• Boomers are having their last dance in charge.
  • Gen X leaders are stepping up to replace the last of them.
  • Younger leaders are taking charge of politics and corporate giants such as Boeing, HSBC, and Costco.
  • EnderWiggin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    75
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 months ago

    I’m fully in support of Kamala, but she’s not Gen X. Close, but no cigar. She was born in 1964.

    • bitchkat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      4 months ago

      The dates for these generations are not set in stone. Lots of organizations use 1965 to 1980 but the US SSA uses 1965 as the start.

      People born around the transition points are going to have more in common with each other than with people born earlier in the date range. Especially when you consider families having kids a few years apart but each is apparently a different “generation”.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X#:~:text=U.S. news outlets such as,born between 1965 and 1980".

    • padge@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      4 months ago

      I can’t tell if she looks young for her age, or if she looks super young compared to everyone else on stage wirh her

      • Catma@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        29
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        Probably a combination of three things. First hate ages you terribly, example Laura Loomer, Alex Jones. Second she is a child compared to Biden/Trump. And third and finally as clichè as it is black dont crack

    • tipicaldik@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      41
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      She’s Generation Jones. So am I (b. 1963)

      Damn, they even have her picture on the page 😆

      Generation Jones is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older siblings in the earlier portion of the Baby Boomer population; thus, many note that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to older Boomers. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness and “jonesing” for the level of doting and affluence granted to older Boomers but denied to them

      • EnderWiggin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        45
        ·
        4 months ago

        This reminds me of the Xennial generation that fell between X and Millennial. This also sort of shows how little we can really actually equate from these 20+ year generational spans. Really I am just happy she’s not old enough to collect SSI yet.

        • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          ·
          4 months ago

          Hard cutoff dates for generations has always been a stupid concept. Imagine believing that an Xer born in 1980 has more in common with an Xer from '65 than a millennial from '82.

          • wjrii@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            Family context also plays a role. My wife and I are “officially” Xennials, born a year apart in the late 70s. I have a brother seven years older than me, and she was the first born. I skew way more Gen X than she does, to the point where she doesn’t see any point in describing herself as anything other than a Millennial.

            • bitwaba@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              4 months ago

              Yeah, I was born in 84 but I identify pop culture wise much closer to my step brothers that are 1.5 and 3.5 years older as Xennails than I would my millennial counterparts.

          • merc@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            Named generations is a stupid concept in general. It’s vaguely useful as a shorthand to talk about people’s life experiences based on when they were born and how old they are now. But, it’s mostly like astrology, saying that people born under a certain sign behave a certain way.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    4 months ago

    I’m amused with all the people who think there’s some hard line where you have to be born before or after some exact year to be of a named generation as if this wasn’t all made up. A baby didn’t get labeled Gen-X if they were born after midnight on a certain day.

    As far as I’m concerned, she’s Gen-X. She was 13 when Star Wars came out.

    • razorwiregoatlick@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Maybe I am missing something but you do have to be born before or after some exact year to be of a named generation. That’s kind of the definition. Gen X is 1965 - 1980.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        Dude, it’s all made up and there is no hard definition for the years of Gen X.

        I mean if you really want to be pedantic about it, the people we call Boomers these days are the original Gen X.

        The term Generation X has been used at various times to describe alienated youth. In the early 1950s, Hungarian photographer Robert Capa first used Generation X as the title for a photo-essay about young men and women growing up immediately following World War II. The term first appeared in print in a December 1952 issue of Holiday magazine announcing their upcoming publication of Capa’s photo-essay.

        Or maybe it’s people born in the 1950s and 1960s?

        The term acquired a modern application after the release of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, a 1991 novel written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland; however, the definition used there is “born in the late 1950s and 1960s”, which is about ten years earlier than definitions that came later.[16][17][13][18] In 1987, Coupland had written a piece in Vancouver Magazine titled “Generation X” which was “the seed of what went on to become the book”.

        Or maybe it’s 1965-1980?

        In the U.S., the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan think-tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has, albeit gradually, come to gain acceptance in academic circles.

        Or maybe it’s “Gen X is whatever we decide it is.”

        The Brookings Institution, another U.S. think-tank, sets the Gen X period as between 1965 and 1981.[31] The U.S. Federal Reserve Board uses 1965–1980 to define Gen X.[32] The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) defines the years for Gen X as between 1964 and 1979. The US Department of Defense (DoD), conversely, use dates 1965 to 1977.[33] In their 2002 book When Generations Collide, Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman use 1965 to 1980, while in 2012 authors Jain and Pant also used parameters of 1965 to 1980.[34] U.S. news outlets such as The New York Times[35][36] and The Washington Post[37] describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. Gallup,[38] Bloomberg,[39] Business Insider,[40] and Forbes[41][42] use 1965–1980. Time magazine states that Generation X is “roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980”.[43] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials “cover equal 20-year age spans”.[44]

        In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979.[45] In the UK, the Resolution Foundation think-tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980.[46] PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980.[47]

        But those are just think tanks. Surely other experts have a specific range, right?

