What are we talking about today?

I'll get back to theme days once I find a groove of posting regularly. In the meantime, most of my posts are about some variation of books, bikes, buses, or Broadway. Plus bits about writing, nonprofits, and grief from time to time.

This blog is mostly lighthearted and pretty silly. It's not about the terrible things happening in the world, but please know that I'm not ignoring those things. I just generally don't write about them here.

27 April 2013

Guest Post: X is for My Generation

Today's guest blogger is that guy who lives in my house. He's been seen round Cheekyness during the A to Z Challenge before: He's the brains behind last year's X and Z posts. (He's a bit disgruntled that I won't let him have Z this time around.) This is also Chadwick's X post for today, and you can visit him at Occasional Scholar.

Time Magazine cover from June
9, 1997. Not long after the
youngest Gen X-ers entered
adulthood. Source: Time.
Class: A Guide Through the American Status System (1983), by Paul Fussell, describes a group of people who want to pull away from class, status and money in society and labels them X. Douglas Coupland wrote the fictional work Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991) and called it that because his characters fit the description in Fussell's book. The media labeled America's youth Generation X, because they saw the elements of Coupland's characters in them. But things changed.

Forbes says we might be in trouble. Edutopia says we're a sentence fragment that needs to be handled with care. US News tries to delve into the complexities of identifying ourselves along generational lines. An opinion piece talks about the impact of my generation becoming politically influential at the same time as the next one (and we're smaller than they are). Beliefs drive our lives for good or ill. Trying to quiet our minds with all the many voices of media blaring every moment (including this drivel I am writing), then trying to live with intention in the midst of a reactionary society, is a challenge when we are making the best of choices. What choices are we making?

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