us X’ers had already settled on the crappy jobs.
The tech boom of the 90s would disagree with you. Millennials hadn’t finished puberty yet so they weren’t taking the jobs, and boomers were still astonished by the concept of electricity. And since the computer industry was new, it wasn’t like anyone was going to college for it yet.
Luckily they’re a small and mostly insignificant generation
Fuck you buddy. You’re right, but still, fuck you.
Thanks for this post. It’s been entertaining reading.
Considering the nature of linear time, I dont know what the alternative could be.
We could all die in some catastrophic event
God I hope so.
The great leveling🤙
Biden is actually the first and only president from “The Silent Generation”
(Side note: Trump, Dubya, and Bubba were all born in 1946)
You know how in school they say “one day one of you will be president.” Well for Bidens generation all of them were wrong except his teacher
It’s also possible that Gen X will be skipped over the way the Silent Generation was skipped.
Kamala is the youngest possible Boomer (born in 1964). If she wins and serves 2 terms she’ll be out in 2032. At that point Gen X will be between 52 and 67. People might want a candidate younger than that.
I damn well hope so. As an elderly old man, I’m exhausted seeing technically illiterate and wildly socially backwards old men in charge of most parts of our political apparatus.
Time for people who know the internet isn’t made of fucking tubes. Or that climate change is on top of us, in the process of burning/melting those things we need in order to live.
The funny thing is that the “tubes” metaphor isn’t actually all that bad. Whoever suggested that metaphor to Ted Stephens knew what they were talking about. But, he didn’t actually understand what they were saying, so he looked like an idiot when he tried to use the metaphor to explain why an email was delayed.
Within two months and one week of each other.
Huh, that’s interesting.
I would vote for a vampire, mummy, or other deathless creature.
Took way too long. Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.
heck no. millenials can have it.
And that’s how you can tell a real Gen Xer
Glad the boomers are on the way out. As a Gen X’er, not sure we care enough to take charge.
As an aging millennial, I am surprised by how the process of time works.
Like you spend your life acquiring skills and using your knowledge in an ever expanding cornucopia of experiences.
Then followed by a gradual decline to be left only with your memories of who you once were. But then you realize you were only a small part of the existence of others, and ultimately the universe. Yep, the thought of faculties diminishing over time is enough to put the one into an extensional crisis.
Yup. This is a wise time in your life to start your estate planning, medical directives, etc. Find yourself a good lawyer for this. I’m sure the cost varies by location and practice, but mine was only about $1,500 US.
It’s cool you’ll get like four years then we millennials will take over.
Please be kind. We’re exhausted and broken.
You guys are ok with us. Z seems cool too
Millennials seem cool. They called bullshit on a lot of stuff that X just shrugged at and tried to slack our way around. I don’t usually know what Z is saying but they seem to at least have moved in a less overtly toxic direction, and they put weak but real taboos on stuff like bullying that no prior generation did.
It’s all good. I’m gonna go let myself into the empty house and make a PB&J now.
Watching helplessly for 40 or 50 years while your parents’ generation destroys everything will do that
and it hurts now to get out of bed.
And to be in bed
Don’t know about you, but I’m out here slackin’ away.
I’m just trying to exist in peace. That already feels like an impossibility.
