Saturday, October 25, 2008

Generation Jones -- Who Knew?



I don't watch TV, so apparently I missed out on this new designation for my generation. For years I have said that, although the stated years for the Baby Boomers' births were 1946-1964, I never, ever felt like part of that generation. Nor did I feel like an Xer. Well, turns out -- I wasn't alone. Generation Jones is the "lost generation" between the two and, as the generation shared by Obama and Palin, we are the group that could swing this election.

I once was lost, but now am found. Hallelujah!

5 comments:

pj said...

I have to confess: I couldn't quite make it through this video. I'm so sick of pundits. I can't believe they get paid for this bullpucky. Massive oversimplifications.

That said, I was born at the tail-end of 1965. Can I still be an X-er if I feel like it? Sings:

With the lights out it's less dangerous! Here we are now, entertain us! etc.

Actually, here's one for the Boomers:

Me and Generation (pause) Generation Jones... We got a thing goin' on...

I'm Generation Doofus.

AStanhope said...

The "Generation Jones" meme has been getting some real traction of late. I must confess that it is new to me, but now that I am aware of it I am seeing it everywhere.

There was a post on Huffington Post today about it:

[Huffington Post]

Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune and MSNBC fame has been touting it:

[Clarence Page]

Generation Jones even has its own website!

[GenerationJones.com]

Diane M. Roth said...

I had no idea.

All I can say is... I hope that it is right.

lauraj said...

PJ, I hear you about pundititis. I'd love to get big bucks to spout my opinions. I think I was just happy to have my feeling of not being a boomer confirmed.

My last congregation was a Boomer congregation -- which in and of itself is noteworthy because Boomers are the generation least likely to be in church. But I realized while there that my style/view of life/hope for the world was essentially different than that of Boomers and it had a great deal to do with not having come of age in the 60s. I don't see things as black/white, liberal/conservative, feminist/anti-feminist, etc. as most of my congregants. They were so shaped and defined by those battles that it was nearly impossible to let them go. So even though I politically agreed with almost everything most of that group thought, my need to pound home the differences was far less. I was ready to move beyond the VietNam War and they weren't. (OK, I'm over-simplifying, too, but it would be a whole new post to go into detail here). Hillary is the quintessential Boomer. Obama is not. I think that is a key difference between the two. (One of several).

Astanhope, thanks for showing up. Welcome!

Diane, you and me both, sista!

pj said...

Gotcha. I should tell you, I have two official boomer siblings, one sibling who thinks of himself as a boomer but is apparently a Joneser... and then there's me. It gets confusing.

Both the official and faux boomer sibs have a tough time dealing with anything that didn't happen in the 60's. It's tiresome.

They still think of U2 and REM as "new" bands, for example. :p