THE silent GENERATION

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[isto é bom]
funnily enough, I was having these same thoughts earlier on....when trying to explain to my 12 (almost 13) years old daughter why I keep whining and moaning about most things of these past couple generations....

We were having a look at the cinema listings, and when the Che Guevara film came up, I tried to find words that could explain my feelings...a very difficult thing to do in this area, I have not your wordy skills...

Thing is: they have made a film about Guevara, which in my times would have been banned, you were not allowed as much as whispering his name....but at the same time, we were fighting.
I did not go up Sierra with el Che, but did fight in militancy of the Comunist party in the early 70s, trained for armed fight for a year, and saw many of my friends and relatives *disappear* in the hands of the Junta in Argentina.

My generation had a hugh percentage of 12 and 13 years old who were more than interested in reading, creating and being part of the outside world....
I cannot find the words to tell you how much it hurts to see that my child is one of those who watch America's Next Top Model and Girls of the Playboy Mansion.... she listens to Britney instead of Pink Floyd....and when she does listen to a good song, it's maybe on a version of some 60's or 70s by Atomic Kitten (pretty much of the 90s)
I'm trying hard to change all that....
but, I have to say, is a tough job, especially being in the UK....

Apparently, I'm a cuspoid. Teetering on the border between your X and Gen Y.

Gen Y is a dirty phrase, it seems.

My very shallow understanding is that it can be summed up as a generation of self-serving lightweights running around asking "what's in it for me?" and jumping jobs every two minutes because they have the attention span of a gnat.

Note the use of "they".

[this is good]

I think part of the problem is that we/they feel too much owned by massive commercial enterprises and people feel powerless to fight against the money.

I'm trying to think how to continue this comment, but I'm just depressing myself, so I'll leave it as that.

We are the highest educated generation and lowest paid generation. We are the first generation to not do as well as our mothers and fathers despite having such a much higher education level. Our generation makes 12% less in real dollars than our fathers did at the same age.

Family household income for gen x'ers increases at 0.3% per year and is rapidly declining compared to our fathers generation which had an annual income increase averaging 0.9% and rose each year.
I am embarrassed to admit it, but you have hit the nail on the head here.... we are an apathetic bunch.
Wow, that is pretty traumatic stuff, having friends and family disappear amid warfare. Most Americans cannot relate to that sort of thing. We are quite insulated from revolution since seeking our own in the 1700's. Along the way we've had civil war, slavery, women's suffrage, Japanese-Americans concentration camps, political assassinations and Watergate, but nothing Che-like. I saw the Che preview and it looks good. I'll probably catch it on DVR later this year. I'm watching Gran Torino tonight for some Eastwood violence.
[this is good]
That is an accurate definition of Gen-Y. I think each generation looks at the next one and says "what the hell happened?" -- yet we are the ones who biologically and conceptually create the next generation.

The lazy children of Gen-Y will be chronic masturbaters, but it will be done electronically via a lubed robot.
We aren't lazy....we are tired. We work harder than our parents did for less money even though we have better educations.

I would love to revolt but the rest of you bastards would just leave me naked in the wind when it starts. =)
No way, man. I have an arsenal of Molotov cocktails ready to go. I don't even care what the cause is... I just want to blow shit up. I'll meet you at the corner of 1st & East Capitol Street.
We are now on the watch list. LOL.
I cannot talk with certainty about the US, but the better education statement I have to disagree with regards to, at least: SouthAmerica & the UK.
Not sure about the Spanish in Spain. The Spanish people in the UK still have schools in the old system, and I know at least 15 kids gone from said Spanish schools into the UK's system: they were way ahead than the British-educated kids of same age.

And I see the way the are teaching my child....
You guys may have better technology...
education..... no way.
It is true in the US. It came from a study done by US Census Bureau. Most of our parents never went to college over here whereas most of us have earned a BS or BA. Many have gone on to Masters and Doctoral programs far exceeding our parents and their parents.
:)
that's why I said I did not know about the US....
still, this is an issue to discuss with loooots of time...
I agree with SV though, that the older generations had more drive...
these past couple (few?) are ermmm lazy? tired?
but tired of what?
as I said, we could go on, nd on, and on....
I would love to say we live in a better world...I have a child who will live on to these whole legacy... I'm most of the time fighting with this society (London of the 21st century) to give her a better eduction....
:)

Our generation works longer hours than the 3 previous. That can make you tired.

Are the Gen X and following generations lame? - yes. We had no free love or any of that jazz.

The thought that each generation is worse than the next is lamer b.s. though. We live longer, have a more comfortable life, many diseases have been iradicated or marginalized and cancer is no longer a death sentence.

It all depends on how you look at it. As for not rebelling - um, the government has weapons that we don't even no about. Any uprising would be squashed quickly as the government has a monopoly on sophisticated weaponry.

Ignore all the bad thoughts, be good, and do good. And hey, we got Obama elected.

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