Recently there was a story on the front page of Yahoo about the 31 year old in charge of dismantling G.M. Where I have been quick to criticize Obama in many ways, I actually see this as a good thing. The article was headlined to make me think “What, he is replacing experienced CEOs with grad students?!?” However, after I read the article I decided it is a good thing, so way to go Obama.
Generation X Coming of Age
Obama is quick to blame everything wrong with the country on George W. Bush. This is a fine political move to make for him, but I think he should take it a step further. Why not blame all of the country’s problems on Baby Boomers? Some historians label Baby Boomers as the “Me Generation,” and probably for good reason. The world has yet to see a rival generation that has selfishly amassed so much wealth for itself at the expense of their forefathers (WWII and the Great Depression) and its children (Generation X is pretty much considered the screwed generation).
On a recent comment on a blog called Askcherlock. The owner of the blog, a Baby Boomer, was contemplating the current problems facing social security. In response to a comment I made, the owner said this, “You work all your life with certain expectations and plan for them, then someone changes the rules in the endgame. What’s up with that?” To this I reply that the increasingly dysfunctional America that we see today is largely a mirror image of the generation that has been writing the rules for the last 10-20 years: The Baby Boomers. Since they are largely the architects and recipients of some of the biggest entitlement grabs in human history, I can’t say that I sympathize with Cherlock or Baby Boomers in general. Cherlock might as well have said, “Our generation created rules that secured as much wealth for ourselves as possible at the expense of everyone else, and it turns out that our rules defied economic logic, so now we have to face the reality of this, which means the rules might change in a way that contradicts the lie we have been believing in our whole lives. Not Fair!” I have about as much sympathy for Baby Boomers worrying about the Social Security Trust Fund as I do for those who invested with Bernie Madoff. Caveat Emptor.
I hope that Obama screws this important constituent just as he has many of his other constituents. I am hoping that he puts together a team of Gen-Xers to solve the budget problems facing Social Security and Medicare. My generation has been told our whole life that this money wouldn’t be there when we need it, so I am sure a capable team of Gen-Xers, with their wealth of experience of being screwed by the previous generation, can emapthize with themselves and come up with a solution that for once gives Baby Boomers what they deserve. Picture Rick Wagoner.
Brian Deese
Christian Bale
On another note does anyone else think that Brian Deese, the 31 year old dismantling GM, looks like Christian Bale, the 35 year old dismantling his acting career? Brian Deese? Sounds a lot like Kyle Reese.
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The fact that Deese, who has zero auto industry experience, was put in charge of GM and Chrysler says a lot about Obama… and none of it is good.
He does look like Bale I just hope his acting like he knows what he’s doing is half as good.
Harrison’s last blog post..Politically Incorrect Only Applies When It’s Republicans
Interesting blog and post. Relevantly, as many influential observers have said, Obama is part of Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X. Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term to describe Obama’s generation.
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is a recent op-ed about GenJones as the new generation of leadership in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
Here’s a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones:
http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
I was being somewhat facetious. However, sometimes you have to let out your inter-generational angst.
Generation Jones? Cause they are Jonesing all the time?
Harrison’s last blog post..North Korea is Not a Direct Threat?
I would have to say that based on the formative experiences I have had that I identify with Generation X the most even though I was born a little late.