View Full Version : Do you identify with your generation?
bsquared
2008-09-07, 17:59
I'm 25 years old and I can say that I pretty much do not have much in common with my generation. Everything is video games, rap, expensive clothes, apathy, living at home until you're 30. I don't get into a lot of that stuff, but I can see why people do.
The beat generation makes sense to me though. They were sick of the picture perfect family facade and wanted to be free from society's strict and modest ideals. They were dropping acid and smoking pot way before it came into the spotlight (ie Haight Ashbury,etc) in the 60s.
People don't get out and protest and show that they're not gonna put up with bullshit anymore. Now they just sit back and watch it happen.
Star Wars Fan
2008-09-07, 23:29
^^yes, I identify with the generation. Well some parts of it. I am an anime fan and am glad that anime is becoming more 'mainstream' in the US, etc :D
I do identify with 'rap' and 'gaming' as well...well depending on the type of games..
Also, in Eastern Europe and Italy it's common for people to live in their houses until they're 30 due to the economy and housing prices..where do you live.
EDIT: I get your point man about apathy...
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-08, 04:12
The beat generation makes sense to me though. They were sick of the picture perfect family facade and wanted to be free from society's strict and modest ideals. They were dropping acid and smoking pot way before it came into the spotlight (ie Haight Ashbury,etc) in the 60s.
Yeah, I'm 18 and I don't know anyone in my generation who smokes pot....and acid? Whats acid?.......:rolleyes: What the fuck are you talking about? Drugs are synonymous with youth culture, thats not a 60s thing its an age thing. Its just drugs came into the picture in the 60s. I was high last night and dropped acid at a music festival this summer just like you're precious hippies....And who the hell wants the picture perfect family that you hang out with? Maybe the problem is you look at mainstream perceptions of culture and hang out with the wrong people.
Protest? Maybe because the only people who are dying are the ones who volunteered for it.
Oh and it looks voter apathy is declining... http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=18188
I have a friend who is missing her first semester of college to work on the Obama campaign. I'm not apathetic towards politics, I just fucking hate politics and refuse to succumb to false slogans of "change" but I'm becoming the minority. So...No, you're wrong.
People don't get out and protest and show that they're not gonna put up with bullshit anymore. Now they just sit back and watch it happen.
Yeah because the largest protest of all time didn't happen in 2003. Take your pseudo-disillusionment somewhere else.
Star Wars Fan
2008-09-08, 04:38
I just fucking hate politics and refuse to succumb to false slogans of "change" but I'm becoming the minority. So...No, you're wrong.
well you're increasing due to the internet (Remember the Ron Paul and the internet movement he made?)
Yeah because the largest protest of all time didn't happen in 2003. Take your pseudo-disillusionment somewhere else.
that is true, but the generation isn't too much in 'taking up the step' compared to the 1960s...though there are more people doing something, whether on the net or real life....anyone remember the Internet Liberation Front hacking those 6 Republican sites during the counter-inauguration of Bu$h in 2005?
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-08, 05:18
well you're increasing due to the internet (Remember the Ron Paul and the internet movement he made?)
Attention to politics and political apathy can occur simulatenously. I think when he was referring to apathy he meant how people aren't trying to fix problems by utilizing the system (which is true for me) rather than people who are oblivious to politics (which is not me)...
You're example about Ron Paul is perfect in regards to the destruction of political apathy.But like I said, I'm the minority and didn't get caught up in it. So not for me personally, but for our generation? Yes, very much so.
....anyone remember the Internet Liberation Front hacking those 6 Republican sites during the counter-inauguration of Bu$h in 2005?
No, which makes me question it's importance.
KikoSanchez
2008-09-08, 05:35
I'm 25 years old and I can say that I pretty much do not have much in common with my generation. Everything is video games, rap, expensive clothes, apathy, living at home until you're 30. I don't get into a lot of that stuff, but I can see why people do.
