Generational Advice – for What it’s Worth – from a Disaffected Member of Generation X

First of all, I have to look up disaffected: dissatisfied with the people in authority and no longer willing to support them.

Which, of course, reminds me of this:

“‘We Shall Overcome’ is a song which, in various languages, is common on every known world in the multiverse. It is always sung by the same people, viz., the people who, when they group up, will be the people who the next generation sing ‘We Shall Overcome’ at.”

~Terry Pratchett

The more things change, you see, the more they stay the same.

When someone says you’re from a particular generation, don’t stop to combat the stereotypes, indulge in your generation’s pre-set Five Minutes’ Hate, or what have you. Ask the person applying the label what they stand to gain from labeling you.

Because what’s going on here requires another definition: Pigeonhole; a category, typically an overly restrictive one, to which someone or something is assigned.

If someone wants to understand you by slapping on a label based on your birthdate, beware. They don’t really care about you much at all, outside of your desirable (or not) demographic and your disposable income (you see the “disaffected” part of the Gen X label does apply in my case, but I swear it’s only by coincidence).

This brings to mind another quote:

“Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.”

~The Dread Pirate Roberts

Now that there is cynicism, supposedly another Generation X trait. But it comes from William Goldman, born in 1931 and thus pigeonholed into the Silent Generation, which appears to be just as “forgotten” as Generation X.

But here’s what’s more significant: Who cares?

Any generation is going to produce cynics, those disdainful of authority, and those ready to be marketed the likes of mood rings, Woodstock, avocado toast and “experiences” over “things.” And just as equal in any generation are those willing and able to make a buck of pigeonholing the rest of us into whatever demographic or divide they can conjure up to make us self-aware and woke and pitiable while at the same time EMPOWERED and ALWAYS willing to buy what they’ve got to sell.

I’ve read a lot about the presidency of Richard Nixon, an intellectually brilliant man who let his paranoia drive his actions. There were plenty of people singing “We Shall Overcome” at him, and at pretty much anyone in authority at that time. Dave Barry describes the Nixon Era as a battle between people who figured there weren’t enough Americans over in Vietnam killing people and others who figured there weren’t enough Americans at home killing each other. So, you know, messed-up times. And I seem to recall that we’ve had messed-up times before that. And since. And this dividing of people into generations may satisfy some innocent sociological need for definition, but it’s been seized upon by the marketeers and the radicals and weaponized to the point there are plenty of people out there from whatever generation you might care to mention who think everyone outside their own little shitty pigeonhole is a moron.

So here’s a little advice from a guy in Generation X, who read Douglas Coupland’s “Generation X” and recognized a bit of himself in Paul Fussell’s “X” generation from his book “Class.” (Both books, by the way, are dated, but if you’ve got time for only one, read Fussell. His is better.)

Stop it. Stop thinking you have to march in step with whomever it is selling you something. Or march away. March all you want. Just keep your jackboots off others’ faces, even if they’re marching in a different direction.

Or, as Moe Szyslak* puts it best:

*If you’re “triggered” by The Simpsons, watch this instead:

And remember that the most popular show nowadays treats rape like a recreational activity.