        On the basis of the time it takes for a generation to mature, U.S. authors William Strauss and Neil Howe define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981 in their 1991 book titled Generations, and differentiate the cohort into an early and late wave.[48] Jeff Gordinier, in his 2008 book X Saves the World, include those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980.[9] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials “cover equal 20-year age spans”.[44] In 2004, journalist J. Markert also acknowledged the 20-year increments but goes one step further and subdivides the generation into two 10-year cohorts with early and later members of the generation. The first begins in 1966 and ends in 1975 and the second begins in 1976 and ends in 1985; this thinking is applied to each generation (Silent, boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc.).[49]

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

        This isn’t science, it’s categorization based on pretty arbitrary stuff.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            8
            ·
            4 months ago

            I just showed you my point quite well. That there’s no agreed-upon definition of the term like you suggested. All I can think is that you read nothing I pasted.

            • razorwiregoatlick@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              4 months ago

              No, I didn’t suggest that. I asked for clarification because you said it amused you that people thought being born before or after some year made you part of a generation. That is literally the fucking definition! There are certainly different definitions of those generations but regardless they are all based on a person being born before or after a certain year.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                4
                ·
                edit-2
                4 months ago

                Your words:

                That’s kind of the definition. Gen X is 1965 - 1980.

                I showed you very clearly that it is one of many definitions of Gen X. Some of them apply to Harris.

                • razorwiregoatlick@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  6
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  4 months ago

                  My point was to show that they are defined by a span of years. I see now that this concept is hard for you to understand.

    • Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      4 months ago

      I agree. I think they do pop up every now and then, always for a cultural event. For example, I draw the line between Millennial and Gen Z at remembering 9/11.

    • Orbituary@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yeah. X/Mil cusper here. The elder Gen X are more like Boomers than anything, but have more anger and technical acumen.

    • folekaule@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      54
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      4 months ago

      As a Gen Xer I’m heartened to see Gen Z stepping up to literally save the world. Seeing the swell in support for Harris and in voter registration numbers, I for once am feeling hopeful. I hope they can accomplish what the forgotten generation couldn’t.

      • FireTower@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        36
        ·
        4 months ago

        Gen Z reporting in. Above comment’s point was not to generalize an entire demographic as ‘doing good’. & it was a good one. Don’t assume that of us either.

        Judging entire groups of people as a monolith is always bad. I’ll add ‘good’ is subjective of an individual’s values. Expect future generations to mock us for what we believe acceptable.

        • folekaule@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          4 months ago

          Very good point, and I did not intend to make an argument about generations being different. Generations indeed consist wholly of individuals with their own opinions. On an individual level, age is no better an indicator of personality than your zodiac sign.

          In my comment I just wanted to express that, after a long period of dread, I am feeling more hopeful after seeing so many members of the young generation getting engaged and making a difference where I personally feel we failed.

          It was also meant to express appreciation and gratitude to those who are getting involved and as encouragement to those who are yet to do so.

          • 4am@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            4 months ago

            Just remember there was leaded gasoline everywhere before 1995, and av-gas mostly still is

        • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

          Expect future generations to mock us for what we believe acceptable.

          I sure hope so. If future generations aren’t making fun of me for how backwards I am then we’re not progressing.

          • FireTower@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            18
            ·
            4 months ago

            I’ll caveat that not all changes are ‘good’ changes too. The future generations might not value the things we hold dear, like the jury trial. One day maybe they’ll sadly see that as us wasting ordinary people’s time.

            People in the future are not automatically our betters, but our equals, (hopefully) armed with the knowledge of our failings and armed with that of our successes.

            • Supervivens@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              I feel like the judge cannon stuff is a very good example of why jury trials are a thing. Corrupt judges are real yo

              • barsoap@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                4 months ago

                Coming from a completely legal tradition: Jury trials are scary. Jurors can’t be nailed to the cross for perversion of justice, there’s no accountability. Also any more serious cases are not tried by judges, but panels of judges, often including lay judges.

        • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          4 months ago

          Gen Z unfortunately seems to have stepped back on the gender equality front. I hope it shifts back but self-identified feminists are down compared to millenials and misogyny is up. I’d be happy to attribute most of that to economic stress though.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          4 months ago

          Yeah, people act like there aren’t progressives and conservatives in each generation. My retired Boomer parents still think a lot of bigoted and reactionary old people are the reason we can’t have nice things. My Silent Generation grandparents were happy to label Republicans as mostly irredeemably evil even when the political zeitgeist favored treating them as intellectual adversaries with earnest beliefs about the best ways to run society for the good of everyone.

