Generation X vs. Generation Y

Sarah and I used to argue about Gen X vs. Gen Y because I always said I was a Gen-Xer but she thought that I had missed out on that. Obviously there's no hard rule about this since people mature differently and because there are many factors that influence the "cultural persuasion" one fits into such as geographical and socioeconomics have a lot to do with things. I mean, take Northern Utah for example, when I visit a Walmart there I see a very different set of folks than I do at my Walmart down here...did I just reveal that I use Walmart to make sociological observations?

While I hope that I don't let society influence me too much, there's no denying that while we're young and in school, for better or for worse--generally the latter--society has a strong influence on us, and according to many, Gen-Xers can be characterized by the following attributes: the forgotten generation, more concerned about all the of the problems the baby boomers are going to leave in their wake and a strong sense of cynicism. Hmmm...I can definitely see some of those undertones in my life, but by in large I tend to be a very creative, optimistic person, although I do tend to be cynical about politics and the future state of society at times. For example, I drive my friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum a little crazy because I can't stand McCain/Palin (especially Palin) or Obama/what's his name (ha!).

Time Magazine recently published an article titled, " Generation X: The Ignored Generation." The whole article is great as it discusses Jeff Gordinier's "X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft But Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking." Here's an excerpt:

"EXILE IN NICHEVILLE

Sandwiched between 80 million baby boomers and 78 million millennials, Generation X — roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980 — has just 46 million members, making it a dark-horse demographic "condemned by numbers alone to nicheville," as Gordinier puts it in the book. "I don't really understand the tyranny of the boomer moment," Gordinier says. "Great, you had a party in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, I'm thrilled for you. Can we hear about the flappers in the 1920s instead? How about the Great Depression? There's other times in history that are interesting."

**"Gordinier is no more entranced with today's teens and twenty-somethings: "They just love stuff. They love celebrities. They love technology. They love brand names. . . . They're happy to do whatever advertising tells them to do. So what if they can't manage to read anything longer than an instant message?"

Well, if you're wondering where you fall in:

- The Silent generation, people born before 1946.

- The Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and
1959.

- Generation X , people argue about this, but it's generally considered people born (roughly) between 1960 and 1980.

- Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 1995.


Why do we call the last one generation Y? I did not know, but a caricaturist explains it eloquently below...Learned something new!

Generation Y represents some scary trends. Scroll down and read "Trends Among Members" here in the Wikipedia article.