In Defense of Gen X

I don't mean to sound petty here, but I'm getting a little weary of the newsbites that seem to be giving all the credit for revolutions in the workplace, technology, and the way we live to the "Millennials."  As far as the media is concerned, it seems that Generation X was and always will be the "slacker generation," who never contributed anything.  The Millennials are the drivers of innovation, the ones who grew up with technology, the ones who have "Hope for Change" and got Obama into office, the ones who volunteer and make philanthropy an integral part of their lives. 

We got skipped.  And it bothers me.  IMO, the Millennials (no offense, I know many wonderful Millennials and they and their hope are vital to our growth as a society) continued what Generation X started.  They have that hope because of the changes we stood for in our own rowdy way.  Gen X were considered slackers because we didn't like the rules.  We were disruptive and insubordinate.  We had to sit back sometimes and figure out how to create lives we liked rather than following antiquated behavioral patterns just because it had always been done that way.  But disruptive and insubordinate is how change gets made, how revolution happens.  Who bashed the "ME" decade and started up the green revolution started in the sixties again, the one that had been abandoned by hippies turned yuppies in the 80s?  I participated in sit-ins at my high school.  My friends cared deeply about the state of politics and were the ones who tried to get a 3rd party system going by voting for Ralph Nader back in 2000 to break down the status quo.  Movies that broke with tradition, like Kevin Smith's slacker series came out of Gen X.  So did Adult Swim on the cartoon network - the epitome of irony and innovation, though probably considered stupid by boomers.  Look at Seth McFarland and the Family Guy.  Political and cultural satire at its best.

We grew up with technology.  I wrote my own programs in Basic on my Dad's Commodore Vic 20.  We had a home computer from the time I was 6.  I played Atari and the original Nintendo. We didn't get the Internet till 1994, but I was only 18/19 then and college was a whole new ball of wax.  I know, I'm whining, but it's not always so much fun being labeled a generation of slackers.  Makes you want to continue your perceived behavior, flipping the bird at anyone who looks at you sideways.  Which is probably why the characterization stuck.

Not your Momma's Life Path

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to design that balanced life.  There's probably no such thing, but to be able to spend all the time you want to with your family, to feel accomplished and purposeful (but not burned out) in your work, to have time to pursue enriching and creative hobbies that fulfill you, and to be healthy and shape your life in harmony with the planet instead of always battling it - these are things that should be possible in the 21st century. 

And they are to some - I read their blogs, pick up their books, see them on TV, occasionally even run into them in real life.  They're out there.  I think what they all have in common is that they woke up one day and said, "This is crap.  I want out."  And then they got out.  Not of life, but of that entity, that thing, that feels foreign to us every day and keeps us from living out our dreams. 

It's not about quitting your job and taking off to join the Peace Corps, necessarily.  Or living on an island in the Caribbean and fishing for your food every day.  But with all the tools and technology at our disposal, we ought to be able to fashion a life worth living out of the raw materials we have.  Something with balance and integrity and community.  "...a new reality, closer to the heart," as Rush says (the supremely talented band, not the opiate-popping mouthpiece of conservative idiots).  I'm going to keep working on my blueprints.  Contact me with any suggestions.