One of the great, unexplored factors at play in this election is the rise of Generation X’s political power and activity. It is unexplored because boomers are probably the most self-centered generation in the history of the United States, and they can’t imagine that their influence is anything but paramount. Take this AP article on white boomer women’s “prized” role for example. Hillary Clinton, watching from the sidelines, might disagree.
Generation X is just starting to show its political side, and it does not look much like the boomers’ at all. The two candidates that excited GenXers the most were Ron Paul on the right and Barack Obama on the left. Neocons and boomer liberals like the Clintons are generally disliked, if not outright detested by adults under the age of 45 or so. The surprisingly resilient campaign of Ron Paul was a direct result of younger adults’ disenchantment with the prevailing norms, but Paul was denigrated and rejected as a fringe cadidate by his own party, whereas Obama, who is a bit more of an insider, was shielded to a degree by a political correctness that demanded he be treated respectfully and taken seriously. So Obama has emerged as the first GenX candidate.
The characteristics of the GenX political animal have emerged in the campaign, and they are a far cry from boomer political activism. Except for a few sappy, weird stunts pulled by boomer grandparents with their grandkids, Obama’s campaign pays only lip service to the universalism that so beguiles the boomer psyche. In fact, it has taken on a downright nasty form as the final week approaches, hitting McCain and Palin in their pressure points with one focused blow after another. McCain is portrayed as a psychotic warmonger in cahoots with the same gang of crooks who fooled us into a war with Iraq. Palin, for her part, is cast as that vapid bitch of a prom queen we all hated back in the 1980s.
Generation X grew up in a cold, dark place, under the overwhelming shadow of the massive baby boom. We were spoon-fed platitudes about love, harmony and equality, and then came of age during a time of unprecedented violence, as cities across the nation became gangland war zones. It was a strange, conflicting message we received, as we tried to digest counterculture 1960s utopianism even as apocalyptic paranoia crept into the public’s consciousness. This left us with little sense of purpose and a deep cynicism about the causes our parents enthusiastically supported in their free, idealistic youth. Also, relatively speaking, we have been poorer than the boomers ever were. College costs skyrocketed and wages stagnated as we entered adulthood. Our options were reduced to following the repeated economic surges created by boomer speculation, which has finally, it seems, culminated in the massive financial failure of recent months.
Now GenXers are emerging from the shadow. And it is no coincidence that this is happening as the edifice of boomer greed and selfishness is crumbling before our eyes into ruin. We’ve learned to speak the language of the boomers, and with Obama Generation X has found their achilles’ heel. Deep in the hearts of people of my generation, there is a hope that Obama really will engage in redistribution and punish the old gang that created the mess America finds itself in. It isn’t just right vs. left; think of the attacks that sank Hillary Clinton’s campaign. This is undeclared generational warfare — undeclared because GenXers do not broadcast their intentions and take the center stage like boomers. We’ve always despised boomers’ self-righteous grandstanding. Most GenXers work from hidden places, never grabbing the spotlight, supporting their candidate through merciless surprise attacks on the opponent. McCain doesn’t know how to deal with this, and this is largely because his campaign lacks real support from younger adults. It must be his worst nightmare, kind of like flying a plane and facing not just one formidable opponent, but a swarm of missiles coming from all directions.
This is the new kind of politics we’ll see for some time: hidden intentions, contempt for chivalry, and calculated appeals and attacks rather than genuine universalist sappiness. The goal for the next four years will be the disenfranchisement of the aging boomers, and if Obama is elected and doesn’t follow through on that, he will find his current supporters turning on him with the same hard tactics that beat down his opponents. We are witnessing a paradigm shift in American politics and society as boomers, who will never willingly pass on the reins, are suddenly finding them pried out from their fingers by a determined, pissed-off, and surprisingly strong younger demographic.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Lukobe // Oct 19, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Obama engage in redistribution? Regardless of what he said to Joe the Plumber, not with the CEO of JPMorgan Chase as his Secretary of the Treasury.
2 Bill // Oct 19, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t hoping for that. I’m not sure his base of support is necessarily all that rational, although I’m pretty sure they’re dedicated to the cause. Take the WA state democrats for example…
3 Lukobe // Oct 20, 2008 at 1:59 pm
A lot of leftists are going to be disappointed once Obama’s president, I think.
