GenX Turns Fifty

Neon lights, Nobel Prize. When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.

You won’t have to follow me, Only you can set me free.

Progressivism vs. Traditionalism

Capitalism vs. Communism

Conservatism vs. Liberalism

The cultural division on family values, personal freedom, individual responsibility continued to widen.

Issues such as women’s rights, abortion rights, school prayer and gay rights separated the orthodox and progressive wings aligning generally with the two political parties in the United States.

Control of the political right and political left polarized and political power began oscillating between left and right through the control of media rhetoric and political institutions.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush succeeded Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale as President and Vice President of the United States in 1981.

Into the early to mid 1980s, the Cold War reached its pinnacle with the Soviet Union and United States locked into a global power stalemate.

By 1989, the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Soviet Iron Curtain (https://www.historyonthenet.com/what-was-the-iron-curtain), was torn down effectively bringing an end to the Cold War in 1991. As a reward, George Herbert Walker Bush was only elected to a single Presidential term pushing out the GI Generation.

Bill Clinton and Al Gore, the first Baby Boomers, are elected into the Presidency and Vice Presidency in 1992, ending twelve years of Republican administrations. The Culture War moves into a new phase of centrist policies and into what is sometimes called the Long Boom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_United_States_boom?wprov=sfti1

The Greatest Generation moves into elder hood. The Silent Generation into late adulthood Baby Boomers move into midlife and Gen X into young adulthood.

Disco and R&B gives way to New Wave and Grunge music.

The Millennials are born as a large generation from the echo of a large generation (the Baby Boomers). The Right and the Left emerge in television, radio and print media further dividing the country.

If you follow the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, each generation should last a 20-22 year period. For some reason, which is not clear, starting with GenX each generation in recent history lasts 15 years. I’m not going to debate that in this post, but a proper generation should be about a quarter of a long lifespan.

Next up… further into the unraveling – The Global War on Terror.