[Louis Foxwell]

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[Louis Foxwell]

That is a list worth keeping.

[Pollster1]

Obama is the perfect intersection between the two generations, idealism made cynicism and cynicism made idealism, the authenticity of the fake and the reality of the unreal. He doesn't belong to any single generation. He is the fluid transition point between Generation X and the Baby Boomers and also the Millennials.

I suspect the Obama we see is entirely a construct of the media and consultants, with only rare insights into the man hiding behind the curtain. We don't know if the real Obama is a drug-addled loser too lazy to be as big a danger as his beliefs would otherwise make him, or a clever manipulator using that image to lull us into tolerating his slow progress toward socialism and tyranny. We don't know anything about the hidden Obama other than that he or those who create his image feels a need to hide the real thing, if there is any reality behind the carefully crafted media construct. If the Obama on the news is a media construct designed by members of several generations to appeal to all of those generations, that would explain why the artificial image seems to fit so many groups.

[blueunicorn6]

Brilliant....as usual. I think The Greatest Generation may have been too worn out to educate the Boomers.

[Rich21IE]

Wow, so absolutely spot on. DG has perfectly dissected the forces that have led to the deconstruction of this society and its “culture”.

I would have to re-read this several times to figure out what he sees the future being; my perception of the future is one where this society having been finally atomized, falls apart in much the same manner as grains of a fistful of sand slip between one’s fingers.

[EternalVigilance]

Generation X wanted to be defined by taste.

How Greek.

[left that other site]

I have a unique perspective on the Up and Coming Generation, as I teach Piano, Guitar, and Voice to Children. The average age is 10, but I teach as young as 6 and as old as 15. Now, given that these are kids whose parents can afford music lessons, it may be a skewed sample, but I teach children of all races, nationalities, and religions.

Here are some observations.

1. In 13 years of teaching, I have only had two students who had one parent who was a nominal muslim. In BOTH cases, the parent had escaped Iran when the Ayatollah took over. They considered themselves PERSIAN, not Iranian OR muslim, and their kids attended church and had a Christmas Tree. From this, I concluded that muslims either don’t want their children to have music lessons, or that they refuse to allow a Kaffir(me) into their homes.

2. 100% of my guitar students want to learn the genre known as “Classic Rock” (The music of the 60’s and 70’s). They LOVE the Beatles, the Stones, led Zeppelin, the Eagles, the Doors, Carol King, Dylan, etc. This not only shows their discernment that the music of the “Baby Boomers” was good stuff. It also indicates that the new generation is dissatisfied with the cr*p that the media is spewing at them, which is unmelodious, soul-less, mechanized, and just plain ugly. The few contemporary songs that are requested are in the “old style”, such as songs by Adele, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars.

3. Today’s kids are (in spite of the media and education’s attempts to make them otherwise!) fiercely PATRIOTIC. Every year they compete for the honor of opening the Recital with the National Anthem. The ones who don’t get to open the show have a second chance...to close the show with “God Bless America”. They stand and put their hands over their hearts when either of these songs are performed. I sure hope they STAY like this!

4. Generation X was indeed narcissistic, as DG states. Perhaps my experience with the NEXT Generation (Generation Y?) indicates a pendulum swing in the opposite direction. My kids are always doing yard sales, candy drives, etc to benefit somebody. There was even an occasion when several of my little girl students had their long hair cut off to make wigs for children with cancer!

This is by no means a scientific study, but it is a true observation based on my own personal experience.

There IS hope.

[dagogo redux]

Any famous quote from Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” ought to at least be acknowledged, and it falls, I suppose, to someone of my generation to do so.

Heinz Kohut and his disciples were predicting as early as the 1950s that each succeeding generation from then on would necessarily build on the narcissism of their parents. Prescient indeed.

[little jeremiah]

PFL