The beat generation makes sense to me though. They were sick of the picture perfect family facade and wanted to be free from society's strict and modest ideals. They were dropping acid and smoking pot way before it came into the spotlight (ie Haight Ashbury,etc) in the 60s.
People don't get out and protest and show that they're not gonna put up with bullshit anymore. Now they just sit back and watch it happen.
Hmm,
video games - yes
rap - nooo
expensive clothes - god no, "fashion" is the devil
apathy - god no, atleast intellectually and politically
living at home until you're 30 - well I could care less if others want to, personally I am 24 and still at home, but only to save money while getting an MBA
None Other
2008-09-08, 07:22
I identify with the Beats/Warhol factory scene most. A pity all the subcultures of today are corporate vehicles.
Take the rap culture; possibly one of the most misanthropic and antiestablishment culture to emerge, and now it's nothing more than over-paid mass produced rappers pushing brand's of clothing and a consumer lifestyle.
Bottom line, there is no way to define this generation, except possibly as a generation ass fucked by the big companies and the media more than any previous ones.
Spiphel Rike
2008-09-08, 09:23
I identify with bits of it.
Depending how bad house prices are in your area it can be reasonable to live at home for quite a while. I can't wait for the property market in my city to take a massive nosedive.
Big Steamers
2008-09-08, 13:51
I was the same way when I was 12, I listened to Hot Tuna and Jimi Hendrix and thought Doc Watson was god on earth and I grew up with the idea that in the past things were different. I was dead wrong, nothing changes, as in Eclesiastesall things are vain; vainity of vainities.
What you see now with the rap show, country glamour, aloofness, lazy crast behaviour and apathy are only the perceptions you see on tv, in magazines or hear on the radio.
Take a look around you, you are 25, either obviously working hard on your [insert type] career or you are in grad school. Right? Maybe not.
Honestly, what do you truely see, a lack of friends or too much god damned telervision?
I wish I was part of Generation X. Alternative rock/Grunge, Doom, Quake, plaid jackets, that show Daria, apathy etc. The 90s were so cool. 2000s suck. Stupid emos.
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-09, 19:34
I wish I was part of Generation X. Alternative rock/Grunge, Doom, Quake, plaid jackets, that show Daria, apathy etc. The 90s were so cool. 2000s suck. Stupid emos.
Weird how generations are labeled by mainstream rebellion (oxymoron??)
Except I would say 2000s is more indie/hipster not emo...Slightly better....Youth culture/non-conformity has been virtually wiped out by consumerism, if you haven't noticed all "youth rebellion" is categorized in contemporary culture by deisgner clothing......
Its as if the present day counter culture is ultra culture ....
CreamOfWarholSoup
2008-09-10, 23:02
I'm 21. The vast majority of my generation whom I've met are lazy cowards who believe they deserve far more than they are entitled to. The Chinese are going to eat us alive (as that will save them precious resources).
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-11, 01:15
I'm 21. The vast majority of my generation whom I've met are lazy cowards who believe they deserve far more than they are entitled to. The Chinese are going to eat us alive (as that will save them precious resources).
How are the Chinese going to eat us alive?
What I mean is, in what context, I understand how but what aspect of life are they going to destroy that you so adamantly wish to uphold?
....Consumerism..........?
I fail to see the problem.
yea i guess so..
i remember when windows was new, i lived through mtv, i'm tech-savy, underpaid and over educated employed in a field completely unrelated to what i'm going to school for and hope to make my career out of. yea i think i'm spot on with my generation.
Lt_Flippy
2008-09-11, 01:34
Most of the people I know who are my age are dumb fucks (might just be a part of being in high-school), so I am gonna have to say no.
dal7timgar
2008-09-11, 03:57
Yeah, Maynard G. Krebs was where it was at.
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/lawrence/153/krebs.html
Television changed everything. The people controlling the tube want to manipulate everyone to serve the interests of people controlling the tube, but there are so many dynamic factors. The internet has provided a new dynamic factor. There is not telling how far and fast ideas can go now.
To answer the question, NO.
