*sigh*

I find it fascinating that Boomers (Hippies, Yuppies...whatever self indulgent prattle they call themselves today) have difficulty understanding those who they call Generation X. My understanding is that this so called "GenX" is the cohort born between 1963 and 1978, ergo me (1971). SO CALLED GENX being the operative part of the sentence. I remember very well in the early 90's all the mental masturbation in the press about what to call us and how to define those of us coming of age.

Point is, BOOMERS were the ones who gave us A) the name GenX and B) all the "self absorbed, undermotivated" attributes that went along. I don't find this suprising in the least. The "generation that changed the world" has an obsessive need to define and label everything in terms that relate directly to themselves. The terms "Boomers" "GenX" and "GenY" are all your creations, along with all the connotations each have. You never let us Identify ourselves. So thanks for that, really.

Now onto why "we" (if there is a we) think "Boomers" suck. Make no mistake we do. We hate you with the fire of a thousand suns. Understand there weren't any meetings or anything. In my travels it seems to be the one interesting commonality I have run across that most of those born after you share. (Yep, most "GenY" folks I know hate you as well).

I have given this shared vitriol alot of thought over the years. What it means, where it comes from. My undergraduate training was in History, and thats really for me where this question started. Most of my "contemporary history" classes were taught my "Boomers" and their view of what HAD happned in the 60's and what it had meant for posterity didn't skew with reality circa 1993. This is even more true now.

Without getting lost in the details, I will sum up with the following.

You were born at a unique time in world history. You had an opportunity we who have come after never will. You COULD HAVE changed the world for the better and you DEDCIDED NOT TO. Understand I say that understanding my cohorts great contibution to posterity was the internet. Since it's current leveling effect on world economies is sucking jobs to asia with all the speed and intensity of a $20 whore, you have my apologies. In the parlance of my people "Oops, My bad."

But you; Race, Relations between the sexes, Politics, War and Peace, Economics, all were yours to alter...expecially since there were/are so damn many of you. You are the demographic "Jupiter" of our century. That mass could have been used to move mountains, and you botched it. So Thanks.

Lets go down the list.

A) Race - Alot of good work there. I wont disparage where you went right. We got along way to go but I live in a time where Kramer is in rehab for saying the "N" word, I do tip my hat to you, as a foe to foe.

B) Drugs - So you though taking large doses of mind altering substances wouldn't in any way affect you long term (addiction) or that attempting to force a change in attitudes to substances that *might* be harmful would not have any societal impact? I'm not saying you started the drug problem, but you sure as hell made it worse.

C) Sexual liberation - Free love didn't work out like you planned, huh? Don't get me wrong, the 1950's attitude of repression would have made me snap too, but you guys went a little Caligula on us there. Now the pendulum has swung so far that Betty Friedan "liberation" has morphed into the Hiltons and Lohans bludgeoning us with their sexuallity like a cudgel. I swear if I see another celebrity Hoo-ha I'm going to scream. You wonder why intimacy is an issue now? and divorce? To quote John Lennon "Everybodys making love but no one really cares."

D) The War - Okay MAYBE you got the Vietnam War to end, good on you. We all figured out later that calling soldiers "baby killer" and spitting on them wasn't such a great idea, though was it? On top of that you let Nixon get elected twice? What the hell man? And WE'RE apathetic? Somwhere around 1973 or so it's like you just GAVE UP. Since were back in the same sorta mess in Iraq (orchestrated BY SEVERAL BOOMERS I MIGHT ADD), I'll refrain from singing your praises. Where is your anger now? Where are the MILLIONS of you fighting this war tooth and nail like you did when it was your ass on the line?

E) Economics - Where we really learned to hate you. Everything you told us you stood for you did a full 180 degree turn on somewhere in the late 70's. You went from trust no one under 30 to junk bonds in less then 10 years. Don't get me wrong, Money is important, but have you ever heard of balance? First you were living on communes and then by the 1980's most of you we're screwing each over for a profit. OUR problem began when us "GenX" types were coming up at the time you began to rule the world. We were trying to understand the world in terms of how you explained it to us. The messages you were sending were more then a little Psychotic. "Peace and love" on one side "Compete, Earn and BUY BUY BUY" on the other.

THIS is where our idealism went. You bastards killed it. It went in those days when you lost your souls and left us nothing to look forward to recieve as your legacy except, dead "peace, man" platiudes.

Stephen King said it best.

I don't want to speak too disparagingly of my generation (actually I do, we had a chance to change the world and opted for the Home Shopping Network instead).......

Stephen King in 'On Writing'

Generation X was defined by it's lack of identity. We were the first latch key kids without heroes or icons to define us. The babyboomers had sex, drugs and rock and roll, we had phone sex, crack, and Madonna. But what of the next generation the so called "Eco-boomers" or Generation Y. Our young "sensor motor ectasy" counterparts have high financial expectations without the work ethic that many babyboomers and X'ers share. Maybe we should have rethought the helmut laws and special awards so that no one would feel left out. Maybe we should have kept them away from that evil empire known as the "Mickey Mouse Club". In recent days the breakdown of Britney Spears has raised the red flag to our aspirinig Paris Hilton's of the world. Maybe Abercrombie & Fitch along with Madison Avenue ought not have marketed to our youth based on their sexuality and their parents guilt about trading "family" for their child's future Ivy league education. While Generation X struggled to define itself, we knew someday we would have to take responsibility for our own futures. We ushered in the dot.com boom and reaped the rewards. We are marketed to heavily. Our prize posession is often our home and our past times often involve shopping for home furnishings, all of which is an attempt to relive our childhoods, albeit just as dubious. We long for High Definition and Subzero refrigerators, conduits to our youths, our parents world, only better and worse. Generation X knows that it can't stop time or the inevitability of change, unlike the "boomers" of the 40's and 50's and the "Ecos" of the 80's and 90's, perhaps that is why we prepare for it by the very hope and perception of stability through the products we buy. Psycologists fear that the current demographic in college today is the most selfish in our history. CEO's(Babyboomers) say their biggest concern about current college interns is that they don't want to do menial tasks, that they want to be in on the "big idea" and reap the rewards. But what did we expect when we labeled everybody as "special." Young men cry when they lose on American Idol, young girls put up sexy photos on MySpace, and call it "expression." My answer, why not keep your expressions for the therapists office or for that ever elusive music or acting career. Christ even our "Top Models" cry now, and what are they crying about? Being beautiful and not having to do real work must be a bitch.

All hope is not lost though, the big bothers and sisters of Gen X will gently remind Y that they have to get in line like everybody else and that it's not their fault that adolescence has been extended to 35 years old. We will point out the "side shows" that are the Britney Spear's of the world and say "I told you so" when Britney becomes a mere cautionary tale. Gen X were the first to celebrate Earth day and to recycle, we ignored the Mickey Mouse club because it was for kids, we stripped anybody who lip synched their music of their awards and didn't actually accept Bill Clinton's definition of sex. Perhaps we your big brothers and sisters should have paid closer attention to you our future leaders, but we will now. So don't get offended when I say "hey, take the helmut off and go get me some coffee."

Matthew Chase