BLOG 11/12/16. THE LAST GASP OF THE ‘BOOMERS’?
In this recent (and very controversial) election, the pundits focused on the economic and racial components of the campaign, … but let me add in my own hunch that it may have been the more generational component that deserve attention. Generational cultures are very real, while their boundaries are malleable (and there are occupants in each generational culture who either belong to a former generational pattern or a to a coming one in their expressions of character). Several decades ago, a couple social scientist by the names of Neil House and Bill Strauss wrote incisive studies on these emerging generations, which first alerted me. Today you can Google ‘generational cultures’ and get good digests on the characteristics of these.
The Baby Boomer generation was that large generation that came into being after World War II. They were the children of ‘The Greatest Generation’ which had endured and survived the Great Depression and World War II, and were staunch traditionalists. Their children, the Boomers, sought for a time to throw off the traditionalist patterns of their parents, and rebel against authority, and enjoy the post-war prosperity of their parents. This is the generation that produced the ‘free speech’ and ‘free sex’ movements, and also initiated a popular drug culture. Many were social radicals, and came to their moment of fame in the Woodstock Music Festival in the late 1960s. They were also the basis of much of the protest against the Viet Nam War … But when they had spent their energy, and gotten it out of their systems, they again sought the security of their traditionalist parents’ culture, and became quite conservative economically (and racially?).
Where I am going with this is to say that this Boomer Generation has been the generation that has been, and still is, the dominant order of today in politics, and in the church. They are desperately seeking to reclaim the culture of their parents, of yesterday and yesterday’s children (note: “Make America Great Again”).
Please note that I am making sweeping generalizations here, caricaturing unapologetically for the sake of my thesis here.
But time doesn’t stand still. The Boomers produced Generation X (born late ‘60s to late ‘70s), which generation were disenchanted with their parents’ culture, and became described as basically cynical, disillusioned, transient, somewhat pessimistic (… and Republican?). Their voice in music was heard in musician Kurt Cobain. But they were also the generation which opened much of the door into information technology. (Gates and Jobst came out of this generation). They were followed by the Millennial Generation (GenY), born in the early 80s to the mid 90s. They were the obverse of the GenXers. The Millennials were (and are) a “we can fix it!” generation. They saw beyond what was, to what might be. They were technologically savvy, and with them the whole information technology took quantum leaps: Google, Facebook (Zuckerberg), Amazon, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc. They are also a generation detached from the traditionalist constraints of yesterday. The Millennials are a creative force worth watching (and they are followed by GenZ or the iY generation, who are still emerging).
Ah so! But the political structures (such as our congress) of this nation (and of the church) are still dominated by the Boomers, who are now becoming elderly. This was hugely obvious in this election. The younger generations are much more open to racial and sexual inclusiveness. They are not idolatrous about the past. You saw this in the appeal of Bernie Sanders, and to a lesser degree with Hillary Clinton, … a younger generation looking for hope, for new options, and for deliverance from ‘what was’ in order to make tomorrow’s a better world. Their world is global, and justice issues are high on their agenda. (… And they see the 65 million refugees which this nation cannot ignore.) Hopefully, this election marked the dying gasp of the Boomer generation’s quest for yesterday.