There hasn't been a Vulcan generation but Mr. Spock was just a caricature, an Uncle Tom Tom alien. This one was better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek)
DT
Big Steamers
2008-09-11, 13:50
How are the Chinese going to eat us alive?
What I mean is, in what context, I understand how but what aspect of life are they going to destroy that you so adamantly wish to uphold?
....Consumerism..........?
I fail to see the problem.
What do you consume? Food, water, oil, wood, salt, aluminum, iron, copper? Are these things not important to you or are you a self suffecient passer by in this discussion?
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-11, 19:15
What do you consume? Food, water, oil, wood, salt, aluminum, iron, copper? Are these things not important to you or are you a self suffecient passer by in this discussion?
no i meant no more this
http://allieinthecity.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/037timessquare1.jpg
Our problem isn't a lack of resources, its that we rape the world of them. We need to stop consuming so much. I don't mean practive enviormentalism, I mean stop buying and taking so much and focus on other things.
CreamOfWarholSoup
2008-09-12, 02:43
How are the Chinese going to eat us alive?
What I mean is, in what context, I understand how but what aspect of life are they going to destroy that you so adamantly wish to uphold?
....Consumerism..........?
I fail to see the problem.
I mean instead of just killing us in a war their soldiers and citizens will start devouring us in a torrent of cannibalistic genocide as it will save them quite a bit of resources to just consume us without having to pay for the food.
The Chinese comment wasn't to be taken as if meaningful thought went into it. My generation is flaky, useless, and whiny and will not be able to handle the future (Unless scientists invent magic).
Nietzche
2008-09-12, 16:10
im 22 and i find myself in situations where a large chunk of my 'peers' are incompetent assholes. they cannot function without the group, they fall prey to mob mentality and i dont think they have anything to define them as individuals. they are all shallow, exaggerated idiots. most of the people ive met are not worth the time to even look at. superficial and trite are good words to describe them well.
MR.Kitty55
2008-09-12, 23:16
im 22 and i find myself in situations where a large chunk of my 'peers' are incompetent assholes. they cannot function without the group, they fall prey to mob mentality and i dont think they have anything to define them as individuals. they are all shallow, exaggerated idiots. most of the people ive met are not worth the time to even look at. superficial and trite are good words to describe them well.
I think that's a good way to describe any generation. Generation implies the mass. Generations usually aren't defined by the great individuals of the era but the mass reaction to the ideas of the great individual. This generation is no worse than any other.
Seperate yourself from the herd...
I'm telling Nietzshe this :rolleyes:
Star Wars Fan
2008-09-14, 01:43
no i meant no more this
http://allieinthecity.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/037timessquare1.jpg
Our problem isn't a lack of resources, its that we rape the world of them. We need to stop consuming so much. I don't mean practive enviormentalism, I mean stop buying and taking so much and focus on other things.
Actually city centers are pretty efficient with public transport, population density, etc. It would save a lot of resources (read: OIL, among other things) if more people lived to the city core or closer to their mode of work or lived in apartments, etc.
That and I like big city centers :p
Attention to politics and political apathy can occur simulatenously. I think when he was referring to apathy he meant how people aren't trying to fix problems by utilizing the system (which is true for me) rather than people who are oblivious to politics (which is not me)...
You're example about Ron Paul is perfect in regards to the destruction of political apathy.But like I said, I'm the minority and didn't get caught up in it. So not for me personally, but for our generation? Yes, very much so.
okay.
No, which makes me question it's importance.It's funny given FOX news (O'Reilly in early 2005) did a cover on the counter-inauguration and quoted the Anarchist Resistance when they said "There's nothing left to salvage in this empire that is the U.S. government. It's time to bring it down." when trying to demonize the counter-protesters as a whole lol
easeoflife22
2008-09-14, 02:58
I feel like a slave.
Stoned Snippy..
2008-09-14, 04:44
I mean.. I guess.
I'm all about freedoms and alternative thinking...