4 Fabian // Oct 21, 2008 at 11:46 am
Well, your post brings up some interesting points, but as a Gen X’er myself, I’ve often said that the one group with even fewer principles than the Boomers…is my generation. The Boomers were the product of the WWII generation, who were probably the most principled generation in our history. Boomers rebelled against those principles, but at least they knew what they were rebelling against. Gen X’ers are the first fully consumer created generation. We have no unifying experiences to rally around. We were even more pampered than Boomers, we’re spoiled, and as your post says, we think universal principles are “sappy”. We’ve swallowed the ridiculous post-modernist idea that there is no objective truth, which is just a ruse used by people to get you to look the other way while they advance THEIR truth. If the post is right, and as a group we’re destined to be cunning, calculating, shallow and petty, then the best days of the United States are truly behind her.
5 Fabian // Oct 21, 2008 at 1:06 pm
You took down my comment, so I guess too much criticism hurts, huh Welmer? Just another spoiled, unprincipled, self-serving Gen X’er. Maybe you should go into politics.
6 Bill // Oct 21, 2008 at 1:18 pm
lol. Chill out Fabian, I was taking my kid to preschool when you posted.
First-time posters are automatically put in a moderation queue.
I think you’re right about us being essentially unprincipled. Maybe very cynical about principles. But I do think there will be some rough patches ahead that might finally give rise to some new principles. My guess is that the shallowness and pettiness will give way to a more serious take on life as we face harder times.
The generation that has the most in common with us, I think, is the “lost generation” that came of age around WWI and was most affected by the Great Depression.
But as for being pampered, I don’t really see that. We were far more likely to grow up in broken families and were pretty much neglected as children.
7 scissor hands // Feb 21, 2009 at 12:32 am
i for one am not a ‘pampered’ xer & i am angry i am bitter & i do believe that we are the clean up crew for the boomers big fat party. Not to say though that all the boomers created it. I have often referred to the ‘free love free drugs free sex era’ & i really don’t think that anyone pays enough attention to know what we are about. Many of us are conservative, thanks to liberal divorce & childhood abuse or neglect (one in three women sexually assaulted in my generation-though i personally believe the numbers are higher based on discussion with all the women i know) many being molested or raped by siblings or ‘parents’ as a product of displaced loyalties in divorce. Many of us are well read as a result of having to figure life out on our own. We are vetrans. The war has been all around us; the war of greed & violence. We have seen it in the form of racism, in hiding under our desk during a bomb drill, in broken homes, in the $4000 bill i have from bell for one year of phone & internet service that i barely use. We see it in the production & importation of useless poorly made crap, in the battle to keep smut out of the faces of our children, & the ever shrinking freedoms that our forefathers died to protect never suspecting the gross exploitation of them all. What we cannot afford or wish on our children, the wealth of the baby boomer is happy to provide. I find it odd that the loving tree hugging baby boomer turned into a collector of useless refuse (royal dalton, country geese, coke bottles, a string of fine automobiles, trinkets from peru. The boomer refuses to retire & pass the torch, there is no cap on consumption, a cruise was more important than a weekend with the family,& now a man can barely afford to take his son to a yankees game. Boomer logic is that it is better to pay a football star great wages than a man who stands in 90 degree heat working his fingers to the bone. And we are more concerned about the aborted child than how the child got there in the first place. This is a world that cries for change. Make no mistake. If a boomer retires in a cushy existance, it will be at our mercy. There will be change. I did not vote. But i am not silent.
8 scissor hands // Feb 21, 2009 at 1:21 am
I should also clarify. I am not vindictive. I wish no ill will on the baby boomer. I know they are not to blame for everything. But to their collective children many were aggressive, intimidating, selfish. To their parents, disrespectful. That being said, I also realize that all around them, friends were slaughtered & maimed in war, women were oppressed life was different. But quietly, we are working through our children, & those around us to teach them love, restraint, peace, tolerance, religion, conviction, & self sacrifice by example. God is working through this generation. Faith is moving mountains. Quietly many of us sacrifice our life & our dreams so that though we are often forgotten we might influence those around us to make better choices than we, so that hopefully our existence will not be in vain. All of us made mistakes, made wrong turns, but we learn from our mistakes and yours & realize that it is our duty to do better. Your greatest legacy as a baby boomer is that you let us fall to become greater than you expected. You have given us wisdom that we treasure up for the opportune time. God is with us. He is our sword and shield. We have a small window for a big agenda.
Leave a Comment