Here's some news for you. Did you know that Generation X, is actually marginally bigger than the Baby Boomer generation? It's true. Go and ask Bernard Salt, Australia's celebrity demographer. He will confirm that what I am saying is true. Salt defines Gen X as those being born between 1961 and 1976. Our values and our take on the world in which we live is not the same as the Baby Boomers.
All our lives we have been pushed around by the Baby Boomers and I say it is time to declare war on them. They are only strong because of the age they are right now and because they managed to organise themselves in the sixties. They are a leach on Australia. They leach our land and stifle our debate. As they get older, they will then start to directly leach on us, Generation X. If you think we are stifled now, it can only get worse as their whining becomes ear-piercing.
Make no mistake about them. They are conceited and arrogant. Worst of all they honestly believe they are superior. As we all know they rebelled against their parents and their elders in general. What few Gen Xer's focus on is how the Baby Boomers similarly view us with disdain. They only care about themselves.
They are the least flexible generation Australia has ever had. They are the nostalgia junkies who constantly want today's world to be as their mythical world once was. They think everything about their generation is virtuous and they feel hell bent on lecturing and hectoring us. Baby Boomers do this to us and to the older generation. It's a reverse pincer thing so stand back and beware.
Next time you see a Baby Boomer, do not, I repeat do NOT engage with them. Walk away and say "yeah whatever". It is asymmetrical warfare. Walking away is the best thing you can do.
Yeah, whatever, Harry.
Posted by: Brent | Friday, October 22, 2004 at 09:46
On the money, Harry, and I'm from the boomer generation. But at least I took the advice from someone of my grandfather's generation: "If a man's not a socialist at 20, he's got no heart; if he's still one at 40, he's got no brain.''
Too many boomers who met the first qualification failed on the second count. I like the attitude of my kids' generation -- born post 1980. They have a terrific rapport with my parents' generation, the plus 75s, and are fascinated by tales of depression struggle and WW2. They could do a lot worse than copy the values of the Greatest Generation.
Posted by: slatts | Friday, October 22, 2004 at 08:29