.. this is the best we've got.
I don't even know what is popular amongst my generation but I think its the hip hop culture. However the hip hop culture is the least defined culture because I don't even believe people who think there apart of it know what its about. From what I understand, its about expressing yourself through creativity such as music, graffiti, clothing. Yet the people who take part in it just go to the mall and purchase these things that will make them "seem" like their apart of the culture.
I'm not claiming this is the definition of the hiphop culture but I've just never heard anyone really explain what it is--rather they just say how its always misinterpreted.
But from reading the previous posts, is it fair to say that one of the problems with this generation is that no one really knows what any of its about?
Star Wars Fan
2008-09-14, 07:54
I don't even know what is popular amongst my generation but I think its the hip hop culture.
it depends. There's Hip-Hop and rap, Alternative and Rock, the Electronica club-goers and raves, etc. There's more than rap out there....I just returned from the North Side (Lakeview) which is basically full of people in their 20s; has theaters, hookah stores, LOTS of pubs and grills, etc. Also LOL @ the fucked 3-way intersetions common in the North Side; yes I kow they were train tracks originally but damn
However the hip hop culture is the least defined culture because I don't even believe people who think there apart of it know what its about.
it has blossomed a lot.
Originally it was an expression of anger by the Black Man due to their conditions and oppression by the white man.
From what I understand, its about expressing yourself through creativity such as music, graffiti, clothing.
a lot of that is; and IIRC Graffiti started in New York City as a matter of fame-seeking. They added-on the art details partly due to them wanting to 'trump' the other. not sure about the history..
Yet the people who take part in it just go to the mall and purchase these things that will make them "seem" like their apart of the culture.
hmmm....yah. Those people still might do creative things-being the street drummers and performers you see downtown and the like. Well some of them. The others never claimed to be artists.
post
Graffiti is beautiful but I don't see any of it today. Instead I see awful simple tags of peoples alias littered all over the city. No real effort or creativity. What happened to awesome fucking pictures? The worst is when I saw a beautiful bench made by college kids studying to become architects defaced with shitty tags. I mean come don't fucking ruin an actual piece of art with your shit.
I don't expect every graffiti i see to be a master piece because I know the artist has to develop and hone his skills but the shit I come by lacks all form of substance. I mean I'm a substandard artist in another area and am by no means a professional but I always try to put effort and work into my field.
Star Wars Fan
2008-09-15, 02:07
Graffiti is beautiful but I don't see any of it today. Instead I see awful simple tags of peoples alias littered all over the city. No real effort or creativity. What happened to awesome fucking pictures?
There's always Murals under viaducts and in the downtown sections. People do the same with train sides sometimes. It's awesome to see people put their tags on stuf-especially given I can barely write for shit, never mind calligraphy; but these people are can do that with spray paint cans.
The worst is when I saw a beautiful bench made by college kids studying to become architects defaced with shitty tags. I mean come don't fucking ruin an actual piece of art with your shit.
lol pwn.
I don't expect every graffiti i see to be a master piece because I know the artist has to develop and hone his skills but the shit I come by lacks all form of substance. I mean I'm a substandard artist in another area and am by no means a professional but I always try to put effort and work into my field.
k.
surprise buttsecks
2008-09-17, 21:57
Not really. Everyone wants to drink heavily, get laid and party. I would prefer to just put some music on, have a few pints and play some games, or have a good discussion.
All the people I meet are self indulgent arseholes, with very few exceptions.
Nietzche
2008-11-11, 11:37
I think that's a good way to describe any generation. Generation implies the mass. Generations usually aren't defined by the great individuals of the era but the mass reaction to the ideas of the great individual. This generation is no worse than any other.
Seperate yourself from the herd...
