Post by wheelspinner on Jan 30, 2009 19:45:12 GMT -5
I've always chafed at the label "baby-boomer". Demographically I am part of the baby boom, but I've never felt part of it. The identifying motifs of the boomers - Beatles, Swinging Sixties, Summer of Love, Vietnam War, etc - all passed me completely by. I was in primary school at the time. As Sid Vicious put it "I missed the Summer of Love because I was too busy playing with Action Man".
As the Baby Boomers get set to retire, I am still looking at another 15+ years to retirement. There is no way I consider myself to have much in common with this slice of the community.
I have come across a term that was coined in 2001 to describe people such as myself - "Generation Jones". It describes the group of people born between 1954 and 1965 who are neither part of the baby boom nor are geuine Gen-Xers.
The label stems from a supposed "keeping up with the Jones" competitivenes that is supposed to typify this generation. Something to do with being raised in the 60s amongst the boomers' hope and high expectations, then having to step out on our own in the 70s and 80s when it all came crashing down. Not sure I'm entirely comfortable with this label, but all generalisations are odious to an extent, I guess.
It will not have escaped your attention that power in the USA is right now being taken over by Generation Jones, so this group is worthy of further examination. Here's a couple of sites with some insights into the concepts of Gen Jones and the new US political leadership.
blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/01/stuck-in-the-mi.html
generationjones.com/2009latest.html
As the Baby Boomers get set to retire, I am still looking at another 15+ years to retirement. There is no way I consider myself to have much in common with this slice of the community.
I have come across a term that was coined in 2001 to describe people such as myself - "Generation Jones". It describes the group of people born between 1954 and 1965 who are neither part of the baby boom nor are geuine Gen-Xers.
The label stems from a supposed "keeping up with the Jones" competitivenes that is supposed to typify this generation. Something to do with being raised in the 60s amongst the boomers' hope and high expectations, then having to step out on our own in the 70s and 80s when it all came crashing down. Not sure I'm entirely comfortable with this label, but all generalisations are odious to an extent, I guess.
It will not have escaped your attention that power in the USA is right now being taken over by Generation Jones, so this group is worthy of further examination. Here's a couple of sites with some insights into the concepts of Gen Jones and the new US political leadership.
blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/01/stuck-in-the-mi.html
generationjones.com/2009latest.html