          • merc@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            4 months ago

            And on the other end, the proud boys were a Gen Z / Millennial phenomenon.

            It’s true that people tend to become more set in their ways as they get older. OTOH, that sometimes means that the militant socialist just gets grumpy and complains instead of remaining a hopeful activist. It doesn’t always mean that people start becoming right-wing and conservative.

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      If I’m not mistaken gen X is the first generation to become more progressive as it ages

  • sandbox@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    48
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    4 months ago

    Generational cohorts are all just made up nonsense. It just exists to distract the working class from what we have in common with each other and what separates us from the working class. I, a millennial, have much more in common with a working class baby boomer, than I do with a rich and powerful millennial.

    Stop encouraging these artificial divides. Build solidarity across the working class of all ages. And stop playing into the media’s narratives.

    • Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yep, it’s similar to Astrology where certain psychological characteristics are attributed to the signs of the zodiac.

    • spidermanchild@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      I think you’re conflating two different things. There are a variety of social factors that affect age cohorts differently, and a lot of that comes down to the experience during formative years. We are a product of our environment in many ways, and it’s not nonsense to study and opine on these shared experiences and how they shape us. Class solidarity is an entirely different subject. You likely do have more in common with your social class across generations, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have anything in common with wealthy millennials. I wouldn’t let lazy journalism own the concept of generations itself.

      • sandbox@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        The lived experience of people differs as much, or more, within age cohorts, as it does between age cohorts. They are lazy and hasty generalisations, with very little benefit outside of garbage op-eds and zombie statistics.

        • Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          4 months ago

          Do you often get your personal beliefs from garbage op-eds?

          If you would like to learn about generational cohorts from a higher quality source, I recommend The Fourth Turning, a rather prophetic book on generations.

          • sandbox@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Oh, great, let’s swap garbage op-ed’s for garbage airport pop-science books. Why not recommend Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, next? Or maybe Rich Dad, Poor Dad?

            Some lovely reviews about The Fourth Turning:

            many academic historians dismiss the book as about as scientific as astrology

            cyclical theories tend to end up in the Sargasso Sea of pseudoscience, circling endlessly (what else?). *The Fourth Turning is no exception.

            their predictions about the American future turn out to be as vague as those of fortune cookies

            as woolly as a newspaper horoscope

            • Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              4 months ago

              I haven’t read those books, so I don’t have an opinion on them. You haven’t read The Fourth Turning, so maybe you shouldn’t be so set on your opinion of the book.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 months ago

    I’m Gen-X and I barely feel in charge of my own life, much less the direction of the nation.

  • Boozilla@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    4 months ago

    Glad the boomers are on the way out. As a Gen X’er, not sure we care enough to take charge.

          • wjrii@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Millennials seem cool. They called bullshit on a lot of stuff that X just shrugged at and tried to slack our way around. I don’t usually know what Z is saying but they seem to at least have moved in a less overtly toxic direction, and they put weak but real taboos on stuff like bullying that no prior generation did.

            It’s all good. I’m gonna go let myself into the empty house and make a PB&J now.

        • Wytch@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          4 months ago

          Watching helplessly for 40 or 50 years while your parents’ generation destroys everything will do that

    • Rutty@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      4 months ago

      As an aging millennial, I am surprised by how the process of time works.

      Like you spend your life acquiring skills and using your knowledge in an ever expanding cornucopia of experiences.

      Then followed by a gradual decline to be left only with your memories of who you once were. But then you realize you were only a small part of the existence of others, and ultimately the universe. Yep, the thought of faculties diminishing over time is enough to put the one into an extensional crisis.

      • Boozilla@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        4 months ago

        Yup. This is a wise time in your life to start your estate planning, medical directives, etc. Find yourself a good lawyer for this. I’m sure the cost varies by location and practice, but mine was only about $1,500 US.

  • expatriado@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    51
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    4 months ago

    Kamala was born in the last year of what is considered boomer, but still a step forward to Biden’s silent generation

    • Voyajer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      4 months ago

      Generational cohorts care more about events that shaped you in life rather than birth year

                • MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  6
                  ·
                  4 months ago

                  If you were taught retirement age was 55 when you were 13 you must already be retired or thought you were very close to retirement. It hasn’t been 55 since the early 80s.

                • radivojevic@discuss.online
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  7
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  4 months ago

                  The full retirement age in the United States varies depending on the year of birth:

                  • For people born in 1960 or later, the full retirement age is 67.
                  • For those born between 1943 and 1954, the full retirement age is 66.
                  • For those born between 1955 and 1959, the full retirement age gradually increases from 66 and 2 months to 66 and 10 months.

                  However, individuals can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, though benefits will be reduced for early retirement. Conversely, delaying retirement beyond the full retirement age can increase benefits until age 70.