I'm telling Nietzsche this :rolleyes:
yea i have to live with the misspelling so w.e
i do, thats why im on totse lol
casanova
2008-11-24, 03:24
I agree with the notion that each generation is defined by how the mass reacts to the ideals of the period, however I still believe that our generation is worse than others. The mass is more affected by the ideals of this generation than ever before because of consumerism. I'm certainly not implying that consumerism did not exist in previous generations, but the degree to which it is a part of our lives is unprecedented. Every generation has its sheep, we just have a lot more.
n3rdy_g3rty
2008-12-14, 17:12
I agree with the notion that each generation is defined by how the mass reacts to the ideals of the period, however I still believe that our generation is worse than others. The mass is more affected by the ideals of this generation than ever before because of consumerism. I'm certainly not implying that consumerism did not exist in previous generations, but the degree to which it is a part of our lives is unprecedented. Every generation has its sheep, we just have a lot more.
Although when you think about it, each generation that's most current is always "the worst" but yeah I totally agree. Most of my generation (I'm 24) was plopped down in front of the tv as a babysitter. We grew up singing commercials. Had to have the best things in order not to be picked on at school. Basically babied for most of our lives and then immediately get thrown to the wolves.
Also, forgot who said this, but yeah, our generation has a chip on it's shoulder that thinks it's entitled to instant gratification without working for it. The ones who aren't following this trend are going to rule the world someday.
Ever seen Idiocracy the movie? Yeah.. I rest my case.
"Free Agent"
2008-12-14, 21:19
Well I guess if video gaming, rap, and living at home till your 30 is what it is to be a part of Generation Lost then I am certainly a part of my generation.
Yes I am proposing that the name for this new generation to be called Generation Lost, because let's face it we have already lost, we are left with the damage of the past generation, and it is going to take more then one generation to set the wrong things right.
n3rdy_g3rty
2008-12-15, 18:42
Well I guess if video gaming, rap, and living at home till your 30 is what it is to be a part of Generation Lost then I am certainly a part of my generation.
Yes I am proposing that the name for this new generation to be called Generation Lost, because let's face it we have already lost, we are left with the damage of the past generation, and it is going to take more then one generation to set the wrong things right.
*starts slow clap*
killallthewhiteman
2008-12-20, 01:37
I would love to see myself as a deviant who refutes all of the bullshit our generation stands for, but i cant honestly believe that.
Im not sure if that means i identify with it.
I don't know, what does my generation identify with?
I believe I identify with My Generation, The Who, Stones, Woodstock...lol, It is still my favorite music, although I do like some hip hop, not much C&W, but yeah..my generation is the best generation.
Ron Smythberg
2009-01-01, 05:37
I believe I identify with My Generation, The Who, Stones, Woodstock...lol, It is still my favorite music, although I do like some hip hop, not much C&W, but yeah..my generation is the best generation.
Well I come from the generation of "I will survive" and the golden years of U2. I'm talking about the late seventies and early eighties.
I would say my generation is probably second to the baby boomers in how much influence we yield.
We are a strong and resiliant lot. Activists and radicals. But also hard-workers and entrepreneurs.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of "google"), Jamie Foxx, and James Blunt (singer/songwriter) are all from my generation.
Also the "New Age Movement" and Rap music also came out of my generation.
We were also the generation of Reagan, and although I am sure many of you are critical of him, I can tell you I think there was probably no better man for the job, at that period in our history. Sure there were problems, but you cannot base external circumstances on the man.
I would say I identify strongly with my generation.
Slave of the Beast
2009-01-01, 11:14
Also the "New Age Movement" and Rap music also came out of my generation.
Every generation has its downside, I suppose.
Star Wars Fan
2009-01-02, 06:12
The mass is more affected by the ideals of this generation than ever before because of consumerism. I'm certainly not implying that consumerism did not exist in previous generations, but the degree to which it is a part of our lives is unprecedented. Every generation has its sheep, we just have a lot more.
Actually no, the aftermath of World Wars I and I were much worse. Remember part of the reason the 'Great Depression' occured was due to heavy consumer/credit spending in the US on refrigerators, etc. The same "keep up with the joneses" type thing.
The 1950s was similar bad in the blatant social manipulation done by corporations.