Epitaph for the Quiet Generation

And the Younger Generation - whoever they may be

 “The Younger Generation” seemed to suffice whenever conversations started down that road. Bu today…

Do you know what these are?

Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomer, X, Millennial, Z, and Alpha

(Spoiler Alert: Not the starting line-up for the 3^rd race at Churchill Downs).

C’mon, you know! These are the names of American Generations 1901-2024. Who knew there would come a time when Generations would have to be named? Why was that even necessary?  Did Demographers and government Census Takers have too much time on their hands? Maybe the Ad Agencies needed an easy way to identify their target audience? Whatever. Here they are.

Each Generation has its parameters, about 18-20 years separation. And, of course, there are copious studies and papers defining the basic characteristics and common denominators of each. Like “What’s your sign?”, you can check out your Generation’s commonalities and see how you stack up personally.  Identifying criteria seems rather arbitrary, like horoscopes, but slightly better than Fortune cookies or those crystal balls from Spencer’s Gifts.

Watch for clever – or poorly edited – definitions. For example, one source proclaims:

“Born From 1925 Until 1945: The Silent Generation”

and then

“Born From 1946 To 1964: The Baby Boomer Era”

Not to pick my usual nits, but…if the Silent folks, born “from 1925 until 1945” and the Boomers “…from 1946 to 1964…”, where does that leave anyone born during 1945? Not Silent and not Boomin’? A Silent Boomer?

Someone at Formulate.com needs serious English, Grammar and Vocabulary interventions.

But I digress…

This got me thinking about the cliched “good old days” and “younger generation” comments that get bandied about when comparing one Generation to another, most often in the form of criticism; “OK, Boomer!” was never meant as a compliment.

My curiosity hadn’t marinated intellectually enough to ask my parents (Greatest Generation) what were their ‘good old days?’ As teenagers at the start of the Roaring Twenties, then summarily dumped into the Great Depression as newly-weds, mom had a part-time secretarial job while dad dropped out of college to get a gig off-loaded bananas on New York City docks (4 bits a day). It seemed unlikely this grind would have created a trail of warm fuzzies to recall 20 years down the Old Hour Glass.

Were my grandparents as put off by Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra as my folks seeing Elvis, all hips and sideburns on Ed Sullivan? And then the Beatles with all that hair? Two Generations earlier, the classic “Love For Sale” (1930) was banned for air play in Boston and other puritan villages like Gotham. Not to be outdone, two Generations later, just before Christmas 2018, the Cancel Culture/Feminist Alliance demanded radio stations cease playing the 1948 hit, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” as demeaning to women with a strong reference to date rape. The stations complied. (Presentism in action). Curiously, no one from their self-appointed Standards and Practices objected to the lyrics and High Rotation listing those same stations gave to Cardi B’s “WAP”, certified 7x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. (Note: Lyrics at the link. Not for those on cardiac meds)

But I digress…

Many in Fly-Over country would prefer the classy standards of social decorum, adult personal and professional propriety passed down from Greatest to Silent to “OK, Boomer”. Sadly, all are being quickly rejected by Gen X, Millenials and Z’s. And that’s a sad thing. Setting aside the subjectivity of music and entertainment, there was a lot to like about how the Quiet and Greatest comported themselves through their years.

As unlikely a source as former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, Paul Craig Roberts recently penned this summary:

Another addition I would make is the destruction of manners. Try to find today any sign of the manners I grew up with or the civilization that existed. Men were taught to respect women, and women in those days were safer than they are in our feminist times. Even when I was in my 20s, when a woman entered the room, the men stood up. Car and restaurant doors were opened for women. Women were helped into their seat at the table. Only when women were seated did men sit down. Men were trained to be gentleman, and ladies to be ladies. No gentleman ever used a four-letter word in a woman’s presence, and no woman ever spoke one. Listen to the barbaric youth today. Even the terms ladies and gentlemen have passed out or have been driven out of use. Feminists said that civility was the way men patronized women and demanded an end to civility.

Elegance in dress and demeanor has left us. When is the last time you saw a well-dressed man or woman on an air flight even in first class, in an airport, shopping mall, restaurant, on the street? It has been years.

The easiest rationalization is to merely chalk it up to ‘changing times’; SOP as one generation passes the baton to the next with the traditional doubts and concerns the ‘youngsters’ will be better custodians of the culture, customs, mores, and folkways long embedded. But what about the country, economy, and obscene growth of an over-reaching, regulating and intrusive government? Without self-discipline supported by guts, brains and backbone with individual responsibility, critical thinking, and ethics, how is that road forward looking? The generations embracing “WAP”, “WOKE” and Presentism over Pragmatism are not inspiring confidence. Recovering from the economic, educational and cultural travesties engineered by the scourge of Boomers et al occupying positions of political power may take the concerted efforts of multiple Generations. Will they even want to? Or are the Old Folks just pining away for the good old days, ‘the way things used to be’?

Looking at the current status of our country, government, and society, the future looks undeniably grim. At this point, most observations end with a predictable cop-out: “Time is running out! We have to save all the great things about America!” Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!

Well…

Considering the profligate spending by the Uniparty, non-stop Lawfare waged with impunity against opponents of the Biden regime, the shrug-and-eye-roll response from the Sixpack family, that ship may have sailed already.

As Roberts wrote:

What we are witnessing most certainly is the transformation of American law into a weapon for subjecting the American population and eliminating anyone who dares to protest or challenge the tyrannical ruling establishment.

This is the reason that the United States of America is a totally dead and buried formerly free nation. Americans have sat on their butts and allowed the destruction of civility, the rule of law, the Constitution, and their nation.

If there is a chance for America’s survival, yesterday would have absolutely been the best time to get personally involved.

With effort, today might work!

BW

Thanks for reading this far!

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Meanwhile….you know…