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Gen X to Boomers: We Get It Now

With Obam's election, Gen X sees the political light

By Amelia Atlas, Newser User

Posted Nov 9, 2008 5:09 AM CST

(Newser) – Sorry, boomers, for taking so long to drop the cynicism and eye-rolling, writes Heather Havrilesky in Salon. But to those who "became rational adults at the exact moment a reckless frat boy boomer became president," your generation's idealism and tales of '60s radicalism fell flat, she spills. Barack Obama's win changed that. Gen X'ers get it now, understanding "there's no shame in throwing ourselves into this new future with full hearts, with tears in our eyes."

Until the election, the only politics known to Gen X were when "Al Gore had the election stolen out of his hands, and then the twin towers collapsed." Now, suddenly, Obama's ideal of change makes sense. "Sure, we'll still be our irreverent, self-deprecating, exasperating selves—but we also want to believe," notes Havrilesky.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (5)]

The crowd in Chicago's Grant Park reacts as it's announced that Barack Obama has been elected president. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

President-elect Barack Obama looks out into the crowd after his acceptance speech election night at Grant Park in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

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Suddenly it makes sense, what you've been trying to tell us about John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Sure, we knew all about their roles in history. We didn't quite understand why you've never let those two go. - Heather Havrilesky

We drank too much and listened to obscure indie rock bands. We dressed badly and communicated in four-letter words and read books like Infinite Jest and The Corrections, modern-day versions of your precious JD Salinger. -

No, we weren't always ready to get involved and make the world a better place, because the air we breathed was toxic with absurdity and excess. - Heather Havrilesky

Chanting 'What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!' at that rally against the Iraq war made us feel self-conscious in spite of ourselves. We felt like clichés. We wondered why someone couldn't come up with a newer pro-peace slogan. -

And look, we really did stand for something, underneath all the eye-rolling... We're just low-key about it. We never wanted to do it the way you did it. - Heather Havrilesky

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

Guest

Nov 11, 2008 7:09 PM CST

Actually, it goes back farther than "the exact moment a reckless frat boy boomer became president" unless of course you're counting Bill Clinton as a reckless frat boy. Gen X bought into the promise of Clinton and his changes from Reagan and Son of Reaganstein (aka George H.W. Bush) and got reamed (not established enough to get in on the dot com boom we watched the Baby Boomers suck all the profit out of that before we had the money to get in). Regardless, maybe Obama represents real change, maybe he doesn't. Let's see what he does now that he has the job before we declare him a political messiah capable of wiping away cynicism forged in the Reagan years and hardened by the Bush years.

Newser001

Nov 8, 2008 10:05 PM CST

Interesting... those with copious amounts of money don't get it... Those of us struggling to survive don't want a handout... we want the ability to live something like our parents did, and that is something difficult to reach and maintain. Greed does something to people, making them less... human. My parents were simple people, but we always had adequate food and healthcare. Today, it's difficult to achieve or maintain either. I don't care for the callings of the Right or Left... I consider myself a 'Centralist'. Both parties got us into this mess... we need to find our own way out of it, and we can't really count on those who got us here to lead us out. It's nice to see an adult at the helm after years of decimating guidance.

Mr.C

Nov 8, 2008 9:28 PM CST

unnecessary piece

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Gen X to Boomers: We Get It Now