Generation X?

1. Generation X?

2. What is “Generation X” • Also known as the “Baby Bust” • People born between 1964-1980 • These were children generally born to the pre-boomers • Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in leadership, particularly institutional leadership

3. Time Magazine Characterizes my Generation • . . .They possess only a hazy sense of their own identity but a monumental preoccupation with all the problems the preceding generation will leave for them to fix . . .This is the twenty-something generation, those 48 million young Americans ages 18 through 29 who fall between the famous baby boomers and the boomlet of children the baby boomers are producing. Since today's young adults were born during a period when the U.S. birthrate decreased to half the level of its postwar peak, in the wake of the great baby boom, they are sometimes called the baby busters. By whatever name, so far they are an unsung generation, hardly recognized as a social force or even noticed much at all...By and large, the 18-to-29 group scornfully rejects the habits and values of the baby boomers, viewing that group as self-centered, fickle and impractical. While the baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950s, which helped inspire them to start their revolution, today's twenty-something generation grew up in a time of drugs, divorce and economic strain. . .They feel influenced and changed by the social problems they see as their inheritance: racial strife, homelessness, AIDS, fractured families and federal deficits

4. Howe and Strauss • Influence that affected my generation: • Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in leadership, particularly institutional leadership • Rampant political apathy • Increase in divorce (institution of marriage) • Increase in mothers in the workplace • The zero population growth movement • Availability of birth control pills ("Children were things you took pills not to have") • "Devil-child films" • Increase in educational variance • Decrease in educational funding and loan availability (simultaneous with increase in advertising for military service) • Inception of the Internet • The end of the Cold War

5. Land of Confusion • Are we confused? I don’t know, what did we have to worry about in the 1980s? • Check out the video and you tell me.

6. What were we scared of? • On January 20, 1981, Reagan takes office • He believed the world was potentially headed towards a nuclear armageddon • He believed the answer was nuclear escalation and a new technological project called SDI or the Strategic Defence Initiative (Star Wars) • This project never really got off the ground but it did upset the Soviet Union

7. What Have We Witnessed? • The end of the Cold War

8. AIDS

9. The 90s! • The “Grunge” era enters the music world with bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sound Garden making it big • Nirvana blows the market wide open with their new style and their dark messages • Pearl Jam and other bands also reflect this message

10. What were they saying? • Check out the Song Jeremy from Pearl Jam’s first album Ten • "Jeremy" is based on a true story. The song takes its main inspiration from a newspaper article about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle, born February 10, 1975, from Richardson, Texas who shot himself in front of his English class in Richardson High School on the morning of January 8, 1991 at about 9:45 am. • He was sent to the office to get a late slip, he came back, pulled out a gun and blew his head off

11. Jeremy Lyrics

12. Review: Characteristics of Gen X’ers • A notable feature of Gen X is its high level of education. • Due to this generation’s lack of faith in the employer/employee commitment, Gen X is convinced real job security lies in their ability to develop the knowledge and skills to advance to their next job. • First and foremost, they are individuals. When asked, most do not view themselves as part of a group generation. • Gen X has no distinct defining characteristic. If you need to classify them as something, try a multicultural version of “The Breakfast Club” – a small band of diverse individuals that do not really fit in anywhere, not even with themselves.

13. Characteristics Cont. • They were the first generation to be brought up in an “instant gratification” society full of microwaves, ATMs, and remote controls. Gen X has the mentality of “what’s in it for me.” • They are cynical about the commitment between employers and employees since they watched their parents and grandparents lose their jobs after years of dedicated service. They distrust corporations and hype. They distrust government control of anything. Gen X is committed to their professions instead of to a company. • Gen X values work/life balance. They want their careers to be exciting, as well as enjoyable, but they also expect to have plenty of time for their families.